Bah. People always make this out like it's an impossible nut to crack without realizing that any task will swell to fill the time allotted.

So you get up and you go running. You're exercising and getting "even just a few moments of reflection." Take a shower because you need it - now you're back-dating your morning for your commute so you have to get up. And lemme tell ya - the act of getting up is 90% of it.

What are you doing in the car? On the bus? Listening to talk radio? NPR? The Morning Show? Lemme tell ya - I haven't listened to NPR in about ten years but pretty much everything that's on I've heard about 'cuz goddamn hipsters can't shut up about NPR. You don't actually need to listen to it. Grab an audiobook. Listen to music LOUD. Get into the flow of it. Better yet, buy a motorcycle and turn your commute into an adventure.

The fact that you bring up work balance means they've gotten to you. You don't "balance" work. You claw back your life from it. They didn't put you on salary, give you a cell phone and let you VPN to the server after dinner because they want you to "balance." they did it because they want to own you from the morning you wake up until the minute you go to bed and sporadic intervals in the middle of the night. "Salary" is business-speak for "attach this vampire squid to your soul and let it suck you dry." You don't balance that shit, you vanquish it. They want you to think that if you don't work hard they'll pass you over or some shit but I'm here to tell you - they don't give the first fuck about you and they'll pass you over ANYWAY. On January 31 2007 I was awarded the "key man" award for 2006 at my 500+ employee Fortune 1000 company. On February 13 they laid me off as supernumerary. Stop thinking you owe them something. You don't. Work the hours you're paid for and if you get a job done faster than they think, fucking slack. Slack like you're getting paid for it by someone who actually gives a shit about you.

Little thing that helps - pack a lunch every day and eat it somewhere you want to be, doing what you want to do. I worked at the Fisherman's Terminal in Seattle and every day I'd drag my sandwich out to the end of the pier, read a book and watch carp and seagulls. If you don't think that makes the rest of the day more bearable you simply haven't tried it.

So now it's 4:30 or 5 or some other reasonable "time when normal humans go home" and you're going to hit the gym and flirt. Or take salsa lessons and flirt. Or go to a night course in something you care about, not something that might someday maybe get you a promotion at work they promised (they're lying). Hang out with people you want to hang out with. Do things you want to do. Now eat some dinner. Did I mention that cooking classes are a great place to meet people? Even if you're the only guy in a room full of MILFs, they still have some friend that just divorced. Even if you're the only girl in a room full of stay-at-home dads, they've got single friends. And the latter will never happen, by the way.

Check it out. It's like 8 and you've had a full day full of you. Yeah, you spent eight hours at work but set that shit aside. Unless it's your passion, you need to recognize that you are trading life force for currency. You need that currency, for sure - but you sure as fuck don't need to feel guilty about it.

You definitely don't need to feel off balance.