Jun 3, 2026
Arianna Huffington recently revealed a key lesson from her career: that productive people must learn when to stop working and call it a day — even if the job isn’t finished.
The Huffington Post founder shared her advice with Moneywise on Tuesday when asked about recent comments in which she said that people who finish their work each day before bed “should change jobs” because it isn’t “interesting enough.” She added that for “most people with interesting jobs, there is never a time when you have a natural ending to the day.”
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At first the comments seemed curious coming from Huffington, who leads her health and wellness company Thrive Global and once described herself as “a sleep evangelist,” penning a 2016 book about the benefits of bedtime following a scary experience where she fainted from sleep exhaustion. But in an email interview with Moneywise, Huffington clarified and expanded on her comments about interesting jobs and finishing work before bed.
“My point is that anybody with an interesting job needs to be comfortable with incompletions,” she explained. “That means realizing that they will never be able to finish everything they’re supposed to do before they go to sleep.”
As such, she advised that “instead of powering through exhaustion, they can make sure they can handle the most urgent and important things and not shortchange their sleep and recharging.”
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Huffington, meanwhile, walks the walk. Rather than chasing a perfectly cleared to-do list, she also prioritizes “completing the most important and urgent things, to be comfortable with all the things I have not completed knowing that by giving myself enough time to recharge, I’ll be the most productive and creative version of myself the next day.”
And given her track record as an entrepreneur and author (including ranking among the world’s most influential and powerful people) her approach is clearly working.
That said, for many Americans, taking time to recharge isn’t always rewarded, or even possible.
A 2024 report from the Federal Reserve of St. Louis shows that working more hours often correlates with higher overall earnings. In fact, the Fed study found that working extra hours accounts for as much as 30% of the variation in earnings between those who put in more time and those who work less.
A 2022 study by the World Economic Forum garnered similar results, reporting that “America’s top 10% of earners work an average of 4.4 hours more each week than those in the bottom 10%” — even when accounting for “overtime, other jobs, or side gigs.”
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Fast forward, however, to 2026 and the ongoing affordability crisis that’s forced almost a third of Americans to adopt a side hustle to keep them financially afloat. Not only does working more hours reduce rest and recharging time, but 67% of Americans say they “worry more about running out of money than death.”
“There are a lot of people struggling to make ends meet with few choices,” Huffington acknowledged, adding that, in her earlier interview about “interesting jobs,” she “wasn’t covering everything … but addressing the idea that burning out is the price we have to pay for success.”
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Simple ways to bring balance to your work and life
In the past, Huffington has made no secret about her dislike of the “work-life balance” concept, sharing her belief that work and life “rise in tandem — increase one and you increase the other.” Still, she did add the caveat that, “Work is a part of a thriving life, but life should come first.”
However you describe the optimal synergy between one’s work and home lives, Americans clearly crave it. A 2025 Gallup poll, for example, showed that “work-life balance and personal wellbeing” topped better pay, benefits, stability and job security as their main professional priority.
The good news is that employees can start improving that balance themselves using simple strategies, such as better organizing your day to maintain productivity and prevent overworking, scheduling personal time like you would job tasks, and managing stress through everything from taking breaks to mindfulness exercises.
It’s also important to set boundaries for work and play and unplug when you’re off the clock, allowing for opportunities to invest in your own physical and mental health.
This approach also perfectly compliments Huffington’s strategy of embracing incompletions and prioritizing rest so that you can hit the ground running when you get back to work, regardless of what term you use to describe it.
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Mike Crisolago is a Sr. Staff Reporter at Moneywise with nearly 20 years of experience working as a journalist, editor, content strategist and podcast host. He specializes in personal finance writing related to the 50-plus demographic and retirement, as well as politics and lifestyle content.
