As widely as remote work is beginning to gain acceptance, some employers remain skeptical about giving employees the freedom to work from just about any place they choose. A recent study shows that only 7% of employers in the US offer remote working opportunities to their prospective employees. Their fears aren’t exactly out of place since some employees are bad at maintaining a good work-life balance.
Work-life is about the ability of an employee to maintain a healthy balance between her job roles and family or personal life. In simpler terms, it refers to how employees split their time between their professional and personal commitments.
With the growing family responsibilities, maintaining an excellent work-life balance has become challenging. If you are one of those persons, then the following tips would help you gain a healthy work-life balance.
Prepare Your Remote Working Schedule
Most often than not, flexibility comes with a lack of work-life balance. To fix the issue, you must prepare a work schedule and stick to it. Also, you are poised to plan your activities better in the day outside of the rigors of work. These personal activities might involve going out with friends, taking a lunch break, or taking short nap breaks in between tasks.
Make Judicious Use of Time for Personal Errands
One of the perks of remote work besides flexibility is increased productivity. You can get your job done in due time without distractions from office mates. However, doing the same thing over and over again without necessary breaks can turn out boring and have a negative impact on your productivity.
For remote workers that feel this way, a good option would be to take little breaks from time to time that would enable them to carry out personal errands and even spend time with their family. This would go a long way in boosting productivity as they’re not just glued to the computer screen for the most part of the day.
Plan Your After-Work Hours
Many remote workers often overlook this point. There is no doubt that stepping away from work at the end of the day might be hard if you live in your working space. The reason for this is that, if you’re working from home, you might not switch off your computer or quit working at the time you should.
However, if you are seeking the right balance between work and life, you should make plans for after work and stick to them. You could sign up at the gym, hang out with friends, or join networking classes that would help you advance professionally.
Create a Working Space Away From Home Distractions
Most remote workers would agree that working from home boosts their productivity. However, this is only true for remote workers that take their time to carve out a distinct workspace in their homes, away from the surrounding distractions.
As there are no colleagues around to motivate you to attain your goals, you should be self-motivated. A designated workspace in your home would help you achieve this. Also, you could put up sticker notes around your work desk to keep you reminded of the goals you have set out to achieve for the day.
Make Time for a Proper Lunch
In an office, a specific time is always set aside for workers to have lunch and keep themselves nourished. However, working at home can make you overlook this vital part of your day, as there are no colleagues to remind you about going for a lunch break.
Skipping meals goes a long way in reducing your productivity and isn’t advised if you’re after optimal productivity. Hence, it is advised that you set aside a specific time of the day for a proper lunch, after which you can get back to whatever you were doing.
Bottom Line
When you have deadlines to meet, work-life balance and sleep are two things that you have to give way to. During these periods, losing sleep and working for long hours becomes the norm. This can, however, be detrimental to your relationships, social life, and your overall well being.
Although 77% of people believe that remote work improves general health since it allows for more exercise and a healthier lifestyle, this is only a reality if the right balance between one’s work and personal life is maintained.
