To paraphrase @timothybanks in the Creative's Workshop
The goal isn't to maintain balance, our lives are constant swings of the pendulum in multiple directions. Sometimes we're too far into work, sometimes too far into play. We tend to judge the side we're not on really harshly - "I should be working more," etc. But the practice isn't in keeping the pendulum centered, it's noticing when it's swung too far and bringing it back.
If this was an Outwork Weekly call, I'd give you a metaphor in terms of Amanda Palmer's creative process. I'm fresh out of Palmerisms at the moment, but I'm never out of metaphorical scenarios.
A pendulum is a time keeping device. No matter how far up it swings, the time it takes to complete a cycle is the same. If you give it more energy, it swings higher at the edges and faster at the bottom, but you can't change its period. The period is a property of the pendulum itself - a function of the length of its string - and its the same at rest and in motion.
How much time have I spent trying to change the period of my swing when it's a fundamental property? How often do I expect to be able to push harder and speed up my cycle, only to find that I'm just swinging a little wider, ending up a little further away from center. How do we change the frequency with which we return to center? How do we give ourselves more time to notice when we're slipped off?
We give ourselves more rope.