7 Ways to Reclaim Your Work-Life Balance Now You're Working at Home

It’s perfectly natural to miss your work colleagues, the communal environment and the structure it all gives you. That’s why we want to spend just a couple of minutes giving you a few ideas on how you can reclaim your work-life balance and really get the most out of remote working.

Let’s dive right in...

1. Learn to say no when you need to

People will always ask you to do more work, especially when you’re replying quicker than normal because you’re stuck at home without a whole lot to do. But don’t make agreeing to everything a habit, because before you know it you’ll be snowed under and working all hours. And that’s never a good thing…

2. Lock your laptop away on the weekends

Working from home doesn’t mean working 24/7. Locking your laptop away out of sight is the best way to keep it out of mind. If possible, choose a room, shut the door, and try not to go in there until Monday. You’ll be amazed at just what a difference having a break makes to your energy levels and motivation.

3. Restrict email with your phone

If you’re sitting on the couch playing with your phone in the evenings, you’ll be checking your work email before you know it. Once you do that, you might as well be stuck back at your desk. Adding screen time restrictions and access times to your email is a simple way to give yourself access during work hours and a break once you’re done for the day.

4. Use your commuting time to do something different

One of the real bonuses is that you don’t have to waste hours every week stuck in traffic, so why not use that time to do something else? You could start and finish your work early and then spend your commuting time reading, learning a new skill or working out if you have a few bits of exercise kit in the garage. No matter what you do, really make the time count and you’ll feel a little balance return to your life.

5. Structure your week to always have weekends off

If you plan to have your weekends off then you will, and if you don’t, you probably won’t. It’s simple when you put it like that, so make this the week you really focus on what you want to do this weekend and start planning for it accordingly. The break will do you the world of good.

6. List key events on the kitchen calendar

There’s still plenty to look forward to, so make sure you’re still filling out the calendar. Having something outside of work to look forward to is so important, especially if you’re stuck at home. Aim for at least one thing a week and you’ll find you start to put work back in its box and have plenty more time and energy to enjoy yourself.

7. Remember that it won’t last forever

If you’re struggling with your motivation and focus this is such a key thing to remember. This isn’t going to last forever; we don’t know quite how long right now, but not forever. If you can start thinking of it as a way to make some really great changes in your life, like reducing your screen time or eating better, why not go for it? All these things will help get that elusive work-life balance of yours back on track.

Struggling With Productivity?

Did you see our Top 5 Tips For Being Productive When Working From Home published last summer? Leadable is a 100% remote company, so we've been fortunate enough to be able to learn remote work best practices over time and will be posting more ideas and tips like this on the Leadable LinkedIn page. We post content updates once or twice a week and hate spammers as much as the next person, so if you choose to follow, you can rest assured we’ll never start doing it!