When your home becomes your full-time office, setting work boundaries is key to ensuring you stay productive and protect a healthy work-life balance. Try implementing these five tips to create a separation from your work life and home life.
Setting Work Boundaries While Working From Home to Achieve Positive Work-Life Balance – 5 Helpful Tips
1. Create a home office space
Getting in the mindset to work can be made easier by setting up a dedicated workspace. Even in a small living space, creating an area to store your files, set up your computer, and minimize distractions will encourage you to be productive from the minute you sit down. Check out these tips for setting up a home office in any-sized space.
2. Set your work hours and be ready on time
Setting work boundaries around the hours you are available to work and take meetings will help you make the transition between working and relaxing a little easier. Additionally, be ready to work when your working hour arrives, just like you would if you went into the office. Spending time getting up to get coffee, get dressed, or make breakfast right at the beginning of your day can stop you from getting things done until late into the morning.
3. Snooze your emails and notifications
Just because you’re always near your computer does not mean you should be responding to emails all evening. Snooze your email alerts and chat notifications after your working hours expire and even take a few hours away from your devices completely. There’s no better way to ensure your work-life balance than by putting your devices out of sight and out of mind for a while.
4. Connect with coworkers
If you miss the decompression and team building that you get by spending time with coworkers, make time and space to connect with them virtually. Set up team lunches, check-ins, or after-work happy hours to keep those bonds even while you’re out of the office.
5. Take breaks
When you aren’t running into coworkers, participating in brainstorms, or having face-to-face meetings, your daily screentime can go way up. Setting work boundaries also means that you keep yourself and your body healthy, which means regular time away from your screen during the workday. Build in breaks to decompress, and resist the urge to scroll through social media during that time. Setting work boundaries is a good thing for you and your company. You’ll maximize your productivity, keep your enthusiasm up for your work, and ensure that you’re doing the best possible work you can do.
For more talk about the new normal and what marketers need to know during these uncertain times, check out this special episode of the Ultimate Marketer podcast!