Work-life balance is one of the hottest topics in the workplace today, and it is something you should take seriously. It is not just a fancy buzzword or catchphrase. The good news is that with a few simple changes in your day, you can be well on your way to achieving balance sooner than later.
Increased awareness of physical and mental health has become an important issue among working professionals, regardless of age or gender. But, as if the delicate balance between maintaining a successful career and downtime wasn’t hard enough, in walked 2020, and work-life balance got even more challenging.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced many people to vacate their offices and set up make-shift workspaces smack in the middle of their homes. For some, this move was a welcome change from lengthy commutes, exhausting traffic, and long hours away from family. For others, it made it increasingly difficult to find the work-life balance many of us seek.
It is relatively easy for lines between our lives’ professional and personal parts to become muddied, especially when working from home. This fact makes it even more critical to ensure that you do not find yourself eating, sleeping, and breathing business 24 hours a day.
As a work-from-home professional, you must establish healthy routines and take time outside of working hours to embrace life in ways that bring you joy and regularly recharge your batteries.
In other words, self-care is something everyone should not overlook or put off until tomorrow. With that in mind, here are three easy ways to help you develop healthy plans for creating and maintaining an optimal work-life balance.
Work-Life Balance Starts With Structure
Working remotely can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it gives you the flexibility to work from wherever you would like. Moving from place to place, inside or outside of your home, can help foster work-life balance.
Keeping up with family schedules, working from a beach house while your family vacations, or from the sofa when the family gathers for movie night. These are some of the many reasons so many men and women prefer to work remotely.
However, moving around can also work against your goal of achieving or maintaining a work-life balance if you’re not mindful of the pitfalls. Without any structure to your workday or environment, you can quickly find yourself working at all hours of the day with no proper downtime.
One of the easiest and most effective things to limit this problem is to create a dedicated space in your home to be used as your “home base” where you focus solely on work-related tasks during designated hours. Doing so can help ensure you aren’t blurring the lines between work and life, so you can maintain balance during your day.
Also, try taking a few minutes at the beginning or end of each day to map out a plan for the following day. Keeping your eyes on what is coming next will help eliminate precious hours in the day slipping away.
Routines Set the Tone
Another way to get your work-life balance in check is to get every day off to a great start. Utilizing daily routines to set the tone for the day can be very effective. Morning routines, specifically, can help you start your day with consistency, clarity, and certainty.
One routine that will help create more balance and structure in your day is to take the time to dress for work. Beginning with a productive morning routine is critical to ensuring a successful day.
Taking that practice one step further and getting “dressed for work” each morning is a great way to remember your focus. Shuffling to the computer in your pajamas, coffee in hand, is undoubtedly one of the many perks of remote work some days. Consequently, doing so every day can make it challenging to keep your energy level high and your motivation revved up.
So as the old adage in business goes, “Dress for Success!” You may be surprised how much of a difference something so basic can mean to your day.
Proper Nutrition is Key to Healthy Balance
Being home all day can have one of two effects on your nutrition. You will either reap the nutritional rewards of working from home, or your health will begin to suffer.
Proper nutrition helps to increase your energy and focus and improves your overall health. Being in an environment where you have total control over the foods you have access to is a huge benefit of working from home.
Although, if you’re not careful, being home all day can also lead to mindless snacking while you work or, worse, not taking the time to eat at all. Both of these habits are detrimental to your health and can also work against your goal of maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Planning and prepping your lunches and snacks in advance can be a time saver and a motivator for optimal nutrition.
Final Thoughts
Pursuing a healthier work-life balance should be a priority for everyone and is one of the best benefits of working remotely.
Time spent in self-reflection can help you avoid overloading the work side of the work-life seesaw. Identifying when the office is taking over your personal time and working quickly to bring life back into balance is critical for avoiding burnout.
With just a few basic practices, like establishing a dedicated workspace, establishing consistent morning routines, and planning lunches and snacks in advance, you can achieve daily success wherever you work!
What are some of the things you do to maintain a work-life balance? What are some healthy, easy-to-prepare snacks you make for work? Connect with us and share your snack recipes and ideas!
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