Achieving true work-life balance is difficult at the best of times. The remote working setup that has become commonplace in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the problem further. Now that work occurs in our places of living, the line between working and living has gotten more blurred than ever. It’s that much easier to be pushed into plugging another half-hour’s worth of work in when there isn’t a train to catch or an office visibly emptying around us.
Ironically, this dilemma might be at its height during the holidays, a time that’s ostensibly for rest, relaxation, and reconnecting with loved ones. In reality though, the shutdown that many businesses undergo during the festive season can create tightened deadlines for many deliverables, while colleagues taking extended leave periods can leave teams short-handed. All this adds pressure to the already unrelenting force that work exerts upon the boundaries separating it from our personal lives.
To help remote workers keep their heads above water this holiday season and beyond, we at Safebit Solutions have compiled this list of tips to achieve work-life balance.
Stick to a schedule
Normally, scheduled work hours dictate when you need to be in the office, and when you can leave, with the expectation that hours spent therein are productive for the company. This should also be done when you’re working from home.
Plan your days around a set number of work hours appropriate for your role and responsibilities. And when you find yourself in the thick of things, refer to that schedule and stick to it. Log off at the time you said you would, and treat it with the same level of strictness your boss would impose on your office hours.
You might even find yourself surprised at how productive you get when you’ve imposed strict deadlines on yourself. If your work can’t be completed within a reasonable amount of time, then perhaps the issue is with the expectations set on you.
Take a break
Likewise, when building your schedule, make sure to include enough breaks to give yourself space to rest and recharge throughout the day. Humans haven’t evolved to engage our brains at such consistently high levels for extended periods of time, and doing so regularly will result in stress and burnout.
Giving yourself room to breathe might also give your brain the space and distance to generate some of your best ideas. Inspiration requires a wide berth, so grab a coffee or get some fresh air. It’ll do you good.
Trading places
Being confined to the same environment all throughout the day, for days on end, can really do a number on your psyche. Every now and then, spend your workday at a coffee shop or other public space with an internet connection and other amenities you need to accomplish your tasks. If you do decide to work in a public area, be sure to use a virtual private network (VPN) to secure your connection.
The stimulation from being in a different environment can re-engage your brain, and give you some much-needed space from the distractions of home. At the very least, the Christmas tunes playing on their sound systems and special holiday drinks being plied at this time of year will get you in the festive spirit.
Let’s get physical
The benefits of exercise on stress relief and endorphin-stimulation are well-documented. Use the time saved from your commute to get in an extra workout or two per week, and the results might astonish you. And they’ll help keep the holiday pounds off.
Online shopping is the way to go
Contending with the crowds while doing your holiday shopping is a real killer. Since you’re doing your work remotely, though, there’s no reason you can’t do your shopping remotely too. In this day and age, practically every item will be sold by an online retailer, with nearly all of them delivering our purchases right to our doorsteps. So save yourself the hassle and ditch the trip to the shopping mall.
We at Safebit Solutions wish you a happy and healthy holiday season, and hope the above advice can help make it so. When you’re all set to get back into the thick of things, give us a call to kick-start your business in 2021.
