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Still Working From Home? Keep Home Life and Work Life Separate

03 September 2021

Many people continue to work from home. That change in surroundings takes a while used to be on its own, especially if you're used to working in an office setting. Many working parents manage their children's online schooling, and partners or housemates spend much more time together. Keeping work and home lives separate is becoming more daunting. A scarcity of space frequently adds to these difficulties. Not everyone has the room to stretch out and enjoy the benefits of a dedicated workplace. There are fewer options for physically separating work from home for individuals who live in smaller quarters such as a condo or studio. What happens when your dining table doubles as a workstation?

It's one of the most challenging problems with working from home. You've finally secured a job that you enjoy and that allows you to work at home. You consider however much time you'll save from not having to travel into a workplace, how much money you'll save from not needing to spend for that commute (as well as work clothes and gourmet lunches), and how successful you'll be with all of that additional time you won't have spent trapped in traffic.

We all aim for work-life balance, whether we work remotely or in a traditional work environment. Establishing that work-life balance when working from home takes patience. Perhaps you've arrived here to read this post to prevent work-from-home fatigue. Maybe the remote work culture has made you feel as if the art of balancing work and personal life is a teetering scale.

The first thing you must recognize is that if you do not segregate work and personal life, this may become a disaster. It impacts some individuals more than others, but it is unavoidable that you will need to tackle this issue to some extent. When you simply mix everything without isolating the work realm at all, you will soon start to lose it. The point is that you assume working from home is the best job ever, so you don't think you'll really have to take any additional measures to deal with the workplace environment. If you're still working too much and haven't found your work-life balance, keep reading.

drinking coffee while reading

Begin with a morning routine

You may have realized how working from home affects work-life balance. Your day most likely begins and finishes with emails. A straightforward strategy to attain work-life balance is to start your day with activities that you enjoy and that help you feel calm before the working engines begin to turn. If you have a habit of thinking about work as soon as you wake up, realize that it can generally wait. If the balance you require comes from squishing your day with non-work elements of your routine, then put the record straight for yourself and incorporate what you enjoy into a work from home plan.

Refrain from checking work from bed

While attempting to strike a work-life balance from home, there are instances when business emails must be kept at your allocated workspace. Consider whether you absolutely need your professional email on your personal phone. In contrast, if your company has provided you with a "company phone," or if you have a different phone for professional work, keep that phone away from your bed, even maybe in another room. To attain the ideal mix of work and life, treat your bedroom as a spot where you rest rather than a place where you work.

Follow regular office hours

When you work at home, it may appear like having standard office hours is unnecessary. However, if you begin and end your workday at different times throughout the day, it can negatively impact your performance. Rather than getting more work done more efficiently, you'll find yourself struggling far longer than necessary, often when your children are home after school or even further into the night. So, attempt to maintain a regular schedule while allowing for breaks as needed.

Set boundaries

You're making dinner while also using your laptop on the counter. While you may be compelled to check your business emails while chopping the vegetables, don't. When working from home, it is critical to set boundaries. Else, you'll be working overtime. Whether you're attempting to do a large assignment or conversing with your kids, take every opportunity to be engaged in your life. Establishing boundaries will make us better, healthier, and better workers and people in the long run.

Kana Bamboo Standing Desk

Work from one specific space

Even if you live in a studio flat, you can set up a distinct workspace. You may use the dinner table for your laptop, but after you're finished for the day, keep it in a cabinet or drawer till the next workday. Set a workbox for devices, files, papers, and anything else job-related. Physical efforts help you mentally halt work mode and revert to your personal boundaries. If it's out of sight, it's out of mind.

A home office is a defined space intended to be productive and distraction-free. Understand that your home workspace should be maintained exclusively for business, and this should be a place of concentration. To attain the ideal work-life balance, avoid getting near your workspace on rest days so that you can psychologically separate how working days and days off feel. Do yourself a favor and purchase a desk. I recommend a sit-stand desk if you have enough room in your home and want to shift between sitting and standing to keep your muscles and blood in motion. A standing desk converter is an alternative if you have limited space or do not want a new desk.

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Go outside

The most apparent approach to finding time to do this would be to go out for lunch whenever possible, which is an excellent opportunity to connect with friends or family. In addition, human connection is crucial for maintaining a positive sense of well-being if you are confined to your home most of the time. Another option to carve out some yard time is organizing a few gatherings or anything fun after work on specific days of the week. Or, opt to go somewhere spontaneously– it's nice to do stuff on the spur of the moment.

Do not skip lunch

When you work in an office, you most likely take a lunch break – perhaps it was a lunch session with clients, or maybe you went to the deli a couple of blocks away to get some lunch. Whatever it was, make lunch break regular of your day when working from home. Emphasize punctuating your day and having a distinct lunch hour to look forward to focusing on work-life balance. Without that lunch break, your day's tasks would mix into one giant chunk, which isn't healthy at all.

Ignore distractions

Distractions are abundant when your work and home are integrated, much more so than if you worked in a typical office. However, if you don't avoid the distractions, you'll discover that you get significantly less work done. As much as you want an entirely clean house, you'll have to keep the clutter off your thoughts until you're through with your work tasks for the day.

Young Asia lady in sportswear exercises doing work out and using laptop to watch yoga video tutorial at home night. Distant training with personal trainer, social distance, online education concept.

Plan after-work activities

Working from home enhances work-life balance, so get your interests in, even if you have to login into work late at night to finish the job. Plan post-workday activities to blow off steam and make it a daily routine to achieve work-life balance targets for yourself and your work and private life.

Working from home will strengthen your balance between work and life if you set time for things you enjoy, plan ahead of time, concentrate on productivity techniques, manage stress, and spend time with family and pets. Maintain modest expectations. Be confident. Take command. Be kind to yourself.