Lately my life has gone into "busy mode", but as those of us who work for ourselves often say, it's the good kind of busy. Working from home I often work late into the night and then I'm right back at it the next morning (sometimes without enough sleep). I really love the work I do...I might even be a bit obsessed, and so often it's really hard for me to push away from my desk. While I enjoy the work, lately my apartment is beginning to feel like an office where I also sleep instead of the place I come home to.
If you also work from home, or even if you just often bring your work home with you, you likely know the feeling. You work until you're exhausted and when you go to bed you dream about work. You get to work in the morning before you've even had a coffee or a bite to eat, and even when you're watching TV, your laptop is open so you can continue working even when you should be enjoying some down time.
Winter is coming, which for me usually means I'm more productive as I lock myself away to avoid the cold. This means I need to work harder on balancing my work and personal time since I have no patio to escape to, and no bike trails to spend a warm afternoon exploring. This winter I've committed to maintaining a more balanced work/personal life, and so I'm working on some ground rules to hopefully make sure when I'm relaxing at home, I'm actually able to relax:
No working from the couch, or worse, working from bed
Sloping on the couch or lying in bed with my laptop is admittedly a terrible posture for getting things done. My couch needs to be a place I go to relax, to play guitar, to watch a movie.
No working while I eat
In the morning, I need to make breakfast before I get to work, and sit at the dining table and enjoy my meal. When I eat when I work I tend to eat everything so fast I'm not even satisfied, as if I didn't even notice I ate.
Setting regular hours and scheduling down time
This one is hard since my schedule changes frequently during the week based on client needs, but I need to recognize the need for flexible space in my daily schedule where nothing is planned, and I can just do nothing.
Buffer work and sleep
If I'm working through a really difficult problem late at night, and I really need to get some rest, I really need to be careful to buffer work and sleep. When I go to bed with a problem on my mind, my brain works all night trying to solve it. The problem is the next morning I'm just exhausted with no tangible solution. I need time offline, to read a chapter of that book I've been neglecting so when I go to sleep my brain can focus on something less stressful than work.
Get some exercise
This is a big one since right now I catch my self sitting for hours on end. If my only exercise is pacing around the room to solve a problem in my head, then clearly I need to take some time to go for a walk, do some Yoga, or hit the gym. Exercise is great for relieving stress, and more than that, It's just another thing I can do and schedule which isn't just sitting at my laptop.
Be distracted for the right reasons
If you have a pet you likely have moments where your dog or cat wants your attention so bad they'll just plow through whatever you're doing to get it. My cat will literally sit on my hands in front of my laptop every morning until I pet her. I have a tendency to ignore this as a distraction, but maybe it's better to just take the time to give the cat the attention she needs which gives me an added break in the day.
When my partner gets home everyday I'm often barely able to peal myself away from what I'm doing to say hello. What I should do is pause what I'm doing, and unwind for a second, listening, and paying attention to my life. Work is important, but only because it lets you enjoy the things you're supposed to like the company of those you care about.
I'm going to do my best to maintain these guidelines over the winter, because as much as I love my work, I realize I feel much better when my life is more balanced. These are just personal guidelines, and I'm sure those of you who share similar concerns might have suggestions of how the list can improve. Feel like you're living out of your office instead of working from home? Drop me a line in the comment section below and share your own tips or plans for living in a more balanced way while working at home.
(Images: Sean Rioux)
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the picture gives an obvious answer, have a cat! they put work, play and rest in the proper perspective. Actually they don't care as long as you're still for them to sit on.
My cat has this same problem. He's such a work-a-holic!
Even when I lived in a studio apartment, I found a way to create a small work area in a corner of the living room. Being able to section off work from your personal life makes a huge difference in your quality of life.
I keep regular hours and tuck my work laptop into a bureau in the dining room (where I work) at quitting time. Everything work related gets tucked away and it becomes a dining room again. I don't have work email on my phone, so I can't get sucked back in during my play hours.
You used "your" when it should've been "you're" three times. :(
You also wrote "now bike trails" rather than "no bike trails"....hehe
I have an office at home - meaning one bedroom is designated as my office.
Fortunately, I don't work from home too often, only sometimes for half a day or so.
So when I am done, I leave the "office" bedroom and party with my dogs in the living room.
Don't work in your pjs. Get up, take a shower, and get dressed, then sit down and work. It makes it easier to transition.
I work from home two to three days a week. In the past, I've worked from home full time. One of the ways that I manage to keep focused and on task is to change things in my environment that are different from personal time. This lets my brain know it's time to get things done instead of just goof off on the internet.
The two changes that seem to do the trick for me most of the time are changing where I work and what background noise is present. I tend to do my personal computing from my living room. When I'm working, I sit at dining table. I tend to have the TV on when I'm doing personal computing. When I'm working, I put on music on instead.
If I find myself having a hard time sticking to the task at hand in the future, I'll make another change from the way I do things when I'm just sitting at home. Maybe I'll pick a certain cup and only drink from it during the work day and never when I'm not working.
Why do people always say 'hit the gym'? What's wrong with 'go to the gym'?
I have been doing work from the house all year and actually seem to violate most of these rules....I really enjoy working from bed (I create and edit financial content)....and it keeps the dogs quiet....and the TV is usually on.
But then I am used to working on a trading floor -- so background noise is essential.
one tip for working from home: flip on soundrown.com on your speakers and immerse yourself!
The "your"s were really distracting, and so was "peal" (should have been "peel").
I might be a raging minority, having a child with severe special needs. However, when work needs be done, it is done after schoolruns ( this gives me 2-3 hours ) and then after my son´s sleeping. And then nights. You do the math. On regular basis I get a nanny for few hours and that´s when I set a timer for him to designate the time mommy can not be disturbed. Unless the house is on fire. Other than that, I´m on my work-mode.
But to put it in general terms, I only work from the office area, other than every morning I open my planner on the dining table while I do my lists and plan the day ahead ( i all honesty, this is usually done during previous evening but this gives me mental space to reflect upon upcoming tasks ). I do purdy well considering that I´ve made it a house rule of sorts that everything has a home and everything needs to live in its home. My papers live in office area and to get work done, I go to their home to get it done.
But I suppose everybody is different when it comes to working and time- management. I´ve found what works for me.
These are great tips. I too have a hard time separating work from home and could use some new tactics to get myself to separate and relax more!
Now that I am working from home more I have got myself a desk and made a designated work space. I need boundaries or else my work spreads throughout the house.
A cat is a good option too, my cat will stand on my desk and meow if its dinner/ hug time!
This is a great reminder and I can also pat myself on my back for getting work/personal life balance 80% right. I have been working from home for the last 6 years and love it. I do work for a company and keep strict rule that I keep my work hours in working hours. I love the distraction my cat brings - it should be a golden rule to have a pet if working from home. Lucky you and lucky pet :)
I agree with so many. I recently wrote a post on tips for working from home as well, which can be found here: http://www.pollinapr.com/2012/10/31/how-to-work-from-home/. I'm also all about the lists to keep on track when working from home which is one thing you didn't mention!
Where do all of you work from home? My company is just starting virtual offices in some areas but alas, not in mine. It's difficult to find an at-home position without tenure with a company or running into scams.