At my company, work/life balance is a frequently discussed subject. Although the software engineers probably have the worst time of it, it's an issue that most of us face. Late nights and weekend work are the norm for a lot of my coworkers.

I believe that people who have problems with work/life balance have made a choice -- for their careers, for money, or for personal satisfaction -- that can often lead to resentment in hindsight. I've been that guy, but that's not how I operate today. These days, I find I'm able to put in my best work by breaking up the work day into periods of intense focus, with occasional breaks where I do something else -- anything but work.

I love my job. I get to play with cutting edge hardware that's changing the datacenter industry. I get to work with and learn from wicked smart people. More importantly, I get to spend most of my time doing the stuff I'm good at doing.

If you work with me, you'll often see me eating lunch at my desk. Those are the days when you likely won't see me later that afternoon. I'll block off an hour on my calendar, grab my backpack, and head out to the nature trail that runs around the perimeter of my office campus.