5 tips to help you maintain balance when working from home
With so many people forced into what may be a whole new world of working from home, there is a very real risk that people will lose the work-life balance they may have taken for granted in an office-based job. We’re fortunate at Spectrum Comms that we get to work from home anyway so it’s business as usual for us. We’re proud of the flexibility this offers our staff and helps us be more productive for our clients.
While having a dedicated home office is a luxury not all have the space or resources to create, we wanted to share some ways you can work from home and help preserve your physical and mental wellbeing in these uncertain times.
1. Create a new routine
It sounds simple but getting yourself back into routine helps segment your day into work time and home time. It may not mean you go through all the get ready for work rigmarole but you do need some structure to feel like you have some control over your day.
2. Use mobile work storage
If a dedicated workspace isn’t possible for you, find a plastic tub or cardboard box that you can pack your work into at the end of your working day. When you close the lid, imagine that’s you walking out of the office into the open and put the box out of sight in a room where you don’t have to look at while you’re watching TV or cooking dinner.
3. Take breaks
This sounds like a no-brainer but people who work from home often feel guilty when they leave their workspace. What you need to remember are all the times you get up from your desk in an office environment – there’s coffee breaks, trips to the bathroom and printer, a pit stop to share gossip or chat to a colleague. We are social beings and we create little breaks for ourselves all the time, whether we’re conscious of it or not. At home it can be easy to work through until dinner time before you realise you’re busting to wee and haven’t eaten anything. Put on a load of washing and hang it out. Play with the dog, check the letterbox for mail. These little breaks will make you more productive when you get back to your workspace.
4. Have a shower
This applies to people who work in an office environment too. Having a shower at the end of a workday signals to your body that you are finished for the day. It is you literally washing away the day. When you get out, put on different clothes. All these things help tell your mind, I’m done with work today, time to relax.
5. Stay in touch
You may be working alone but there’s no need to be lonely. Schedule regular check ins, not just with your supervisor or colleagues, but with your friends and family. Many people are working from home for the first time so they will likely be feeling the same way you are. Make a coffee, grab a biscuit, and Facetime someone for a five-minute catch up. You’ll both feel less isolated and you can use it as an opportunity to vent about anything bothering you.