How To Strike A Balance Between Work From Home And Office Time?
Once upon a time, the possibilities of remote work were out of the question. In 2021 and the forthcoming years, it’s more like Hobson’s choice. However, it turns out that remote work wasn’t a challenge after all.
Work-life balance — it’s something all professionals strive for even while working remotely. Doesn’t work from home makes you feel like you’re working all the time simultaneously?
Finding a perfect balance between work from home and office time calls for drawing some lines. Perhaps, you’re reading this article because you want to prevent work from home burnout.
We outline some tips for working from home in this piece, and balance would be the focus!
Begin Your Day With Something Other Than Work
One of the impacts of remote work is that you’d find yourself starting your day by checking emails and work messages.
Our tip for work-life balance is to start your day with something light-hearted. You can sandwich your work-from-home schedule with non-work tasks. Here are some suggestions for your morning routine before work pulls you away:
- A quick 10-minute yoga session to build up your concentration
- A brief stroll outside in a local park or your yard
- Taking a morning hot/cold shower while you play your favorite playlist
- A coffee custom
Checking Your Mails From Bed — No!
Say it with us: Checking emails from bed is not a good habit.
If you are the kind who wakes up to the sights of your phone screen, make sure to drop work out of it. If you aim for a remote work-life balance, try to leave the emails for your home office chambers.
Another great thing to do would be to log out your work email from your mobile phone. If there’s nothing urgent, toss all email apps out of the window! Subsequently, if you have a separate work phone, leave that out in the living room or your workspace.
Design A Separate Working Space
One way to separate work from personal life is to create a work nook for yourself. When your sweet abode becomes your work, finding work-life balance seems unachievable.
However, having a separate home-office space is killing two birds with one stone. It could also solve your problem of lack of concentration.
Remember, your home office space should be free of personal distractions. On your weekends and day-offs, refrain from entering the zone.
Likewise, don’t bring any personal tasks to your workspace. The purpose of a separate home office space is both concentration and work-life balance!
Schedule A Start And End Time
It’s great to have dedication towards work. However, sometimes, you need to be strict with your work timings. There should be a snooze button where you tell yourself, “I need to crawl out of my work hole for my wellbeing.”
Once you exceed your end time, you can write all the leftover tasks on a post-it for the next day. This tip will make sure that you are working and fulfilling your social requirements in balance.
It’ll help you to dedicate time to your hobbies or the things you love.
Say Yes To Lunch Breaks
There are enormous levels of differences between work from home and working in the office. Well, you might have even come to this sudden realization that work from home is more convenient and profitable than the office.
While working in an office, you might take lunch breaks. It can be because of a lunch meeting, or you just stepped out to grab a cup of java and sandwich.
Whatever may be the case, try to implement it for remote work as well. Without a lunch break, you’d be forcing your body to work for an extended chunk of exhausting hours.
Use Productivity Tools For Maximum Concentration
We cannot emphasize enough the benefits of digital productivity tools for hybrid work. Most people think that remote work is the key to a better work-life balance. It can be possible with the right productivity tools.
You can use calendar blocking or a timer to steer clear of distractions. While at home, you might tempt yourself with some TV-watching or catnaps.
The more productivity you introduce to your workflow, the more balanced you’ll feel. You can use tools like Boomerang, Timely, Otter, Mindnote, Magnet, etc.
Plan Post-Work Activities!
Give yourself something to look forward to after completing your work. It could be a gym session, some movie time, or maybe even culinary! By preparing an end-of-the-day routine, you’ll be doing a huge favor to your mind and body.
Blow off the steam by shutting the laptop after work and doing something fun. Here is our to-do list for the end of the workday:
- Identify a relaxing end task for work
- If the weather permits, go for a run
- You can also choose to hit the gym
- Try to contribute to household chores like grocery shopping
- Prepare a healthy, hot, and one of your favorite meals
Bottom Line
Anecdotally, work from home can benefit your relationships. However, if you glue yourself to work 24/7, you can forget about that. Work from home has its fair share of benefits.
One of the critical aspects of a hybrid workplace is separating professional and personal time. Working between an active household calls for more dedicated work scheduling and planning.
A hybrid workspace gives you the best of both worlds. With these tips, hopefully, you can navigate between both worlds.
