Is Work-Life Balance Really Possible?

Working parents constantly struggle with finding a healthy balance between their careers and family life. Should they just learn how to thrive with controlled chaos? On Easy Does It, designer Cortney Novogratz shares her secrets with host Ereka Vetrini.

Related: Compromising my way into work-life balance

Novogratz and her husband, Robert, are a design team and property developers who purchase homes, refurbish and then sell them. On their HGTV show Home by Novogratz, they are known for creating homes that mix modern and vintage styles, turning "drab places into creative places." But along with their many design, television and book projects, the two are parents to seven children.

The Novogratz Family

Because the couple are business partners, their home functions as their office and a work portfolio. Work-life balance might seem easier because they create their own business hours. But they still face the same challenges as other working parents. "We're constantly on the go, asking ourselves how we want to live, how we can make it possible, and how we can do it as a team," says Novogratz. An example might be renting out their home so they could afford overseas airfare for nine.

Novogratz says she manages work-life balance with controlled chaos. "I definitely have a lots of balls up in the air on any given day and I do my best to not to drop one, but sometimes you do and it's just a part of life." She and her husband are able to lean on each other to create balance.

The parents also strive to keep their kids humble and motivate them to find their own balance between work and play: "We try show them even in our own lives that we work hard but we also play hard. And you have to find that balance in all of that." She says that she tries to make her kids' work positive and fun by offering that light end of then of the tunnel, like "Let's do this [e.g., homework] and than we'll have what you love for dinner." Her kids don't always agree or comply, but she doesn't give up. "Keep trying," says Novogratz, and really let them reap the benefits of their hard with with hard play."

If you're having a tough time finding balance between work and play, Novogratz says that you have to tackle your challenges based on what you can really handle: "Ultimately, if you know you can only do one week at a time, one day at a time and not think too far ahead, you'll do just fine."

Norovatz sends a special message to working mothers who travel for business: "We're parents for the rest of our lives. And we also have a life. Our kids will gain strength from seeing us thrive, from us living through our pasions and following our dreams, because they will follow their dreams. I always remind myself, I am not here today, but I am here forever for them and that's what's most important."

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