How to maintain a work-life balance when working from home
Sigma School
20th August 2023
The number of tech jobs that offer remote working has skyrocketed in the recent years – with 72% of tech companies offering their employees to work remotely. However, when working remotely work life balance can become a blurred line since your home is also your office or workspace.
Work-life balance is knowing when it’s time to work and when it’s time to log off from your laptop and leave your workspace. When work consumes your life to the point that you spend too many hours working can lead to increased levels of stress and lower your productivity. It can also make you unhappy, decrease motivation and creativity. Having a good work-life balance is crucial to set boundaries preventing burnout and keep yourself healthy – physically and mentally.
Here are some tips on how you can maintain a work-life balance when working from home.
Although working from home means you can just roll out of bed and walk over to your workspace to start your workday, it doesn’t mean that you should. The truth is our bodies need a routine to adhere. Without a routine, it is easy to get lost and end up falling into bad habits that can plummet productivity levels and cause procrastination.
Developing a morning routine to get you ready for work will help you get into your work mode flow better. It can just be getting yourself a morning cup of coffee or getting into morning meditation before starting your workday.
When working from home you might go on your day without taking a lunch break due to being immersed in work. You might even take that lunch break while working on your desk because working from home allows you to do so. If you have trouble remembering that it’s time to take a lunch break, set an alarm for it and another alarm for when it’s time to get back to work. Taking a lunch break is a great way for you to take a break and reenergize yourself for the rest of the day. This also helps you to stay focused when working and eliminate distractions of being hungry and fatigued.
When working remotely you end up socializing lesser as you are now cut off from the causal daily interactions you would usually have when working in the office. But as humans, we are social beings – it is important to take the time to socialize and continue to network and build connections. Working from home takes socialization away from us and for some people it can be lonely to not have interactions throughout the day. Chat with your friends and family or have short calls with your colleagues for a few minutes a day.
A space within your home should be defined by how they are set up to maintain order and purpose for each space. If you are working from home, dedicate a specific area in your house as your workspace. This should be the only place in your house where you do your work. Having a dedicated workspace allows you to focus and mentally get you into a work mode. This will minimize any distractions compared to working in your living room where you usually watch TV or working on your bed – a place for you to sleep and recharge. Working in all the different areas of your house blurs the purpose of each space.
Remember to log off from work once your working hours are over. It’s okay to work overtime on some days where you have urgent tasks to complete but this should not be a recurring thing. It can be difficult to stop working when working from home especially if you are so immersed in your work that you forget the time. If you find yourself constantly working til late, set an alarm on your phone to indicate when the workday is over and stop working.
Working remotely can improve your work-life-balance if you set your boundaries and not let work consume you. How you define work-life-balance while working from home is up to you as it can be different for everyone. And it will take some time to figure out what works best for you.
If working remotely interests you, check out our Complete Software Development Programme to become a Software Developer and work from anywhere!
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