When you work from home, chances are you are not confined to your workstation. You are working double time as this Daily Mirror article said. During your downtime, you think about cooking, clearing the dishes, or home-schooling your kid because daycares are still closed. You only get to switch off long after everything has been put into their place.
Many things compete with your attention. Perhaps you find yourself exasperated being saddled with so many things all at once. Do not worry. Here are some tips on how you can manage stress and balance the two overlapping spheres of your home and work.
Tips for a balancing act
1. Plan your schedule – It is wishful thinking that everything will just blend in perfectly if you just let it be. You can, however, plan to balance family time and remote work. You can roll off some responsibility from your shoulder and swap chores with your partner. If you have older kids, you can let them chip in with simple chores like taking care of the house pets or cleaning dishes. You can entertain small ones with creative apps.
2. Repurpose your commute time to chore duty – In the past, you may be waking up early to beat the traffic during your commute. What if you use that time to catch up on your cleaning instead? Set your timer to the same duration of your usual commute time. But once it beeps, off you go to your desk to start work.
3. Take a break – Pausing for a while to take a breather will refresh your body and mind. We suggest that you take divvy your breaks into two categories. The first one is resting for the sake of your physical and mental wellness. Deskside stretches are great. Power naps are great because sleeping is linked to higher productivity. Use your other break time to scratch the itch of finishing your chores. It's all about finding the sweet spot of making time for yourself and your familial duties.
4. Talk to your boss – Communication is crucial during remote work. You must stay in touch with your manager so that both of you are in the same boat about work expectations. If you find it hard to work with your kids at home, then maybe you can ask for a more flexible arrangement.
5. Boost your stamina – Oftentimes we put taking care of our health at the bottom of the list. But that should be the opposite during this time. Guarding your body's wellness is a must as you soldier on with your daily tasks. Do yourself a favor by investing in ergonomic furniture like a standing desk converter so that you lessen your body pains and have energy throughout the day.
A standing desk converter will allow you to shift from standing to sitting, taking away the strains of having a sedentary lifestyle. Adding more movement to your day is enough to ward off the serious negative effects of being deskbound like early death.
Take care of yourself
When you feel down and tired, how you deal with your family and colleagues might get affected. So it's best to step back and rest for a bit of self-care. You can stay on track by going off the grid for some time. Disconnecting from technology to connect with your friends or colleagues might also help. Your rested self will have enough strength to tackle the day's load from office and home.
