With the advancement in information and technology, remote work has become not only a reality but a new normal. You may think that it must be the panacea for work-life balance.
While remote work does offer some degree of flexibility, it doesn’t always lead to a better balance between work and life.
It’s because remote working often results in more hours at work. Studies suggest that 53% to 65% remote workers report working longer than their office hours.
For people used to the 9 to 5 in-office work model, remote working looks like a dream come true! You don’t have to wake up at a fixed time, polish your shoes, iron your clothes, take a quick breakfast, pack your lunch, and dress up for the office.
The daily commute, navigating the traffic, and all such hassles are jettisoned. Now, instead of polishing your shoes and ironing your clothes, you can drink your coffee and work in pyjamas!
You can lie on the mattress and lean against the cushion as you work on your laptop lying down. There’s no one to watch you and make observations.
This level of flexibility was never possible in traditional offices. If you are working remotely, you must be thankful for your luck. As per a study, 91% remote workers report a positive experience due to time flexibility,
Did you realise that while working remotely, you miss the conversations and laughter that you would have with your colleagues in your office? True, office toxicity is another plus that you have put a full stop to by choosing to work remotely.
However, as many as 47% of remote workers express concern about the blurred lines between their jobs and personal lives.
In this blog, I’m sharing 7 work-life balance tips for remote workers that will help you live a mindful life.
Define Your Ideal Work-Life to Create a Balance
When you’re working remotely, you tend to break free from the 9-to-5 schedule. You keep some work aside to do it later.
If you are in a demanding job, it’s likely that with the flexibility that remote working brings, you will soon appear to be always-on with your work.
With this comes your work hours, eating into what should be your social, family, and recreational times. If not checked in time, this is a perfect recipe for skewed work-life balance, exhaustion, and burnout.
Can we manage our work-life balance better while working remotely? Yes, we can! The idea of this blog is to provide you with a roadmap and some effective tips to manage your work-life balance.
What is work-life balance anyway, you may wonder.
Typically, corporate life demands at least 40% hours a week. Senior executives often spend more time working. And those who look for fast growth will put in more hours even without asking.
With this as a backdrop, your time for personal and social life is significantly truncated. So, you may ask how much time you should give to your work and your personal and social life.
Should it be divided equally, giving 50% of the time to your work and 50% to yourself to strike a work-life balance?
The answer is it should not be considered only in terms of the number of hours, which is, of course, an important consideration, though.
You must give yourself enough time to feel comfortable, rested, and free from worries. You should not have to miss your workout, meditation, breakfast, and sleep.
In short, you should define your ideal work-life balance and pursue it with sincerity.
Is this possible at all, you may think. Yes, it’s possible if you look at the problem mindfully and follow some guidelines to set it right.
Here are 7 work-life balance tips if you’re a remote worker:
Tip 1: Set a Consistent Routine and Stick to It
Even if remote working offers you flexibility, it’s a good idea to allocate a fixed number of hours and follow a strict schedule for work.
It lets you plan other things in your life, ensuring other important aspects of your life are not ignored or overlooked.
How about chatting with your friend, going for a walk in the park, or spending time with the family? These are as essential for life as your job itself.
When you set a routine and allocate time for everything, including your work, you have created a winning formula. The only thing that can stop you from achieving your goals, especially creating a work-life balance, is not following your routine.
If you follow mindful living and journal your feelings and observations, you could see what stops you from following your routine. Once the problems are identified, you have half won the battle. Be conscious of following your routine.
Tip 2: Set Boundaries & Communicate Clearly
Work and life should have clear boundaries. But this is not achieved unless you communicate these boundaries clearly to everyone who matters.
For example, if you have set up a small workstation at home, you must clearly tell your family and friends that you are not available during work hours.
Similarly, you should tell your seniors at work that, beyond the fixed working time, you are not available for work or meetings.
You have fixed your priorities and timings for everything, and you would not like to disrupt them.
While it may seem a bit too much not to be flexible on your part, it eventually lets things fall into their place, ensuring a better work-life balance.
Setting boundaries and communicating them clearly to everyone concerned is the first prerequisite for a work-life balance.
Tip 3: Designate Specific Workspaces for Physical Separation
Making a routine and setting boundaries may not work optimally until you have separated things physically.
For example, working from your drawing room will always keep you vulnerable to distractions unless you are living alone.
If you have family members in the house, their activities will cause distractions, leading you to achieve less during your work hours.
But if you set up your workspace in a place that is physically separated from the house, you can experience more mindfulness and concentrate better on your work.
