Work/Life Balance When You Work From Home

Photo by Georgie Cobbs on Unsplash — Photo by Georgie Cobbs on Unsplash

Social distancing means more people than ever before are working from home. While it’s fantastic that organisations have been so responsive (especially as many have resisted flexible working in the past) working from home can create real challenges when it comes to maintaining your work/life balance.

Working from home is great. With no lengthy commute to deal with you get a bit more time to yourself (and money in your pocket), at least that's the theory. In reality when you work from home it can be really tricky to balance your work life with your home life simply because there isn't any physical separation between the two.

Working Overtime

According to research from the Institute of Employment (IES) released in April 2020 half of people working from home due to social distancing aren’t happy with their work/life balance and 48% of people are working longer or more irregular hours now than when they worked in an office. If you’ve been working somewhere other than your living room it can be difficult to manage the balance between work and home life when they’re in the same place. In their 2004 paper on work-life balance and working from home Crosbie and Moore observed that ‘those who have a tendency to work long hours outside of the home, might find that home life is even further marginalised by work life’ if they start working from home.

Digital presenteeism

I don’t know about you, but when I’m working from home I sometimes feel that I need to work harder in an attempt for not being in the office. It’s as if there’s something in the back of my mind that’s convinced me people will think I’m slacking off when I’m at home. It’s usually the opposite, without the distractions of the office or a tonne of meetings I get way more done in far less time, but the paranoia is still there and from your responses to the Work From Home Survey I’m not the only one who feels the pressure to perform at home.

Creating Work/Life Balance at Home

Everyone’s idea of what constitutes work/life balances will be difference, but here are a few ideas of how to make working from home work for you.

CREATE A COMMUTE - commuting gets a lot of negative press, but one of the biggest benefits of commuting is that is creates a clear transition from home to work and vice versa. Whether your run, walk, drive or get the train to work its the time you get your head in the game or let go of what you worked on that day. When you work from home you lose that time and there’s an increased risk that home life and work life will run together causing a whole lot of stress. Creating a commute when you work from home can be a great way to keep your work life an home life separate because it’s a physical cue that your day is transitioning from one phase to another. All it takes is a walk around the block, but when you leave the house at 8.45 am you start the process of gearing up for work and when you go back out at 5pm you’re actively closing out your day and giving yourself time to process what’s happened at work before you get on with home life.
SET YOUR BOUNDARIES - How long does it take you to reply to a work email? I bet it isn’t very long! According to research from the University of Southern California the most common email response time is just two minutes and results from Toister Performance Solutions (2015) suggests that we now expect faster responses to emails than ever before. It’s not a huge surprise, we live in a world where nearly everything is available on demand, it can have an impact on our wellbeing. Think about it, how urgent are the emails you receive? I know in my work there’s rarely anything that can’t wait 24 hours and I’d bet you’re the same. One of the best changes I’ve made to my working life is adding an out of office to my email account explaining that I’ll reply to emails within 48 hours and that people can call me if something is urgent. People rarely call and having a little time to reply means my responses are more thoughtful and I reduce the risk of getting into games ‘email tennis’ (you know what I’m talking about).
DISCONNECT - when all your work stuff is just sitting there waiting for you at home it can be really tempting to just check your emails one more time or take that call that comes in before 9am. Don’t do it, it’ll just blur the boundaries between work and home! Something I’ve found really helpful is to set rules about when my work phone is on and when I’m allowed on my work laptop and those rules help me stop work life from seeping into home life. Another tip is to use verbal cues such as ‘power down’ when you shut off your laptop to remind you that it’s the end of the work day and you need to switch your focus from work to home.
COMMUNICATE - communication is at the heart of every relationship, and that includes your relationship with your employer. Talk with your employer about the challenges you’re facing, about your work/life boundaries and how you can build a trusting relationship with each other that can help everyone feel less stressed. The Work From Home Survey has a couple of great discussions on this topic, check them out here and here. Building trust with your employer has so many benefits including increased confidence, morale and team working, so it’s not just your work/life balance that’ll benefit from good communication.