Working from home is a dream job for most. You get to set your own hours, work in your pajamas, and go to meetings without having to leave your house, not to mention the money you save on gas, eating out, and work clothes.
However, many Americans have reported that working from home makes it hard and stressful to find a work-life balance. While many have headed back into a brick-and-mortar workplace since lockdowns were lifted, some have chosen to work from home full-time.
So how do you strike a work-life balance that you can deal with? How do you keep from being anxious and stressed when you work from home? We’ll give you a few of our top tips in the blog below.
Do What You Love
Questions such as “how much do therapists make” are still prevalent on Google searches, but so are questions such as “what can I do from home that I love.” If you’re lucky and get your degree as a therapist, you might be able to make good money at it and still work from home.
This holds for anything you love; if you’re working from home doing what you love, you won’t be nearly as stressed.
Set Aside Private Time
Whether it’s setting up your bedroom as a retreat or erecting a she-shed in the backyard, you have to have a place to go to unwind and just be by yourself. Self-care is essential to remaining stress-free when you work from home.
It’s important to note that you won’t be leaving home to work anymore, so it’s easy to forgo the activities you usually engage in and not leave the house. Many home workers have reported not leaving the house for days at a time, except for groceries.
You can remedy this by setting aside private time, whether it’s reading in your bedroom or scheduling a yoga session that you don’t miss at least once a week.
Limit Your Digital Distractions
We’ve all been there. You’re steadily working; a notification comes in from Facebook that you’ve been waiting on, and the next thing you know, it’s been three hours, and no work has been done. Digital distractions have been the downfall of many people who have chosen to work from home.
You can limit distractions by turning off notifications for emails, social media, and anything else you can’t resist checking when they pop up in the corner of your computer.
If possible, leave your phone in another room during work hours, and listen to music that won’t distract you while you work. Just these simple things can limit your digital distractions, which means you won’t end up behind, and you’ll be less stressed because of it.
Organize Your Work and Your Space
When you work from home, there’s very little more stressful than having to get up every five minutes to hunt for something you need to complete your work. Not only is this stressful, but it’s also time-consuming. Organize your space and your work before you begin in the mornings. It’s probably best to take the time at night to organize your office and plan out what you have to do the next day. This way, you’re ready to go when you step into your office the following morning.
When it comes to working from home, there are a lot of positives. However, this type of job can be just as stressful, sometimes more so than leaving the house to go to a 9 to 5 job every day. Following the tips above should help you to minimize some of that stress by helping you organize your day and still take time for yourself in between.