Are you working from home? Or Is home becoming work?

With the arrival of Covid 19, many aspects of our lives have changed. We have had to adapt to new ways of socialising, communicating and working to help prevent the spread of this deadly virus. Working from home is a brand-new concept for many of us, meaning the lines between our personal and professional lives are blurred. When we don’t have clear boundaries, our home life can feel exhausting and the working day never ends! Here are our top tips for separating your work and personal life while working from home.

Set a schedule

It might feel unnecessary to hold regular work hours when working from home – the point of flexible working is to be flexible, right? But if you start and finish work at different times during the day it can have a bad effect on your relationship with your job and impinge on quality family or home time. It can also affect your productivity making deadlines harder to work towards. It also means your mind is always in work mode, and your colleagues assume it’s ok to contact you any time of the working day or into the evening. Setting boundaries and a regular working schedule means you can also plan for important rest time without the nagging worry of work.

Your working space

The best part about remote working is the ability to get in touch with your team no matter where you are, whether you’re working in a coffee shop or need to take a call while out and about. When considering your working space, you should try to keep it to one area or room in your house. You may not have the space to convert an old bedroom or attic into an office but having a dedicated desk or space to work from will help you to be more organised and compartmentalise your working life. Even if you just do the bulk of work from your dedicated space, it keeps you focused and centralised. You might consider renting private office space from Premier Business Centres on occasion or for a short-term basis if you can’t focus in your ‘home office’.

Ignore Distractions

If you’re working from home, distractions are plentiful. From pets, children and post being delivered, it’s easy to get swept up in home life or have your mind on housework or home-schooling when you have work to do. It’s harder than it seems when you see a pile of washing or a full sink that needs to be washed but try to keep your working hours dedicated to work. If you dedicate a specific number of hours per day to focus solely on work, you’ll be more motivated to get your work done quickly so you have more time to catch up with housework or children.

Set personal boundaries

Unless you’re a company CEO, you’re probably not being paid enough to check emails, return calls, and dedicated your entire life to your job. Setting not only time boundaries but mental ones too, allows you to enjoy your personal life without constantly worrying about work and what you think you ‘should be doing’. Boundaries differ from person to person. If you find yourself waking up and immediately checking your emails, or with the laptop on the kitchen counter which you prepare dinner, maybe your boundary could be banning work at mealtimes or enjoying breakfast before starting your work day. Setting boundaries will ultimately make you a better, stronger, and happier worker and person.

Talk to your employer

If you are finding it difficult to work from home, now is the time to speak to your employer about alternatives or supports that they may be able to offer. Don’t let the situation get to a point where your work is suffering, and your employer starts to notice. There are government supports ranging from counselling to time management services available free of charge. Your employer may work with you to help ease your workload or make working from home more manageable before it becomes a problem.

Working from home is a challenge, especially when its new to you and you don’t have a choice. Premier Business Centres offer a range of services to make your business or working day run more smoothly, from virtual offices to fully serviced offices. 

Contact our General Manager, Therese Mullane, or any of our friendly team for more information or to arrange a virtual show around of any of our office spaces.