When you work in the same physical space you eat, sleep, and stream movies in, finding the right balance between work and everyday life can be challenging. Often, the boundaries begin to blur, and we find ourselves torn between work and day-to-day living. Whether you’re in digital marketing, web design, or fashion, it’s not uncommon to work later than planned or reply to emails at ungodly hours. How can we maintain a healthy balance between our professional work and personal lives? How can we keep building our careers while fully maintaining ourselves, our families, and loved ones? Finding an optimal work-life balance may be difficult, but the following work-life balance tips can help you reach your objectives.
What is the importance of a good work-life balance?
Work-life balance is how we prioritize our time and effort between professional and personal commitments. It’s about creating a lifestyle in which you’re working efficiently. A positive work-life balance will leave you with enough time and energy to focus on your personal life, socialize, and have alone time as needed. Several factors can affect your work-life balance — your supervisor’s demands, family responsibilities, and tasks for work and home. Others may arise from a variety of life circumstances that aren’t always in your control. Finding a healthy work-life balance is critical to your overall health and happiness. It can help you feel less stressed and avoid burnout or creative block. Employees who are content with their work-life balance are more likely to be happy at work, which leads to increased performance, productivity, and commitment. Promoting a healthy work-life balance within your team can assist employees who work remotely.
Tips on how to balance work and life
- Establish unique working hours.
- Plan for after work.
- Establish attainable objectives.
- Take necessary breaks.
- Make a dedicated work area.
- Take care of yourself.
- Wear your work clothes.
- Accept the flaws.
- Breathe.
01. Establish unique working hours
In some industries and professions, overworking is a common occurrence. Although in such situations, going home usually signals the end of the workday. As a remote worker working from home, you don’t have the same freedom to travel from one location to another, allowing you to disconnect physically from your work. And if you’ve moved from your desk to the sofa or the kitchen, your computer is likely just a short distance away. Setting specific work hours and making sure your teammates and boss are aware of them is one of the best time management tips when working from home. Notify your coworkers or use a shared calendar app to log your hours. You’ll be less likely to get emails and conference proposals during your off-work hours this way. Determine the start and end times for each day. Consider your lunch break and other personal obligations, such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of your pets. This should result in a more realistic schedule, allowing you to adhere successfully to your work hours.
02. Plan for after work
And if you have a tight daily schedule, it’s all too tempting to get wrapped up in your work and work longer hours. It’s not always easy to know when to let go and restart the next day. A good way to deal with this is by making preparations for the end of the workday. Unless you have an urgent task to accomplish today, making a schedule for a particular period will help you transition from work mode to personal mode. If you want to catch up with friends, go to the gym, or try out a new cooking trend, making time for yourself can be beneficial to your well-being and help you achieve a healthy work-life balance.
03. Establish attainable objective
Examine your schedule for the day and week ahead. Determine your job priorities by considering any deadlines you have in mind and what your life goals are. You’ll be able to set deadlines and schedule your days once you know what you need to accomplish weekly. To maximize your chances of sticking to your goals, make them as reasonable as possible. There are several time management tools available to assist you. As a result, you’ll be more likely to meet deadlines and increase your productivity, allowing you to devote more time to other things.
Although you are not required to write concrete goals for your personal life, it is always a good idea to consider what you want to accomplish. Is there something specific you want to get done daily or weekly? Maybe you’ve been meaning to call a friend, start a garden, read your favorite magazine, or do something else that makes you happy.
04. Take necessary breaks
You may not have friends to take breaks with while working from home, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take proper breaks from work. Allowing yourself to take breaks from your desk is important for maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Distancing yourself from your responsibilities will also help you cope with workplace stress. It will provide you with the needed break to re-energize and approach your tasks with a fresh perspective. You may also discover that taking breaks makes you more efficient. You can also take intermittent breaks for a pilates or yoga stretch, a brisk walk, or to do laundry.
05. Make a dedicated work area
Working from home, as many freelancers realize, isn’t always as sexy as it sounds. You’re unlikely to be sitting on your bed, sipping a glass of wine and petting your dog. In reality, working from your bed is probably not the best option if you want to balance work and life effectively. Instead, find a suitable location at home where you can set up your office. Having a designated work area at home will assist you in distinguishing between work and leisure, making this a significant tip. Working in a position you closely associate with comfort, such as your sofa or bedroom, is usually discouraged.
Even if you don’t have a dedicated home office, make an effort to build a workspace that you enjoy. To prevent distractions, keep your workspace tidy and organized, whether you’re working from your kitchen counter or sharing a table with someone else. Make sure you have everything you need to get in the right mood at work — from a stylus and tablet to speakers to listen to music or participate in a video chat.
06. Take care of yourself
With so many obligations, taking care of yourself will fall to the bottom of your priority list. Remember that promoting your own well-being is important from a variety of perspectives. You’ll be a better employee, a better companion, parent, and so on if you’re happier and more fulfilled. There are a few realistic things you can do to take care of yourself, aside from understanding that you won’t always know how to balance work and life in the best possible way. To begin, allow yourself time to unwind after work, which is especially important because you will not be traveling back and forth to the office.
Don’t be afraid to disconnect your devices. Put your phone away, unplug, unwind and chill. Finally, make time for yourself, family, and friends. Although you do not have an infinite amount of time, try to carve out tiny chunks of time to sustain connections and indulge in something you love.
07. Wear your work clothes
Working remotely does not mean you can spend the entire day in your lounge wear. Changing from home to work attire will also assist you in making the mental transition, putting you in the right mindset to work or chill. There’s no need to dress up or even put on shoes, but you may find that physically planning for the day ahead will help you mentally prepare as well. View your home office as if it were a real workplace.
Separating work and home clothes can be beneficial for certain people. Change your outfit when your workday is over to mark the end of your work duties and the start of your private time clearly.
08. Accept the flaws
Although there are plenty of remote working tips to help you achieve your work-life goals, the fact is that your two worlds will occasionally collide. You can do your best, but variables such as your type of career, hours, home situation, and more can all influence your work-life balance. Accepting that the distinction between work and life will not always be perfect is often necessary, and your expectations will not always match reality. While spending time with the family, your supervisor might require you to take a work call or reply to an important email as you sit down for a long-awaited romantic dinner with your significant other.
Besides following the advice given above, be practical. Consider when you can relax without jeopardizing your work or your relationships. Can you, for example, set limits with your potentially overenthusiastic boss or change the way you do household chores? Make sure you’re attending to your own needs and being reasonable with yourself, whatever agreements you make with those around you. The endless quest for the perfect work-life balance can be overwhelming, as perfection is unattainable. Therefore, be open to accepting fallibility and flaws.
09. Breathe
Focus on your breath. Breathe. You’re only human!
