There are a few times of year when a choir director can’t hope for work-life balance, and one is between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The commitments come non-stop, and the most you can hope for is a single quiet day with your family, or a few moments of peace between school and another concert.
Don’t hope for balance in December. Hope for strength.
Then, when the break begins, don’t seek balance then, either. Switch to dark mode, at least for awhile. Don’t do anything for work, if you can help it.
The only way to achieve work-life balance, in the end, is to widen the lens: don’t look for it today but in the context of a month. Can you achieve balance on Dec. 6? Probably not. But between Dec. 6 and Jan. 6? That’s much more likely.
You balance the non-stop days of December with non-start days afterwards.