How to Achieve Work From Home Balance — A 9-Minute Guide
Finding Work-Life Balance While Working from Home
Working from home full time has been one of the most difficult transitions of my professional life. I never thought I would say that since it has been a goal of mine since I started working from home part-time. Yet, going full time was hard because I could not find a true work-life balance.
Over the years, I have had several jobs that allowed us to work from home. In every job, it was part-time. Never have I worked from home 100% of the time.
With my first job, I worked for a non-profit, and I didn’t really have a schedule off when I had to be in the office and when I could work from home. It was more of a day to day decision except on days we had meetings.
When I switched careers from non-profit event planner to insurance claims, I was forced to be in the office full-time for at least a year. When I finally switched to part-time work from home we had strict requirements that made the transition super easy.
During the last seven years, I have been working from home more and less depending on the job and the boss. And then, COVID-19 struck, and my dream of working from home came true. I knew there were tons of proven benefits to working from home full-time and I couldn’t wait.
Benefits of Working from Home
I had been pitching management for most of last year to work from home. I knew all of the benefits, pitfalls, and push arguments. What I didn’t understand was how the benefits only worked out if you have a good work from home balance.
There were three main benefits to working from home though: higher productivity, greater job satisfaction, and increased personal health.
Productivity
From my personal experience with working from home, I have found the more I work from home, the better I do at closing claims and getting my work done in the day. Most of the time, I even finish work early.
In a 2012 study on working from home and productivity, it was found that there were massive productivity increases and some pitfalls with working from home. The pitfalls came with working “dull” tasks, ones that are tedious or feel useless.
However, when a creative task or one which requires problem-solving arises, the productivity increased a great deal. In fact, some of the best responses to these tasks came from the subjects who worked from home. When we tap into creativity and problem-solving at home, we can become incredibly more productive.
Read more about the study conducted by the University of Innsbruck:
Job Satisfaction
For the most part, I don’t mind my job. However, when I work from home, I find myself enjoying work a little more. All the things that can make working in an office frustrating are now removed and I can focus on the work that I enjoy, which lines up with how a lot of people feel.
In a study conducted by Nicholas Bloom in 2014, call center employees were allowed to work from home for nine months. The initial reason for the study was focused on cutting costs for the company involved.
However, what he found was how productivity increased by 13.4%. The turnover rate with this company decreased by nearly half. And most of all, employees reported great job satisfaction across the board.
You can find more about the study here in the Harvard Business Review:
Increased Health
Since I have started working from home, I have lost about 15 LBS, feel healthier than ever before, and I have felt less stress than when I worked in the office. All of these have improved my overall health which has been a surprising benefit.
In a 2018 survey conducted by FlexJobs, it was found that the level of stress-related to work reduced dramatically with workers who worked from home. Per the survey, it would start with the reduction of stress from your morning commute and then translated into removed office stresses.
With these decreases in stress, workers found more space to find ways to improve their physical health with exercise and a better diet. As physical health increased, so did mental and emotional health.
You can find more about the survey by Flex Jobs:
Your Guide to Working from Home to Achieve Balance
While my dream to work from home full time came true, it turned out I wasn’t prepared for what was about to happen. The first two weeks were very difficult. I found myself starting work late and then trying to make up for it at night before bed.
This would lead to nightmares about work and a lot of stress. Nothing in terms of my work had changed much aside from working from home. I had all the resources I needed to do my job, but I didn’t have a system in place to make it so I could keep work-life balance while working at home.
The following is a guide to achieving balance when you work from home full-time. This guide is meant to give you a helpful base to enjoy the benefits of working from home and find a little more freedom in your day.
Step #1: Order any supplies you need and have a place to keep everything.
Balance for working from home starts with having everything you need. Monitors, computers, pen, and paper, etc. You must have everything you need ready for your work from home experience.
When you are well stocked, you won’t have to take from your regular home supply of things or be forced to go hunting around the house when you can’t find anything.
