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Tips for work-life balance while working from home

Working from home can complicate work and home. Here are tips for organizing workflows and personal spaces.
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If you’re lucky enough to continue to work from home during the reopening phases of our state, congrats. But working from home doesn’t come without its own challenges. It can be difficult to separate work and home life. Failing to do so can lead to burnout, apathy, stress, low productivity and strained relationships.
As someone who’s worked from home for almost a year now, not much has changed for me. I thought I’d share a few tips that I’ve learned to create a clear division between your work from home life and your personal life. 

Setup Your Work Space

Now that my partner and I are both working from home full time, there are shared spaces and there are private spaces. My workspace is in a separate part of my home and I’ve put up a temporary kiddie gate to keep out boys and pets. The visual barrier is enough to trigger your mind that personal stuff happens on one side of the gate and work stuff happens on the other side. 
While it may be tempting to hang out on your back patio with your laptop, don’t. That space is for chilling and relaxing, not working; and vice versa. In your dedicated workspace, try not to let personal tasks like laundry invade. Try to educate the kiddos that it’s an “adult-only” space. 

Create Opening and Closing Routines 

Creating a set of steps that starts your day or ends your day can signal a divide in work/personal time. For example, each morning before I sit down at my desk I “open” the studio. I open the front door, I open the blinds, turn the lights on, light a candle, etc. I do similar actions when “closing up shop” at the end of the day. I turn the lights off, close the blinds, shut and lock the door, restart my computer. It creates a mentality of being done for the day, even if I am only walking into the kitchen in the next room. 
Doing an activity to unwind from work mode can also help. For many, it’s a workout. Take a walk around the block, drive to the store and back, or read a book for 20 minutes. A short mental break to allow your mind to transition into home mode will make you a little easier to be around. 

Establish Tech Boundaries 

If you’re answering emails on your couch at 9 p.m. and also shopping on Amazon during Zoom meetings, the lines can get pretty blurry. Create set boundaries, only check work emails during work hours and only do laundry during personal time. I get that multitasking is part of the appeal of working from home. And it can be a big time-saver, but there’s a better way to do it. (More on that next.)

Set Aside Time for Personal Tasks

Only doing laundry or prepping for dinner after work hours isn’t always possible, but putting aside designated time for it will keep you more organized and productive.
On Sunday night or Monday mornings, I make a list of the most important items on my to-do list. Then depending on my schedule for the week, I’ll allot “downtime or personal time” for an hour or so on a certain day to tackle things like laundry, grocery shopping, yard work, etc.
Work out a system that works for you. Maybe you need an hour several days a week to do this or one big chunk of time per week but make sure to use that time for mental health too. 
It doesn’t take a major overhaul to strike a better work/ life balance when operating from home. Try little things for a week and see if it helps. Everyone’s situation is different so find what works for your household and tweak it along the way. 

Thanks to Daily Advertiser.

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