Working from home or remotely means the ultimate flexibility and freedom to complete your work-related tasks from any part of the world. At the same time, it is quite normal to see remote workers juggling between personal and work schedules, walking on a tightrope. So how can they make sure that they are able to keep everything intact while simultaneously balancing both? Well, we have compiled all the solutions in this guide to help our readers maintain work-life balance while working from home if they’re also living the work-from-home life.
We will begin this post by sharing some useful tips for maintaining work-life balance while working from home. Whether you work from home occasionally or full-time, our compilation will help you keep your productivity levels up while leaving enough time for family and friends, personal interests, and other responsibilities.
Let’s get balancing!
Simple Ways to Improve Work-Life Balance While Working from Home
If you have ever felt troubled by your work-from-home schedule affecting your personal life, then you might have also Googled your predicament and tried finding some ways to remedy the situation. Whether you were successful or not is another story. Don’t worry, we have listed some practical solutions for home-based professionals to adopt and see your work-life-balance dream becoming a reality:
- Set Your Working Hours
- Take Necessary Breaks
- Relax on Weekends
- Create a Dedicated Workspace
- Pretend Like You’re Commuting
- Stay in Touch With Your Co-Workers
Set Your Working Hours
When we talk about the benefits of working from home, flexibility is the first thing to pop up on anybody’s mind. With this freedom to choose your working hours, you will be obliged to feel available and online to the rest of your team without any schedule. This flexibility can, sometimes, lead to a lack of work-life balance. If you want to achieve the highest level of efficiency while simultaneously maintaining work-life balance, it is best to set a schedule that matches global hours of working and strictly follow it.
Having a schedule for work is natural, and the first thing you will experience is that your team members will no longer disrupt your personal routine or the hours you have set aside for personal chores. And you will be able to plan personal activities without missing any tasks.
Take Necessary Breaks
We know for a fact that onsite employees often come across people commenting on their schedule and saying that they’re lucky individuals to work from home. This is mostly because of two common perceptions: people think they’re staying close to their family and they have the freedom to decide their working hours. Well, this perception is true to some extent until you realise you have no time left for personal activities, and your home is basically turning into a full-time office.
Right after you have decided on a work schedule, the second most important thing in maintaining your work-life balance while working from home is adding a due break in your schedule and avoiding relentless work. Make plans for after hours, commit something to your friends or your family, or just sign up for a Zumba class. If you have somewhere to be by the end of your working day, you are more likely to actually sign off and work efficiently during the hours dedicated to work.
Relax on Weekends
Another complication for remote workers is the feeling of being trapped in their own schedule and in their home, especially when they do not have appointments, gatherings, or corporate errands to run. Due to the lack of typical distractions, home-based professionals feel the obligation to work nonstop. Take that holiday you deserve, relax on weekends, watch a movie, drive to the nearest market or just stretch – no matter what you do, take time out for personal activities.
Create a Dedicated Workspace
This one goes without saying. To achieve greater work-life balance while working from home, you will need to focus more on productivity. The first thing you need to do is to get that table and chair you have been looking online and set-up a workstation that boosts your efficiency. Know this, when you are working efficiently, you will not have to stay up late to complete your daily tasks or to-do list. Design a workstation that keeps you motivated and lets you accomplish more in less time.
For your convenience, we have pulled a guide on designing a home office that looks aesthetic and boosts productivity.
Pretend Like You’re Commuting
Working from home means you don’t have to weave your car during rush hours daily, cram into public transport, or wait for your pick-up. This also means that you are missing the dedicated time you had for a short walk, completing a series, reading a book, or maybe wandering in your own thoughts.
All in all, you have no time for personal activities that you somehow managed to slide in these hours. Working from home can, however, give you the flexibility to move around your house and juggle between cooking and finishing a blog piece simultaneously. Suddenly, you will realise that it’s been days since you last left the house. If it makes you feel like a jailbird, here’s what you should do: fake a commute.
Not sure how to do that? Read our pro-tip:
Wake up in the morning like you would for the office and take a quick walk around the block without signing into your work laptop. Listen to your favourite podcast or music while you are walking or find a bench to sit for at least 10-15 minutes, where you can either read or zone out. You can even take your work laptop and commute to a local library, café, or a park and work from there once or twice a week.
Stay in Touch With Your Co-Workers
This one goes for individuals who work with a team, albeit remotely. When you are working from home, you have no time for the conversations you should be having with your co-workers over coffee or lunch, where you unwind and communicate your work progress casually. This can help you with setting your schedule and finding productive ways to get a task done.
If you are not having these conversations, then you will have to schedule one. You do not necessarily have to publicise or reinforce this on a daily basis, you can ask your co-workers to tag along while you’re faking a commute or have a conference call on skype.
Before we wrap up, here’re some additional tips that can further help you optimise your work routine:
- Avoid checking social media tabs during your working hours – until or unless it’s your job requirement.
- Do not sign in your work laptop the minute you wake up.
- Respect your personal space and do not bring breakfast or your meals to your work station.
- Be with your family and friends when they need you, but make sure it is not disrupting your work schedule. Manage another schedule for work if need be.
- Make a to-do list [daily/weekly].
- Divide your tasks, and never forget that you deserve a break.
- Do not spend too much time doing one task. Divide your hours.
We have shared some of the most practical and useful tips in this blog. Let us how you maintain a work-life balance while working from home by writing to us at blog@zameen.com.
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