Maintaining a good work-life balance can be difficult. It can become an even bigger challenge when you’re working from home and are unable to separate where you work from where you live. These five tips, though, can help you manage that distinction, stay productive, and prevent burnout!
1. Keep a dedicated work space separate from other areas
Think of it this way — you’re not only working from home, you’re living at work. And blurring the two areas together too much can make it tough to keep a healthy proportion between them. While it can be all too easy to relax and take your mind off tasks at hand when you’re working from your bed, it can also become difficult to relax and get an adequate amount of sleep when you’ve become used to working in bed. Keeping separate places for you to work and to unwind helps you maintain a proper balance between the two, allowing you to focus when you need to study and settle back during your off-hours and ultimately helping you be not only more productive but also healthier.
2. Set regular working hours
Getting into a work mindset is much more manageable when a schedule has been made and put into practice, and this allows you to ensure enough time is being spent on your tasks. Equally important, though, is that you don’t overwork yourself. Get into a routine of starting and stopping at certain times, so that you don’t experience burnout by sitting and working at your desk non-stop and late into the evening.
3. Manage distractions
Even when you have a daily schedule planned out and a designated work area in which to study, the temptation to pull out your phone and check Twitter is still strong. There are ways to mitigate this, however. Several free and paid apps — such as Freedom, StayFocused, and many more — allow you to block certain websites at certain times on your devices. This way, you can stay productive and won’t have to worry about crunch time for tasks that have been procrastinated on.
4. Take breaks
Sitting in one place and working without breaks is a recipe for burnout. In order to keep a healthy balance between life at your job and life outside of your job (especially when working remotely), it’s important to take breaks. This can be getting some exercise, doing some relaxing self-care, making sure you don’t eat lunch in front of your computer every day, whatever you need to clear your mind and have some separation from your job for a bit.
5. Ask for help if you need it
Finally, never hesitate to ask for help when you need it. Reaching out can be difficult when all of the interactions have been long-distance, but holding back will only hinder you. Whether you need help understanding a task, navigating remote tools, or are simply hitting a wall from working remotely, find someone you can reach out to who can answer your questions or offer you support.