Martha Stewart says people need to get through their ‘thick skulls’ that there’s ‘no such thing as balance’—even at 85 she still starts work at 7 a.m.

Martha Stewart, a successful businesswoman and lifestyle mogul, believes that the concept of work-life balance is a fallacy. At the age of 85, she continues to start her day at 7 a.m., reading the entire New York Times and exercising. Despite her success, she dismisses the idea of perfectly balancing work and life, stating, "There is no such thing as balance—just get that through your thick skulls."

Major life events like marriage and divorce often disrupt this so-called balance, but Stewart acknowledges that some individuals may experience it infrequently, although she finds them to be boring. Even at her age, she maintains a rigorous schedule, waking up at 4 a.m. and engaging in various activities throughout the day, from reading to Pilates and her personal training.

Stewart's journey has been marked by reinvention and embracing change, rejecting the notion of pivots as she sees it. She prefers to describe her career progression as a series of metamorphoses, inspired by author Franz Kafka. Stewart's message is clear: if a task no longer excites her, she seeks out something new to pursue instead of succumbing to boredom.

Her approach to freedom stems from her own experience of imprisonment, which taught her the value of self-determination. Since her release in 2005, Stewart has rebuilt her public profile and expanded her brands, including serving as the CEO of TIAA. Her perspective on work-life balance aligns with that of TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett, who also dismisses the idea as a myth.

Duckett, having climbed the corporate ladder to CEO, realized the impossibility of work-life balance during her time at JPMorgan Chase, where long hours left her struggling to maintain family connections. She ultimately learned to accept that periods of intense focus at work were inevitable, while other times allowed her to focus on family.

Similarly, former President Barack Obama has echoed this sentiment, acknowledging that periods of intense focus are necessary for achieving excellence in various fields, including sports, music, business, politics, and even business.