Once I complained to a friend that, with two kids, time is scarce. The friend's response was "Oh, you do have time, trust me!" That friend has five children.
It dawned on me that time is a matter of perspective.
24 hours, 7 days and 52 weeks - is what you had before having kids and what you will ever have. You cannot create an eighth day a week that will solve your work-life balance conundrum. But you can choose what you spend your time on and how that time makes you feel.
The same amount of working hours in an environment where you feel inspired and valued will uplift you while a mundane job will exhaust you. Ten minutes of a heartfelt play with your child will become the highlight of the day while an hour of educational activity you carefully planned, but she was not interested in, will be draining for both of you.
On maternity leave, in a search for work-life balance upon return to work, on holidays with kids, or while carving out some me-time, what matters is not how much time you spend doing something, but what emotions and life memories it creates, how this time feels.
P.S. Money is also a relative concept, ask any trader. What matters is not how much you have, but what that money can buy.
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