A new reality, a new way of living! The pandemic is forcing everyone to ditch their routine life and commit to a harder and complicated reality. Just like how everyone and every business got affected by the pandemic, every company/organization, big or small, had to adapt to the new normal of working remotely. However, the requirement to switch to working fully remotely was swift and unexpected for every business.
This sudden change left the management board of companies concerned about ensuring effective workflow and also about maintaining their employee’s productivity. However, a few weeks into the new circumstances, both organizations and employees realized that the problem was the exact opposite.
Instead of struggling to find the motivation to work from home and stay productive, employees were actually having a hard time maintaining healthy boundaries between personal and professional lives.
Let’s face it, working from home is a great opportunity for all its perks for many people, but it can also come with its pitfalls.
Work-life balance while working from home: in harmony or out of tune?
According to several types of research, many people have responded to having a mixed feeling towards working from home. According to them, the practice of working from home is like a double-edged sword.
Recent work has suggested that the integration or separation of work and home spheres is determined by the ways in which people negotiate the boundary between the two. But WFH completely thins the line between personal and professional life. One of the terms highly used for homeworkers are “Flexible working patterns”. According to a research paper: Work-Life Balance and Working from Home: “The trend toward flexible working patterns are also influenced by technological developments whereby business can be conducted away from the specified office environment and often at considerably lower financial costs, making working at 3 am and on holiday de rigueur.”
How to achieve work-life balance while working from home
Create a schedule and set boundaries: While working from home is more flexible, it is important to stick to a schedule. Creating a schedule for the day will help you to be ahead in the game.
In a typical job when you work in an office or a structured setting you have a schedule. You clock in, take your break in the mid-morning, lunch at noon, another break in the evening and you clock out.
The idea is to have a beginning and an end to your work hours which will help you set boundaries for your tasks with your coworkers and manager, along with giving you considerable family time.
Use personal activities to take breaks throughout the day: Use personal errands like some household work, a break with your family or a roommate, or a quick walk around the block, a “chai” break or listen to some calm music, to take some time off in between your work. After this, you’ll feel refreshed and reconnected with the world around you. Remember during this time, don’t be tempted to look at your phone or answer a work email.
Learn to “turn off” your business: “Switch Off” from work in the evening at a certain time, just like how you used to do before (while working from the office). Just because both office and home are merged for the time being does not mean “Work” has to eat into the “Home” time sphere or vice versa. Set a reminder in your calendar for your logging out time daily to remind you that your workday is over and the rest of your life is ready for you.
Find ways to separate life and work: Even if the pandemic has derailed your summer vacation plans, it’s important to still take time off to recharge your soul. You need to find ways to separate your personal life and work life: making time for yourself, doing things that bring you joy, spending quality time with your family/friends.
Disconnect: When you are available all the time, there is no end to your workday. You need some time to shut off. Give yourself a chance to separate from work. It can be as simple as not checking email in the evening or on the weekend. Instead of rushing to complete every task, allow yourself moments of calm.
Take a mental day off: Now is the best time to think and focus on your mental and physical health. Without a doubt, we can say that the consequences of social distancing and isolation are not yet fully comprehended, and individually, we all feel how difficult it is to manage our occasional fear and anxiety related to it. For the time being, all we can do is cope up with the situation in every way we can.
Even if we can’t leave the house, exercising, meditating, and journaling can be the ways that can offer us the solution to this escape.
Exercise: We can’t stress enough on the fact that both mental and physical health should be your top-most priority during this time. Take some time to exercise/meditate in the early mornings, or somewhere in between your workday. Even a 15-minute break will help you in several ways.
Don’t forget to socialize: Just because you are working from home, it shouldn’t mean that you should only build your “individual” working skills. Learn to socialize and connect with your colleagues from time to time. Work on more team-building exercises during this time. Don’t let working from home lose the essence of working for an office.
Conclusion
Now that your workday is intermingled with your personal life, it must be hard to draw boundaries between those two spheres. Achieving a work-life balance is essential to a positive work from home experience.
If you are worried that working from home is taking a toll on your work productivity, here are several ways to increase productivity while working from home.
Lastly, everything in life should be well defined and content so that it doesn’t have a massive effect on the other things in life. The same goes for the balance between your work and life. Remember: “Your definition of work-life balance while working from home is up to you!”