Yesterday’s Blizzard of 2026 was a forced reminder to enhance and reevaluate my work-life balance as it kept me in check to balance my productivity while embracing the outside world around me.

As the snow kept falling, I was nudged in the back of my head to “chunk my work” into pieces and mentally forced me to take breaks so I could take care of the next 4 to 5 inches that had just fallen over the next 2-hours.

For those twenty minutes of catching up with my own conditions outside like shoveling, plowing, salting, helping neighbors — I didn’t think about what I had to come back to do for the day, it was my own personal productivity.

Sometimes we have to be reminded that work-life balance is real thing. Taking the time to step away and complete a different, personal task, can be a powerful reminder that we are control of own lives.

Breaking work into pieces is completely okay, and oddly enough (aside from the physical labor involved) can rejuvenate our brains into a fresh line of thinking when we come back and warm up ourselves inside, once again.

Nothing is meaningful unless if you are safe. If you were affected by yesterday’s blizzard, I hope you took the time to take care of yourself and those around you. That is the ultimate reward in life.

This was originally a post from LinkedIn from February 24, 2026.