Remote workers pay attention: this is how you achieve more balance between work and private life
Don't ask me how we all managed to pull it off, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that the balance between work and private life has never been this out of whack. Personally, it might be because I work from home more, but my good intentions to establish a real morning, evening, and weekend routine fall apart every week. Instead, I roll out of bed ten minutes before I want to start working, read my emails while brushing my teeth, and as a cherry on top, I now have breakfast with one hand while writing this article with the other. Additionally, I am always busy developing new ideas in my free time, so I can confidently say that my balance between work and private life is now completely disrupted. I often ask myself: in a time when we are always on and our home is our office: when is it time to clock out?
Recognizable? With these tips, you'll create a healthier balance between work and private life in no time.
Avoid your inbox upon waking up
Oh dear, I'm already messing this up. It's just too easy to open your inbox immediately after turning off your alarm. Yet, it's important to leave it alone when you wake up. Didn't you used to find out what was happening at work only when you arrived there? The same goes for group chats. Just because Suzanne from the second floor chooses to keep you updated 24/7 on every tiny development at work doesn't mean you need to respond within 0.3 seconds. My advice: archive all group chats. Guaranteed more peace.
Get out of your clothes
No, I'm not advising you to join the Zoom meeting naked (though that would undoubtedly ensure that no one thinks about work for a moment), but I do advise you to take off your loungewear. As tempting as it is to work in your pajamas all day when you don't have to go anywhere, you won't feel better for it. Train your brain by working in one outfit and relaxing in another. This way, you create a mental and physical separation between work and private life.
Take a break
If no one tells you it's time for lunch or a cup of tea, it's very tempting not to take time for it, resulting in you updating your emails while having lunch behind your laptop (guilty) or realizing at 5:30 PM that you haven't breathed fresh air that day (triple guilty). Even if it's just half an hour, taking a break ensures that you can think clearly for the rest of the day and close your laptop feeling much less overstimulated at the end of the day.
Make a to-do list based on priority
I must admit that I am drowning in to-do lists. I have one on my phone, one in my planner, one in a Word document saved under a name I can't remember, and one on the back of a tax office envelope. So maybe I'm not the best person to take this advice from, but organizing your to-do list into four categories based on priority (urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, not urgent and not important) can help. This way, you create an overview of which tasks need to be done now and which can wait a bit. Note to self: it’s handy to keep that list in one place.
Plan something to look forward to
Set a time with yourself to close your laptop and plan something to look forward to in the evening. It helps you actually log off on time and keep your thoughts off work. This can be as small as starting a new series, calling your friend, or opening your favorite bottle of wine.
Sounds simple enough, right? In my opinion, it's worth a try. Whether I wrote this from under my electric blanket and in my pajamas, I'll leave that for now. Good luck!
Source: Poosh | Image: Netflix, IMDB
