Work-life balance in a networked world?

One of the issues that has become paramount for me is the importance of having some "work-life" balance. This is the reason why I have chosen to work for myself, as friends and family are very important to me, and I've seen too many people leave this world with the regret of not spending time with those they love. I no longer believe that only working is going to lead to a life of fulfilment. However, I am wondering whether one can achieve balance, or at least some level of balance, if one is going to be active in an online world.

I began voicing my concerns about NGL and how the subject feels like I am enrolled full-time, when my son, who has his own Youtube channel, and spends an inordinate amount of time editing and creating videos, said: "Maybe the lecturer is trying to show you how the real-world of blogging is like. To keep on doing it without reward, and how you need to be persistent."

I had a think about this and yes, the real-world of blogging, or youtubing is a full-time affair, and if this was all that was being asked it would be okay as everyone would have their own approach on how active they were and how much time they would spend on each post, and how active they were in networks. I know I am not alone on this as some other course participants are also sharing how they are snowed under. On smart education network Mari writes that she is "desperately falling behind" and on Networked for Global Learning for Cystic Fibrosis the author writes that he or she (not sure of the gender as there is no name) is "feeling overwhelmed with the amount of information."

It is clear why this is happening. The course requirement is to not only create a blog and become an active blogger, it is also asking for students to read all the course materials, write blog posts about them, link with other bloggers, both within the course and outside of the course, and share any materials that he or she may have found on networked and global learning. All this and teach something the student wants to learn about it. The estimated time to be spent on each course is supposed to be 13 hours. However, even in my undergraduate degree this could be very skewed, particularly if you've got large projects to complete. Nevertheless, NGL is far beyond anything I have experienced before.

I am wondering whether this is an education degree phenomena. As a lecturer of first and second year Education students I noticed that the courses were overloaded. Many of my students were working either part-time or full-time and had a very difficult time keeping up with the course requirements. I spent the majority of my time answering emails or speaking to students over Skype trying to appease the situation. There was little I could do to change the workload, other than show what was most important, as I was not the core lecturer of the course, I merely delivered, designed some course materials and completed the majority of the marking.

As a student of NGL I am now experiencing what my students were going through. What is funny is that I chose to put myself in the same situation. What this experience poses for me is the question: Can one complete a Masters in education and still be a parent, partner, friend, business owner, runner, pet owner, ... and all the other things that we do other than our study?