If you're looking to achieve a sensible work life balance whilst working from home “ this can be a challenge. It takes thorough planning and careful foresight and in this era of coronavirus becoming a remote worker is a vastly more popular option.
When work life balance comes to most people's minds, they tend to think of a harmonious relationship with an equal number of hours spent of both sides. To fact of the matter is this is not a particularly healthy way of viewing the situation, both physically and mentally. To avoid this mindset, we must redefine what work-life balance really means whilst working from home.
Here are 4 tips we have come up with to help all of you who having a few issues with adjusting to your new work life balances.
Enjoy!
Don't look to attain perfection
Excellence should always be valued ahead of perfection. One is attainable, the other not so much. This is an extremely important mindset to keep while your home becomes your workstation. You will most likely not have everything that is needed to do your job exactly as you would have done so in the office.
Files, the printer, scanner or potentially even the fax machine (although we hope it would never come to that) that you would be needing to complete your daily tasks. You will need to set aside the time to adapt and do the best you can with what you have available. A small mental shift that makes a whole world of difference.
Remember to disconnect
When you are constantly available, your workday never ends. Your brain requires time to shut off and recoup. Give yourself a chance to recharge and remove yourself from work, even if it's just not checking your emails in the evening or on the weekend. Give yourself moments of calm instead of constantly rushing to complete each task and stressing yourself out.
Remember to exercise
The first thing to go on many occasions is our routine which can be disrupted in a major way by the lockdown. Exercise should always be the first thing that we make time for. It lowers your stress levels, raises endorphins and lifts your mood in a noticeable way.
When gyms and sports facilities first closed, it wasn't (and still isn't for many) easy to find ways to exercise. Many personal trainers and gyms are offering online classes, or there are numerous searches you could do on YouTube to find free classes.
Eat a proper lunch
It's easy when you're stuck at home all day to spend your day snacking “we strongly advise against this (no matter how tempting it is). Also, when you're in the office you may be more compelled to take a lunch break when your co-workers let you know that it's lunch time“ this doesn't happen at home.
Ensure that you set aside enough time for your nutritional needs. Remind yourself “get the calendar on your phone out. You could also Skype into all your work mates during lunch time, to keep a sense of normalcy, but this isn't always practical considering we all take our lunch breaks at different times“ but it's worth keeping in mind.
