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Every time I open my Instagram, I will get to see at least 1 reel where people are talking about work-life balance.

There are 2 groups.

If you look closely, both of these groups are the sides of the same coin. One side says balance exists and should be protected. The other says balance does not exist and sacrifice is necessary.

Both sides treat work as something separate from life.

The first group believes work is a problem that needs boundaries. Their solution is strict separation and fixed hours. They consider life to be something you protect from work. This sounds amazing, but it avoids a bigger question. Why does work feel like an enemy in the first place? If work constantly needs limits, it usually means the work itself is poorly designed or misaligned with what the person actually wants.

The second group takes a different route but starts from the same place. They accept that work will dominate life. Long hours are normal. Personal time can get hampered. Life is something you earn later. This group does not question the structure either. They simply tolerate the damage in exchange for progress, status, or money.

So the disagreement is not really about balance. It is about tolerance. One side refuses to tolerate work crossing into life. The other side normalises it.

Both miss the actual issue.

Work is not separate from life. It is a part of it. When you treat work as something external, you are forced into extreme positions. You either defend life from work or surrender life to work. Neither is a healthy nor an intelligent design choice. A better way to think about it is work design.

These questions matter more than counting hours or glorifying sacrifice.

When work is designed well, the balance debate becomes irrelevant.

You are not emphasising the work, and you are not escaping life. You are shaping work to support the kind of life you want, not someday, but now.

The problem was never balance. The problem was accepting work structures that force people to choose extremes.

Every day on social media, I see people saying they feel burnt out. I am not saying burnout is fake. It exists. What I am saying is that most people are not burnt out because they are working too much. They feel burned out because they are spending their time and energy on the wrong things.

Burnout comes from a lack of control.

Mute people on social media who constantly argue about work-life balance. Both sides. You do not need to pick a side.

Focus on doing work you care about and put your energy into things that actually help you move forward in life.

Your 20s are not only for grinding, and they are not only for escaping work either. They are for exploring, meeting people, learning how you work best, building skills, and enjoying the world while you do it.

You’ll never be the same age again. So stop letting the internet matrix tell you how you should live. Design your work in a way that supports your growth and your life, instead of fighting one for the other.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this. This was the second issue of Undelivered, and we also had a sponsor for this edition. I am grateful to you because you make all of this possible. Your support is what motivates me to keep writing.

Thank you so much. See you soon.