It will result in not only better results but also a higher level of satisfaction with your work. Working from a co-working space is another good option.
Here, it’s entirely a professional and work environment. You will feel as if working in an office while you have all the flexibility of taking coffee breaks or taking a rest after putting in a few hours of non-stop work.
Tip 4: Make More Time for What Matters
With just 24 hours in a day and so many things to do, setting priorities and managing time are very important. Time management is consciously controlling the time you spend on different activities.
It is driven by the pursuit of increasing efficiency and productivity.
If your work demands more time, should you cut down on the time you have kept aside for other activities?
You must know that you can’t do everything in a day. If there are some sudden and pressing issues that need your attention and time, you need to think about them and see how you can manage time for such issues.
If you prioritize something, it should not be at the cost of some other important tasks. You have to find and manage time for both.
How about delegating work to someone who is looking for part-time jobs? And if you do the household chores yourself, you can consider finding help so that you’ve more time for important tasks.
Tip 5: Use Your Energy Mindfully
You would realise that there are periods in a day when your energy level is high. Similarly, you will find your energy level dipping at some point in time.
When your energy level is high, you can carry out difficult tasks easily. In the same way, when you feel low, even easier tasks can look formidable.
Keeping this in mind, you can plan your work day. Take up difficult tasks when you are high on energy. When you are not at your best, you can work on assignments that require little effort.
You should think and plan in a way that maintains your energy when you need it. You should make time for yourself and do things that keep your mood and energy level elevated.
To clearly identify these periods, you should approach everything with mindfulness. Regular journaling can help you identify these periods and plan your day accordingly.
Tip 6: Take Control of Your Devices
If you are not mindful of how you use different gadgets, you may end up wasting a lot of precious time.
Take the example of your smartphone. The first thing a lot of people do when they wake up in the morning is grab their phones and scroll through social media, check emails, and WhatsApp messages.
The question is, are you really ready to deal with the kind of information overload you’re going to receive the first thing in the morning?
How about waking up to a morning that’s entirely yours? How about having a mindful morning routine?
Giving time to yourself to build the resilience that will pull you through the difficult and tense moments in the day could be a better choice.
Similarly, using your devices till late at night can hamper your sleep, making you wake up the next morning tired and drained.
You should use your gadgets more smartly so that it doesn’t leave a negative impact on you.
Wrapping Up – 6 Work-Life Balance Tips for Remote Workers
Remote working is one of the blessings of modern times. Studies suggest that up to 91% of remote workers believe that remote work helps them balance their work-life balance.
The flexibility that remote working offers saves time and reduces stress. It also increases productivity as remote workers often tend to work for longer hours.
However, it is actually in putting in longer hours that the problem starts.
For many people, remote working results in blurred lines between work and personal life. In many cases, it also leads to burnout symptoms.
According to studies, remote workers, on average, work 3 hours more per day. About 67% of remote workers feel pressure to be available all day long.
To save themselves from such negative impacts, remote workers need to plan and ensure their work-life balance. It starts with mindfulness.
When you become conscious of the adverse fallouts of remote working, you tend to search for remedies. In this blog, we have detailed 7 important tips that can save you from the negative fallouts of remote working.
FAQs – Work-Life Balance Tips for Remote Workers
How can you maintain a work-life balance while working remotely?
There are a few things you can do to maintain a work-life balance while working remotely. First of all, you should designate a specific workspace, which is physically separated from the rest of your home.
It ensures you don’t get distracted during your work hours. Secondly, you should set clear start and end times for your workday. You should inform your colleagues about the timing you’re available for work.
This will ensure a work-life balance for you as a remote worker.
What is the 20-20-20 rule of work-life balance?
Working continuously with a computer leads to eye strain and fatigue. The 20-20-20 rule recommends that for every 20 minutes of screen time, you should look at an object 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.
Besides providing a micro break during your work from home, it relaxes your eye muscles and helps you with your overall well-being.
How to separate work and life when you WFH?
You should create a physical and psychological separation between your work and life. Besides creating a separate workspace, you should also exercise a fake commute to your work and back home.
You can use separate devices for work and personal life. Switch off all your personal devices during work and office devices after work. You can do the same for notifications.
What is your most successful strategy for working remotely?
The most successful strategy is taking a flexible approach wherein you don’t allow interruptions during deep work blocks. However, you can allow for personal breaks during the period when work is less demanding.
For this, you need to create a structured schedule for your work and life. Data shows that employees who customize their remote work schedule report better work-life balance and higher productivity.
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