While the global spread of COVID-19 continues to keep people working at home, some may have noticed a few difficulties in finding a balance between work-life and home-life. If you are new to this work-from-home lifestyle, whether it’s due to the coronavirus pandemic or because you’ve found a remote-based job, you will need to change your routine and habits to make working from home successful. Here are some tips on how to stay focused while balancing your new remote work-life and home-life.
Maintain regular hours
It may seem unnecessary to hold regular work hours while working remotely, but this is the key to maintaining a better work-life balance. While some may admire a work-from-home schedule due to its flexible hours, starting and stopping throughout your workday can cause a lack of productivity. Setting a plan and sticking to it will help you have more precise guidelines for when to work and when to call it a day. Ultimately, this will allow you to get more work done effectively.
Keep a designated space
When telecommuting, anywhere can be your office. While the weather may be beautiful outside, you should try to find one place to work from in your home, primarily. If you do not have a designated office space in your home, some alternatives can be used as an at-home office like a garage, attic, closet, or dining room. Finding a dedicated space to get your work done will help you keep your productivity up while staying centralized and focused.
Get organized
While you may be having a work-from-home lifestyle for an extended period of time, it is always better to over-prepare than to under-prepare. Gather all work projects, reports, or any other necessities you may need in order to complete each task. Keep lists of things that need to get done for the day or set reminders of important dates in a planner. Being organized allows you to stay productive.
Create boundaries
Think you may have had an issue with checking your work emails late at night before? Well, you may discover the real challenge of working from home. It is imperative to establish boundaries when you are working from home. If it is the middle of the day, and you are taking a lunch break and have your laptop open at the same time, you may be tempted to go through work emails or finish up things. However, you should avoid doing this. It’s important to designate time for yourself, or you might find yourself working 24/7.
Ignore distractions
When your home and office are the same, it can be challenging to put off distractions, whether it be dirty dishes or mounds of laundry. If you don’t ignore these distractions, you’ll find that you are getting far less into work. So, try eliminating distractions before your workweek and focus on the work you have in front of you.