Finding the Perfect Work-Life Balance While Working Remotely: 5 Tips

About 25% of Americans are currently working remotely. In recent years, remote work has been gaining popularity. After the pandemic hit, the numbers skyrocketed. Working remotely stopped being a nice option that attracted top millennial talent to organizations. It turned into a necessity that needed to be dealt with.

Many employees have been having a hard time adjusting to remote work. While some of them had certain experiences working from home at least once a week, others were stuck with a lack of communication and poor self-organization.

With time, many people started adjusting to the new normal in the remote realm. Some employers were even willing to pay for special training that helped their staff maintain high productivity levels at home.

While it worked for some people, others couldn’t draw a thick enough line between work and private life. They continued working way past office hours and avoiding rest. According to Allshore, dedicated .NET developers staffing company, this contributed to the overall anxiety and reduced productivity levels.

If you feel as if you are one of these people, you have to segregate working and private time to find the perfect work-life balance. Here are five tips to help you do it.

1.   Create a Morning Routine

Many remote workers start their workday in bed. Without lifting their head off the pillow, they grab the smartphone and start checking email. This gets you into the working mode before your body and mind are ready.

Remember when you were working on-site, you used to have a morning routine that helped you get ready for work? It’s time to revisit these times. A mourning routine helps you prepare for a fruitful workday. It clears your mind, keeping you focused on specific tasks that aren’t related to work.

Give yourself an hour after you wake up to get ready for work:

• Eat breakfast slowly without checking email.
• Find 10 minutes for morning exercises.
• Take a shower and get dressed (not in pajamas!)

If the weather is good, find 10 – 15 minutes for a walk in your backyard or around the block.

2.   Get Dressed

This advice deserves special attention. When you work from home, it doesn’t mean you have to behave like you always do at home. Sitting in front of the monitor in your pajamas, or worse, underwear is out of this question.

This isn’t just offensive to your colleagues, with who you may accidentally start a video conference. It’s detrimental to your work mood. While you don’t need to wear a suit and tie while working from home, consider dressing differently than you usually do at home.

3.   Create an Office Space

The way your workspace looks can tell a lot about you as a worker. If you prefer to work from bed, you are losing productivity. It can also lead to a variety of physical and psychological problems.

However, working at the kitchen table doesn’t cut it either. Ideally, you need to create a separate office space in your home. Even if you can’t dedicate the entire room for this task, consider choosing a suitable corner in the living room or bedroom.

Section it off with furniture and floor mats so it looks like a separate area. Once you enter this area, you are geared for work. While it’s a psychological trick, it works every time.

4.   Set a Schedule

Flexible schedules are amazing. You may have chosen the company you are working in right now specifically for its flexibility. However, in numerous cases, a flexible schedule turns into 24/7 work.

To make sure you maintain good productivity levels while still having time for yourself and your family, set a schedule. You need to have clear working hours for each day. For example, you can work 12 pm – 7 pm on Mondays, 9 am – 5 pm on Tuesdays, and so on. Once the time comes, you get up from your desk and immerse yourself in private life. Make sure you don’t use the “office space” after work hours are over.

Without a schedule, it’s easy to lose track of time and start working much more than you should.

5.   Create a Fitness Routine

Fitness is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Be it daily yoga sessions or weekly trips to the gym, you need to create a schedule and stick to it. Introducing fitness into your remote work setup can help take your mind off 24/7 work and give you an opportunity to care for your body.

Make time for hobbies and family as well. If you don’t feel like it flows smoothly, creates a strict schedule. With time, it will become a natural part of your day.

The Takeaway

To maintain a healthy work-life balance when working remotely, you need to put in some serious effort, rearrange your home, set some schedules, and change a few habits. The sooner you start doing it, the faster you can adjust to the new cycle and enjoy it.