How to ‘Turn it Off’ When You WFH
When you’re working from home, it can be difficult to set those same boundaries that you would have in an office environment. Having that home office can really blur the lines between working and non-working hours. You don’t clock in and out in the same way that you do when you enter an office. It can be very easy to allow the work guilt to nag at you from your laptop or smart phone and pull you into working above and beyond your agreed upon hours – especially if you are a business owner. But there are some things you can do to reinforce those boundaries and take back your home life.
Separate Your Work Space from Your Home Space
This is so important! I know that not everyone will have a designated office in their home, and that is okay. But, if you can create a mobile office space or carve out an area in your home that will only (or mostly) be used during working hours than that is just as good! Maybe you have a kitchen table that can double as your office desk during working hours and then when your day is complete, you can clear away your laptop, notebooks and files. Or if you need a more permanent work station, think about a smaller desk that can be incorporated into your home’s décor that can house a desktop computer and keyboard as well as your notes and files. Try to have this area in a corner or off to the side so that when the computer is turned off and your work is put away it isn’t an eyesore dragging you back to check on your emails.
Set Your Working Hours
This is so important to do whether you are a business owner or an employee. While the pressure to be available 24/7 is absolutely present when you work from home, you don’t have to give into it. If you are having a hard time sticking to your set working hours – your 9am start has steadily gotten earlier and earlier until you find yourself logging in at 7:45am – then try setting alarms on your phone to designate your work start, breaks, and work end times. Make a pact with yourself that no matter what emails or phone calls come in outside of those alarm times, you will not respond to them. Having that audible reminder will help to hold you accountable to the terms of your work and will also remind you to take breaks!
Maintain a Pre-Work Routine
It can be very tempting to roll out of bed and get right to work, but by creating or maintaining the routine you would have if you were going into an office, you’ll create that extra separate between your work and home life. We have a great blog post on ‘How to Motivate Your Mornings’ to help you with this! You will definitely see the benefit of taking the time to still ‘get ready’ for work, even if that just means washing your face, re-tying back your hair, and putting on clean lounge clothes for those days that are video-call-free.
Give Yourself Time to Decompress
As with any job, there are going to be good days and tough days. If you were commuting to and from work, that travel time home would have been your designated time to review the day you just had and mentally decompress from it. When you’re working from home, you don’t always have that option available to you. So, it’s time to create it! Allot yourself 30 minutes after your work day ends to either hash out with a partner or friend the high and low points of your day, making a deal that once those 30 minutes are up, it’s time to let it go. Another great way to decompress is to exercise! Take yourself for a walk or a run, do some yoga, put on a workout video, or simply meditate. Whatever it takes to clear your mind so that you can switch gears to focusing on you and your home life.
It is absolutely possible to take back your home life when the lines have more than blurred between your work-life balance. Sticking to your goals and agreements will make you a more productive worker in the long run and will eliminate the resentment that can sometimes slip in when your home becomes more of a workplace than you every thought it would be!
