Millions of professionals were forced to take up remote working in the past couple of years. Unfortunately, while a typical work from home day provided much appreciated flexibility and took away long commute hours, it also resulted in long working hours and increased meetings.
The study also revealed that many were struggling to maintain work life boundaries.
Many of us are struggling, which can be because of many factors like not having anything else to do and juggling work and life at home. Additionally, unlike when we used to work from the office, there is no specific lunchtime or time to leave the office to head home. This always opens up the scope to look at that one last email or say yes to that important call scheduled beyond work hours.
However, working longer hours doesn’t necessarily mean you will be more productive. It is essential to delineate work and personal life and make room for both to work to one’s potential.
Let’s understand how you can make the most of your work life.
- Set up work life boundaries: We know it is tough to switch off your work mode when you are working, eating, sleeping and indulging in leisure activities in the same space.
You can follow these tips to attain work life balance:
- Control that temptation: Easier said than done, but make conscious efforts not to respond to mails post your working hours and log out on time.
- Keep your work and personal space different: Try using a different room and a professional setup for work. Once done with work, you can leave the room and use the rest of your house for your leisure activities. If space is an issue, try to have one dedicated corner for work to leave when the day ends.
- Communicate with your team: Make sure to communicate clearly with your team and reporting managers about your distress, if any, and keep them informed about your to-dos and the timelines based on the working hours.
- Set short-term goals: Make the most out of short-term goals that can help you create momentum. Breaking your goals into small attainable parts also helps combat procrastination and be more productive. This, in turn, helps you to reduce your work hours. Take similar steps for your team as well.
Learn why Short-term goals are important and how they help?
- Take active measures to support personal development: Due to lack of outdoor activities, it is easy to immerse yourself in work, but one can always take active measures to make the best use of the available things. This will help you not feel overwhelmed or burned out and get back to work the next day with renewed energy.
- Your self-care activities can include a dedicated evening routine or, if you are an early bird, then an early morning routine with the things you love like reading, listening to music, exercising, or even spending time with your family. This will further help you to have a more wholesome, balanced day..
What are your thoughts about working longer hours? What’s your way of coping? Tell us in the comments section below.
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