Working from home used to be for a select group of employees. With the current pandemic, a large portion of the global workforce is working remotely. The world adjusted far better than was previously thought due to the need to stay employed. Not all professionals are meant to work remotely especially if they have trouble motivating themselves. Work-life balance when working from home can be tough to achieve as it can be difficult to unplug. You will have to make a concerted effort to achieve this balance especially if you have worked a traditional office job for years. The following are tips to help you achieve a decent work-life balance when working remotely.
You Need An Office Space
An office space is essential as you will be able to complete more work when you minimize outside distractions. You might not have an extra bedroom to turn into an office but there are other sufficient options. Executive series sheds can be a huge help as it allows you to eliminate noise from inside of the home. You can also unplug in a far better way if your working equipment is in the shed. You do not want to be working at the kitchen table as this is a recipe for distraction disaster.
Set Reasonable Working Hours
Setting reasonable working hours daily is important as it can be easy to overestimate your abilities to complete work in a single day. You do not want to be working 14-hour days on a daily basis as this will not give you enough time to recharge. Burnout is a huge problem for remote workers whether they are self-employed or work for a company. Starting early is important as you do not want to be working well into the night after getting a late start. There are going to be days where you simply do not get as much done as you predicted. You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself as you are adjusting to this new working environment. You need to schedule breaks throughout the day as regular breaks have been shown to increase your productivity. Even if you just take a walk around the neighborhood, this can help you recharge your professional energy.
Find Hobbies You Enjoy
You need something to look forward to after working hard. This could be extremely difficult to find something you enjoy that you can do regularly. Find a healthy hobby as overindulging during happy hour is not a hobby you want to take up. Hiking or doing something active like kayaking can be great for those that live in warmer climates. For colder climates, find something that you can enjoy inside as going outside in cities like Chicago during winter is not an option. You can join a gym although gyms are closed throughout the country due to COVID-19.
Working from home permanently is going to take a huge adjustment. You also need to interact with people daily as isolation can be extremely bad for mental health. You can even work with friends that have a remote role as even a few random conversations per day are better than nothing.