Work-life balance has always been an important priority. Yet it’s become increasingly more critical as people juggle remote work with off-hours responsibilities, recreation, and self-care. Fortunately, following some useful advice can make your efforts feel less like juggling and more like harmonious order.
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Plan Ahead
“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” While this axiom may sound a bit cliche, there is some truth to it. Creating a solid telework plan includes organizing your schedule and workspace to maximize productivity, minimize interruptions and achieve the balance you desire.
Choose a Flexible Schedule Arrangement
Taking control of your schedule is the first step of your plan. Your workplace may already offer flex-schedule arrangements. If not, or if you haven’t taken advantage of this benefit, now is the time. Think about your company culture: Is it customer-focused, purpose-driven or focused on work-life balance? Create a case for flex-scheduling that addresses your firm’s core values. You may find some other tips helpful:
- Make your request clearly: State your need and how a flex schedule would fulfill it.
- Consider offering a trial period with your request.
- Be ready to answer questions and concerns.
- Deliver your request either in person or via videoconference.
Design a Smart Workspace
When creating your home office, you need to think about two things: your physical space and your virtual workspace. The former should be organized to put the items you use most often within easy reach — and avoid forcing you to search through piles, cabinets, and desk drawers for other stuff. With your virtual workspace, a Zoom Virtual Office background can provide a professional touch to video meetings with coworkers and clients.
Find Appropriate Work-Life Balance
“Keep work on and work at home,” another popular axiom once cautioned. In the age of widespread telecommuting, that may sound easier than it actually is. Achieving work-life balance can be done if you put the old axiom to use in new ways. How can you do this? Take a look at these helpful pointers:
- Create a “do not disturb” sign for your home office door.
- Communicate your schedule to family members.
- Request noise and interruptions kept to a minimum during your work hours.
- Give interactive and puzzle toys to your pets.
- When walking your dog or cat, use it as a break to clear your mind and get fresh air.
Besides minimizing distractions, there’s another way to draw a firmer line between home and work: virtual conferencing app backgrounds. By creating the illusion of working from a company-branded space, tools such as the Google Meet virtual background extension can help shift your mind into “work mode” and improve your focus. Furthermore, if you are running a home-based business or own one of the best work-from-home franchises, you must create a balanced schedule that is suitable for you. Working from home has various advantages, but one disadvantage is that it can be difficult to separate business and personal life. This means you need to set limits on the hours you work.
The Right Tools for the Job
To support your efforts to accomplish a work-life balance, you also need the right tools and equipment. A slow PC not only makes your productivity nosedive, but it can also cause stress that spills over into your off-hours. You may need to bring this concern to management and ensure you’re provided with proper equipment per company policy. In the meantime, you may want to explore popular hacks such as implementing virtual backgrounds on a machine that doesn’t meet Zoom virtual background requirements.
