As busy humans, it’s incredibly important for us to have a work-life balance. With the increase of burnout happening more often, it’s absolutely essential to work on your wellness and well being. When you find yourself working long hours, it can be really hard to make yourself a priority. And if you work from home, making yourself a priority can be even more difficult. As much as working from home can be a blessing, it does tend to blur the boundaries of work and play.
As someone who works from home pretty often, I find that I often blur the lines between work and home life. After all, I am home! And while I'm 100% working and staying on task, my mind can't help but wander. "Did I remember to switch the laundry? Let me go check". "I need to buy cat food, let me jot that on my grocery list".
Being able to work from home is a blessing, no doubt about it. But, it can make one a little stir crazy at times, and that's why it's incredibly important to find that balance. Let's take a look at how you can work from home without losing your sanity.
As someone who works from home pretty often, I find that I often blur the lines between work and home life. After all, I am home! And while I'm 100% working and staying on task, my mind can't help but wander. "Did I remember to switch the laundry? Let me go check". "I need to buy cat food, let me jot that on my grocery list".
Being able to work from home is a blessing, no doubt about it. But, it can make one a little stir crazy at times, and that's why it's incredibly important to find that balance. Let's take a look at how you can work from home without losing your sanity.
Ten Ways To Work From Home Without Losing Your Sanity
1. Set Working Hours
It’s easy to think that since you work from the convenience of your home, you can work whenever you want. However, if you don't set specific work hours, you'll never achieve that work-life balance. Can you work during the hours when the kids are in school? How about during the evening, when the little ones are in bed and the house is quiet? The first step to working at home is to establish working hours that suit your lifestyle, and perhaps those of an employer or a client.
2. Maximize Productivity
Once you have your work hours set, you’re going to want to do all you can to increase your productivity, and a daily planner can help you with that. I don't use my planner just for scheduling appointments and meetings--I use it for everything, including that aforementioned grocery list! My planner helps me to stay on task, and keeps me organized and efficient. As I'm working, I keep a running list of things I need to accomplish either by end of day, next day or by deadline. There's plenty of other methods of productivity that will work for you as well, including working in an organized, uncluttered space and making use of online tech tools.
3. Create A Designated Workspace
If you've been working from home for awhile, then you understand how important it is to have a designated work space away from the distractions of home life. A converted basement, attic or garage or even a spare bedroom make great workspaces. Another idea is to convert an outbuilding like a garden shed or garage into the ultimate remote office (and she-space!). If you do decide to remodel your garage, see what Tucson Windows & Doors has to offer in terms of stylish windows and doors. You'll want to be sure your office space is exposed to plenty of natural light.
4. An Organized Desk
Some say a messy desk is the sign of genius, but we disagree. If there's one thing that will make you lose your sanity it's a disorganized desk. Stay on top of desk clutter with these tips:
- Jot notes on a full size desk blotter instead of random slips of paper
- Eliminate clutter by keeping only what you need on your desk top
- Keep small, loose items like paper clips, thumb tacks and extra staples and pens in a desk drawer organizer
- Create an organization station with a pegboard on a wall above your desk
- Move personal items like photos, mementos and the like to floating wall shelves
- Instead of several different desk organizers, use a single organizer that can hold pens & pencils, paper clips, sticky notes and file folders
- Tidy up your desk from time to time throughout the day as you complete each task, and at the end of the day make sure your desk is neat and ready to go for the following day.
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5. Hire Help
Work smarter, not harder. If you feel like you’re becoming overwhelmed with your work load or you're wasting too much time on mundane tasks, it might be time to get some help. Hire an assistant to help you out a few hours a week to assist you in your office. Or, you can hire online experts to help you tackle work projects. Recently, I hired a graphic designer from Upwork to help me design promotional flyers. This project was outside my area of expertise and would have cost me just as much in time and energy to do it myself as it would to hire someone to handle it for me.
6. Stick To A Schedule
Just because you work from home doesn't mean you are obligated to make yourself available to your family during working hours. While your kids may appreciate having mom home all day, they need to understand that you are working and can't be at their every beck and call. You can save your sanity by creating a daily or weekly work schedule and placing it on your fridge or on your family's command center. Give them a set time each day that you are available for calls and texts (say, during lunch and pm scheduled breaks). Unless it's an emergency, ask them to adhere to your schedule.
7. Switch Off
The best way for you to establish any sort of work-life balance is to be sure that you’re switching off of work mode completely. Traditionally, you can leave the office at the end of the day and not have to return until the next day. When you're working from home, well, you are always at the office. Don’t let yourself get dragged into too much thought about work when you’re supposed to be enjoying your down time. Switching off in the evenings is so important to everyone around you.
8. Make The Most Of Downtime
Whether it's evenings or weekends, make the most of your downtime just like you would with any other job. At the end of the day, turn off your office light and shut the door. Read a book, take a bath, enjoy a cup of tea--do something for yourself that helps you to relax and unwind.--and stay away from your office and work related activities until the next workday.
Work smarter, not harder. If you feel like you’re becoming overwhelmed with your work load or you're wasting too much time on mundane tasks, it might be time to get some help. Hire an assistant to help you out a few hours a week to assist you in your office. Or, you can hire online experts to help you tackle work projects. Recently, I hired a graphic designer from Upwork to help me design promotional flyers. This project was outside my area of expertise and would have cost me just as much in time and energy to do it myself as it would to hire someone to handle it for me.
6. Stick To A Schedule
Just because you work from home doesn't mean you are obligated to make yourself available to your family during working hours. While your kids may appreciate having mom home all day, they need to understand that you are working and can't be at their every beck and call. You can save your sanity by creating a daily or weekly work schedule and placing it on your fridge or on your family's command center. Give them a set time each day that you are available for calls and texts (say, during lunch and pm scheduled breaks). Unless it's an emergency, ask them to adhere to your schedule.
7. Switch Off
The best way for you to establish any sort of work-life balance is to be sure that you’re switching off of work mode completely. Traditionally, you can leave the office at the end of the day and not have to return until the next day. When you're working from home, well, you are always at the office. Don’t let yourself get dragged into too much thought about work when you’re supposed to be enjoying your down time. Switching off in the evenings is so important to everyone around you.
8. Make The Most Of Downtime
Whether it's evenings or weekends, make the most of your downtime just like you would with any other job. At the end of the day, turn off your office light and shut the door. Read a book, take a bath, enjoy a cup of tea--do something for yourself that helps you to relax and unwind.--and stay away from your office and work related activities until the next workday.
9. Learn To Say No
Sometimes the pressure from a needy client or frazzled co-worker may have us really questioning our sanity. There's really nothing wrong with saying no to people who drain you of your time and energy--and that holds true for both our personal and professional lives. It's extremely important to set boundaries with pushy or overbearing people in our lives, and sometimes that means simply saying no. "No" is a complete sentence, after all.
Sometimes the pressure from a needy client or frazzled co-worker may have us really questioning our sanity. There's really nothing wrong with saying no to people who drain you of your time and energy--and that holds true for both our personal and professional lives. It's extremely important to set boundaries with pushy or overbearing people in our lives, and sometimes that means simply saying no. "No" is a complete sentence, after all.
10. Stay Present
And finally, our last bit of advice on working from home without losing your sanity: stay present in the moment. If you’re always in your head thinking or planning; or if you’re on your device scrolling through emails and social media accounts, then you’re not making the most of your time. When you consciously aim to be mindful and live in the moment, you’ll be happier and more content--and definitely more sane.
We hope you enjoyed these tips on how to work from home without losing your sanity. Do you have any tips that help you when you're working from home? Share them with us in the comments below.
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