Ultimately, Stock your supplies and keep them close.
Step #2: Establish one or two places to work in your house that are not in the main living areas.
You cannot find proper balance working from home if you do not have an established workspace. To go even further, you cannot set up shop in the main living space.
I have found the more available and in my regular living space I am the less I’m able to focus during the day, and the more I tend to work outside of regular business hours. When we don’t have an established workspace, we cannot get into a work zone and get things done, we just float between work and home.
Set up your workspace so you know where work begins and home ends.
Step #3: Pick clothes for working from home and only wear them for work.
On Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, Fred Rodgers would “come home from work” and change out of his suit coat and dress shoes and change into a zip-up sweater and tennis shoes. He established that he was setting aside “work” and being 100% present for his viewers (children).
In the same way, we should dress for work and dress from home. This way we can be completely present when it is time to work and time to be home. This brings balance to our day just like it would if we worked in an office.
Have a few sets of clothes only for working from home in your closet.
Step #4: Create a schedule for your day and stick to it.
In a typical job when you work in an office or some sort of structured setting you have a schedule. You clock in, take your break at 9 AM, lunch at noon, another break at 3 PM, and you clock out.
When we have a schedule, it helps us move from work and home more fluidly throughout the day. For me, I take a break at 9:30 AM. Then early lunch at 11 AM. After that, I workout or go outside with my kids at 2 PM. Each start and stop time helps me step out of my workspace and into my home and back again.
While working from home is more flexible, it is important to stick to a schedule.
Step #5: Create a startup routine and shutdown routine for your day.
While routines help us with so many parts of life, I have found how they help us with transitions, and with getting tedious, daily activities completed more quickly. This also helps give us momentum while we work from home.
A start-up routine gives us a chance to get in the right mindset for work. While a solid shutdown routine helps us to slow our minds down for work to prepare us to enter into our home life.
Routines will be key to creating balance in our transitions from home to work to home.
Step #6: Be intentional with communicating with your coworkers by phone, video conference, and messaging.
One area where there are concerns about work from home from both employers and employees comes with a connection to people when working from home. There are a lot of concerns about losing company culture and personal connection for working from home.
When I first started working from home, I realized it would be important for me to connect more with my coworkers.
In the office, we would use intra-company messaging if we had a question. Now, that I work from home 100% of the time, I began focusing on making the phone call to ask questions and touch base.
Create ways to connect with your teams and coworkers that are intentional and beneficial.
Step #7: Set a reminder in your calendar for 5 PM to remind you the day is over and the rest of your life is ready for you.
One of the hardest things for me when the day is done is simply walking away from work. While I have the previous steps set up to help me do this, at the end of the day it is hard to stop thinking about work, or even stop working on whatever assignment I have up.
However, this is an essential step in working from home balance. If you cannot walk away at the end of the day, you cannot have the balance you desire with work and life. What I have found useful is giving myself a reality check when the clock strikes 5 PM with a quote that reminds my work is done.
Remember, when it is time to quit, then you need to clean up and quit.
Final Thoughts
Achieving work from home balance is essential to a positive work from home experience.
When we can see the positive benefits it gives us a vision for the freedom, productivity, and personal growth we can have when working from home. We are also in a place to prepare for the challenges which come with working from home.
Remember, the seven parts to creating work from home balance:
- Have everything you need.
- Establish your workspace.
- Dress for work and home.
- Schedule your day.
- Set routines for your work.
- Connect with the outside world
- Walk away at the end of the day.
These seven parts have helped me go from struggling with working from home full time to enjoying it. The experience that I have now fed my personal health and productivity. Most of all, it gives me the freedom to enjoy work-life balance in new ways.
My family loves how it has changed how I relate to work. And my employer is benefiting from the huge increases in my productivity and connectedness to my team.
A positive work from home experience is only found when we have a solid balance between work and home.