The answer is a resounding YES! With working from home becoming more and more accepted, people are having an even harder time than in the past, separating their work from their home life. Family relationships can quickly be put on the back burner with work taking precedence, especially when it is waiting for you from some back corner in your home. Gone are the nine to five days when you left your job and went home, not thinking about work until the next morning when you were back at the office. With telecommuting, your home is your office, making it difficult to separate the two. How can we take back our personal lives and relationships in a world where increasing technological advances seem to monopolize our time and energy?
1. Scheduling- Working from home is looked upon as offering the ultimate freedom and flexibility in employment. While it does have its benefits, it can also make work become consuming to the point where it is all you are thinking about, and using your bits of spare time at home to complete, time that you would usually be spending chatting with your spouse, children or friends. Scheduling your work to be completed during certain hours of the day can help you mentally separate work and home life. I have found scheduling to be very effective in my work at home career, I usually set aside a ‘schedule planning’ session at the beginning of each week, going over what goals I need to accomplish for work that week, along with what the needs of my family are. It gives me the flexibility to change my work hours as needed to accommodate family relationships and needs.
2. Set Aside Time- Setting aside time to spend with those in your circle of family and friends is a great way to alleviate the sometimes consuming power of working from home. Many times I have given my children and husband something to look forward to, maybe a board game, renting a movie for the evening, taking a walk or going out to dinner. Giving everyone in the house something to look forward to when work time is over greatly helps to cultivate your relationships and keep your work in balance.
3. Take Care of Yourself- This can be the hardest area for many people to spend time on. Making sure you are getting adequate rest, healthy food, exercise and ‘you time’ is essential in keeping the rest of your personal relationships alive and well. It also doubles by keeping your work time productive as well. One thing I have found to be of great importance for myself is sleep, and making sure I am sitting ergonomically correct while working. It is so easy when working from home to slump on the couch with your laptop, or lay in bed while you type up a report and watch TV (at least that’s what I like to do!). Taking care of your body physically will greatly increase your stamina and the energy you will have to devote to your relationships when the work day is over.
Working from home definitely has it’s benefits, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything, however, it does require a balancing act that is many times difficult to manage. Creating a work schedule will help utilize your time effectively and increase your productivity, afterwards rewarding yourself and cultivating your personal relationships with some type of activity away from your desk. Don’t forget to take care of yourself and set aside some time for sleep, recreation and exercise. Adding all of three of these into your telecommuting lifestyle will increase the quality of your relationships and maximize the benefits of working from home.
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