HEALTH AND WELL-BEING While walking along a boardwalk in Florida’s Clam Pass Park during a family vacation, Courtney Fox found her mind wandering back to Stony Creek Park in Landsdale, Pennsylvania, where she serves as the director of parks and recreation. PHOTO COURTESY OF COURTNEY FOX Creating Work-Life Balance When Parks and Recreation Is Life By Courtney Fox, CPRE I n spring 2024, my family and I vacationed in Naples, Florida. We were excited to spend a relaxing day at Clam Pass Park and start-ed down the three-quarter-mile boardwalk. It was beautiful — wide, clean and well-maintained. My first thought was: “I wish I could build a boardwalk like this in Stony Creek Park!” Suddenly, I was no longer on vacation; I was back in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, thinking about our narrow, high-maintenance wooden boardwalk and brainstorming po-tential grant opportunities. I talked about work for the re-mainder of the walk until my husband finally said, “Court, just chill. It’s not always about parks and rec.” But in my head, I thought, “Ac-tually, it kind of is!” When you love what you do, it’s hard to turn that part of your brain off. Our field isn’t exactly a “clock in, clock out” profession. We’re juggling capital projects, grants, staff issues, community events, public expectations — and so much more! No wonder it can be tough to leave work at work. Additionally, much of what we do in our free time mirrors our work. Evenings and weekends are spent participating in programs, attending events, visiting play-grounds or watching youth sports — it’s no wonder it feels like we are always “on.” That overlap can help us serve our communities better, but it also can lead to burnout and blurred boundaries. Fortunately, there are simple, in-tentional steps we can take to bring our work life into balance. Set Boundaries and Communication Protocols Create clear boundaries around emails, calls and availability. Not reading emails after hours is a hab-it I am still working on, but one thing I never do is respond after hours. If you respond to emails after hours, people will assume you’re available after hours. 22 Parks & Recreation | APRIL 2026 | PARKSANDRECREATION.ORG
Parks Recreation Magazine April 2026: Page 22
