A Psychologists Guide to Improving your Work from Home Lifestyle
Tags: Mental Illness, Mental Health Awareness, Work From Home, Work Life Balance, Mental Health

With the ability to work from anywhere, the ‘new normal’ has become hassle-free; no traveling and no dressing up. Professionals and students are able to take advantage of this by working from home and creating a flexible schedule to take care of work and personal responsibilities yet, when you exclusively work from home, physical boundaries between work and your personal life can feel virtually non-existent. Even if you’re organized, it can still be difficult to propitiously manage your career and home in the same space, especially if you’re raising a family, too.

Additionally, it’s easy to get distracted when you’re working from home, and you may not be as productive as you’d be in a traditional work setting. This brings in added stress and can make you work odd hours.

This is why it becomes essential to move towards improving this new lifestyle for our well-being. The work-from-home lifestyle requires proper planning and scheduling, time management, and production techniques to help you manage your workday so you can complete the tasks on your to-do list quicker.

Below are some ideas that can help in improving the work from the home lifestyle:

Your workspace at home

Working from home can be a lot more distracting than working from the office. For one thing, you’re alone, without any co-workers nearby to motivate you to stay productive and busy. For another, your home offers more things to do than the office. If you are working from your couch or bed where you normally are enjoying your leisure time, you might get distracted halfway through the day. If you work from your dining room table that’s covered in clutter that needs to be put away, you might end up doing that instead of working.

Instead, choose a spot where you can work productively, and keep that space distinct from other parts of your home so you can unplug from work when you’re done.

Your Office hours

It is ideal that you work only during your work hours. Set a schedule, and try sticking to it! Having clear guidelines for when to work and when to call it a day, can help in maintaining a healthy balance. Try not to let house chores interfere with the tasks of work at hand and vice-versa.

Done for the day

Although being connected and communicative with your colleagues is important, it’s equally important to shut off when the day is over. If you’re available all hours of the day, it will quickly become an expectation and work-life balance will start becoming non-existent.

No matter what you have going on, establish “closing time” for your workday (like 6 pm), and then make sure you’re wrapping up and getting ready to stop working when the cut-off time rolls around. In addition, listen to some of your favorite songs to get de-stressed whilst unwinding.

Your Post-Work Routine

If you’re used to traveling for work, your commute home might have been enough to separate work from the evening, but without the usual commute, make your own ritual to turn your “work brain” off and get into relaxation mode. Try changing clothes (even if you’re changing from one set of pyjamas into another), working out, or even taking a bath to transition out of work mode and into relaxation mode. In addition, try devoting some ‘No Screen time’ to relax your eyes.

In conclusion, shifting the work environment to home has been challenging, but with a few simple changes to your time and routine, you’ll soon find that you can still have a productive workday. Be patient with yourself, along the way!

Author: Ms. Shweta Manghnani

She is a Counselling Psychologist. She is additionally trained in the following areas: Sports Psychology, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Child sexual abuse, Life Skills and is currently pursuing a course on Applied Buddhist Psychology. Her area of expertise lies in working with clients who are experiencing trauma, depression, anxiety-related concerns, and abuse. She additionally creates and facilitates self-exploration sessions for humans who are on a self-awareness journey.

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