When we think of work mornings, we think of hassle and stress - running to shower and get dressed, grab your morning cup of coffee and find the best possible commute so you can get to work on time.
With remote work, the time crunch is gone and suddenly you have a lot of flexibility. Without the commute, you save a lot of time in the mornings - even if you were to keep your sleeping and rising schedule the same, you'd be surprised by how much time you have on your hands.
But working remotely isn't all rainbows and sunshine. For some, it's worked wonders, but for others, it's become an even bigger challenge than working in the office.
Maintaining a decent work-life balance is one of the biggest concerns remote workers have nowadays. Whether this is because of the lack of preparation for remote work or lack of management, the problem is quite a serious one. Not only does it affect the employee, but it also affects their quality of work.
So, how to maintain a work-life balance when working remotely? Here are some tips.
Maintaining Work-Life Balance When Working From Home
Set Up A Home Office
For most people, their home office is the whole house. If you're working at home, you can technically work anywhere at home, right?
While you can, it doesn't mean that you should.
You should have a dedicated space as your home office that isn't just the space you work in but is designed to make working easier. You have to pay close attention to your comfort, efficiency, and health when it comes to your workspace.
Comfort varies from person to person since everyone's body has different requirements. But for the most part, there are some things to keep in mind when it comes to your home office.
One is that your posture should be correct, and you should be using ergonomic furniture to help maintain this. This means that an ergonomic office chair like FlexiSpot's Exclusive Ergonomic Chair (C8) is necessary to provide your body with the support it needs to stay healthy.
You may also want to consider something like FlexiSpot's Kana Bamboo Standing Desk that allows you to adjust your workstation to work best for your height and stature. A stagnant sitting desk will get the job done, but it won't do it in the best possible way.
A standing desk also helps offset some of the harm of sitting for too long. When you're at home, you don't have to walk around as much because all your things are in one place and your meetings are all virtual.
This can be a problem when it comes to the amount of time you spend sitting. Staying static for too long is bad for your health, but a standing desk can help you get some movement during the day. If nothing else, it'll help you sit less and stand more, which is still better.
But how is a good workstation related to work-life balance? Well, a good workstation allows you to work better and faster, and thus get your work done on time. You're not getting paid for overtime when you're at home, so you want to minimize the amount of time you spend working outside of work hours.
With a good desk and chair, you're not burdened by physical problems, and thus your work flows better and you're a lot more likely to get it done on time.
On top of that, having a fixed workstation also helps separate the physical work and life spaces in your home. If you work wherever you like, your entire house becomes a place to work in. This means that you can't relax as well in that space as you would otherwise, nor would you work as efficiently.
By having a specific area designated for work, you'll be able to enter the work mindset as soon as you enter this space and leave that mindset when you get out of it. By establishing physical boundaries, you'll notice that the intangible boundaries grow stronger.
Maintain a Routine
When working from the office, we have a set routine in our lives. Because you have some time constraints, you can't just do whatever you want whenever you want. For example, you have to wake up in time to get dressed, eat, and commute so you get to work at your expected time.
At work, you have certain deliverables to hand over before lunch, and then other tasks you want to get done before it'[s time to clock out.
With these things in mind, your day automatically follows a routine.
At home, because you can technically do whatever you like, we tend to forego this routine. This is bad because the day no longer feels structured like a work day and you'll end up feeling like you are either never at work, or constantly at work - and sometimes even both, simultaneously.
Instead, establishing a routine will make you feel like your days don't just pass by. It doesn't have to be anything special - you could follow the same routine you would if you were working in the office.
Don't sleep in and wake up five minutes before you're expected to be at work. Wake up earlier, as if you had to commute, get dressed, and eat a healthy breakfast. Take some time to yourself so you can fully wake up.
It's also helpful if you put on work clothes. Working in your PJs does sound appealing, but it does harm your efficiency and work-life balance in the long run. Wearing work clothes would mean that once you've dressed up, you're at work. When you take them off in the evening, you'll feel like you are at home and will be less likely to spend time working after that.
Having this routine helps you create a temporal boundary of sorts between work and life, which helps you maintain a work-life balance.
Stay Healthy!
Working at home is still working - you can't slack off on your physical health just because you get to laze around at home. Of course, you shouldn't be slacking off when it comes to health anyway, but we are a lot more likely to do so if we're at home.
Don't skip the workouts! Even if you're at home, you still need to get a decent amount of exercise to stay healthy. If you don't want to head out to the gym, you can get a treadmill at home. FlexiSpot's Folding Treadmill is great to keep at home because it doesn't take up much space, and you can get your exercise done as well.
Make sure you're eating healthy as well! Don't skip your meals, and have healthy snacks to eat during the day so you can maintain energy. You don't want to become even more tired after working at home than you would in the office!
When you're doing well physically, you have the strength and energy needed to focus on your work and get it done on time. Then you can relax and get to your obligations and hobbies without worrying about leftover workload or overtime.
Sleep Well
A decent sleep schedule is necessary for a healthy routine, and this is often the first thing that goes out the window when it comes to remote work. You may think that just because you don't have to wake up early, you can sleep in till midday and then start working, but this is unhealthy!
Not only does it screw with your work hours, it also makes you feel sluggish when you start working. Wake up early in the morning instead of sleeping in, and get a reasonable amount of sleep at night. Six to eight hours is ideal, so you don't want to sleep too much either.
With a good sleep schedule, your energy levels are heightened and you don't end up taking a hundred naps during the day.
Not only does this help you get your work done on time, but it also helps you feel better while working.
Taking Breaks
There is no way to emphasize the importance of taking breaks, particularly when it comes to home offices. At home, there is a general feeling of guilt around taking breaks because nobody is around to see you do it. It may feel like you are slacking off because you're taking a break when you shouldn't be.
However, this is untrue. Breaks are important to protect your health and keep you focused on your work.
It's important for your body that you take micro-breaks every few minutes to stretch your legs and get some of that blood flowing. A ten-minute break every hour is recommended, and you should be using these breaks to stretch your muscles and maybe get some chores done.
Without breaks, you'll start feeling burnt out, your work will suffer and so will you.
To maintain a good work-life balance, taking breaks when needed is necessary.
