Your boss has allowed you to keep working from home, and you are excited. You think maintaining work-life balance is easy, but the truth is, this isn’t usually the case. In fact, many home-based employees struggle to balance life with work as the lines are more blurred.
Here are 13 tips to help you continue work from home without neglecting your day-to-day life.
1. Play to your strengths
Don’t try to be all things to all people. Focus on your strengths, let your colleagues know what you are able to accomplish, and tell those who depend on you at home that your attention will be divided.
2. Prioritise
List home and work tasks into four categories: urgent and important; important but not urgent; urgent but not important; and neither urgent nor important.
3. Know your peaks and troughs
Are you a morning person? If you are, allocate harder tasks in the morning instead of leaving them for later in the day.
4. Plot some personal time
When personal issues arise, it can be tempting to bury yourself in work. Make time for your personal life, including your family and health.
5. Manage your time, long-term
Create a timeline of personal and professional activities you need to prioritise. Use software, an Excel spreadsheet or Word table.
Put dates across the top and activities down the side. Include family commitments such as holidays and birthday parties, so you don’t forget them when you are busy with work.
6. Track your time
Invest in tools that allow you to track activities such as the frequency and duration of meetings. Time-tracking software allows you to gauge how long a particular task would take, so you can effectively plan your daily and weekly schedules.
7. Make your workspace work
Set up a section of your home that’s dedicated to work. Invest in equipment that will support you, such as a comfortable chair, ergonomic keyboard, and a reliable laptop.
8. Take advantage of tech
Instead of driving to a meeting, use Skype, Zoom or other conferencing technologies. That way you can still be at home if, for example, there are family members who depend on you to be there.
9. Nurture your network
Grow your professional network, and track the time and costs involved in making connections and nurturing new relationships.
At the same time, don’t forget your friends – send them a message, have a virtual chat or make a phone call to keep your personal connections alive as well.
10. Do what you love
Identify a non-work activity you enjoy and give it the time it deserves. It will energise and refresh you, and potentially allow you to tap into your creativity.
11. Be realistic
At the end of each workday, perform a little self-analysis. Ask yourself what worked today, what didn’t, what went wrong, and how the issue can be fixed.
12. Manage your mind
When fear, self-doubt or anxiety creeps in, work on your mental health by meditating, reading or just relaxing. Alternatively, spend time with someone who will lift your spirits and support you.
13. Take a break
Remember to take time out throughout your day. Some tasks are easier than others, so when you have time to spare, make full use of it.
Give yourself a proper lunch break, and make it a point to get up and stretch every 15 minutes. It will help you be more focused and more productive.
This article first appeared in jobstore.com.
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