Remote working has gone in recent years from being an option for some to a fully mainstream concept. It’s clear that in 2023 it is here to stay, which means millions of people worldwide entering a long adaptational period. While there are undoubtedly benefits of remote working, there are also challenges to be confronted.
Working from home presents specific and new problems for managing your work-life balance. Flexibility and freedom are major benefits of a home office, but these very concepts also present pitfalls related to the poorly defined difference between work time and free time. Indeed, the pros and cons of remote working often stem from the same roots.
Knowing how to effectively and efficiently maintain and manage the division between your working day and your valuable free time is key to making the most of this new form of working. With careful planning and commitment, it is not all that hard at all. You do, however, need to be capable of planning and, crucially, sticking to it and avoiding the temptation to get lazy.
Don’t be afraid to take breaks and manage your time
One of the big advantages of working from home is that you often don’t have to conform to a standard schedule. With much less commuting time being wasted and not necessarily having to match other workers, the chances for flexibility are almost endless. This carries risks, though, with issues such as analysis paralysis and procrastination rearing their ugly heads.
Your eyes need breaks from screens, for example, and long periods remaining seated can lead to strains or even DVT in extreme cases. Video meetings are tiring because of the lag between audio and facial movements. In terms of productivity, it can be very helpful to take a short rest and return refreshed and ready, rather than working at half capacity for long stretches.
Unfortunately, many people internalise their commitments and paradoxically end up devoting more time to work when not being monitored. Without a schedule, it’s easy to forget to take the breaks you’re legally entitled to. Make sure you’re not overworking, and don’t be afraid to message your boss and say you’re popping out to go flower shopping.
Sometimes having everything in front of you can be very distracting – if the dirty plates are in your eyeline, it can be tempting to go and do them and put off an important work task. Make a list of the most important things you must do, and make sure you do them in order. Remember that your life chores are there to be done in breaktime, not worktime.
Having time off in the middle of the day is a great boon, especially for working parents. Make sure you take full advantage if possible and search for ways to make the most of valuable daytime to get things done away from the working environment. That might be doing some shopping, walking dogs or doing the school run. Either way, by taking this time you’ll make your life better and be more productive when you do get back to the computer.
Marking physical boundaries within the house
Your home is now your office, but if you’re not careful that will mean that you end up living in an office. While working from the kitchen table can be seen as cozy, eating at the work desk is often viewed as a dystopian idea.
When your office is also your home, there are a great many distractions to deal with. All the things that are normally out of sight and mind are suddenly front and center. If there are other people in the house, they may be talking to you about other matters and it can be hard to concentrate. It may be wise to set aside time to chat to people and use headphones at other times so that you’re not constantly half-in and half-out of both worlds.
It may be tempting to relax on the sofa when doing some admin, but this is unlikely to be particularly productive time. Choose an appropriate area to zone off for work and try to keep your work environment contained in that space.
Try to think of trips to the kitchen as like going to shops close to an office and your journey from the bedroom in the morning as your commute. The distances in both space and time may be short, but mentally it will help you create a clear divide between your working life and your leisure life. This means you can make sure to enjoy each one for what it is, rather than not engaging with either.
Some people like to dress for work, even if working from the kitchen table. Simply swapping a collared shirt for a lounge sweater can help to change your mindset away from work and towards enjoying free time. By the same token, doing up the buttons and fastening your cufflinks helps you focus on the work at hand.
Choose times to focus and know when to switch off
Not having a fixed schedule can be an issue for remote workers. Ironically, the lack of commute can lead to people arriving late – having no commute often means leaving it to the last minute to start working and then finding delays and distractions. Work starting times become flexible, as do lunchtimes and the end of day.
Related to this is the problem of round-the-clock working. With such blurry lines between hours of work and hours of leisure, it can be easy to fall into the trap of answering emails well into the night, or when in social events. As work encroaches evermore into phone apps, both job-specific software and messaging services such as WhatsApp, it becomes hard to fully switch off. This means you end up never fully at work or leisure.
It’s a good idea to have times when you either disable or simply don’t check certain apps on your phone or computer. If possible, you may even consider two phones or just two numbers: one for work and one from home. While this doubles the number of things to keep track of, it allows you to really leave work in a way that other systems don’t.