How do you balance your personal and professional life when you have flexible working hours?

Finding a balance between work and life is vital for our overall well-being. Personally, I've found that embracing a flexible schedule has had a profound impact on my productivity and mental health. The key is to set clear boundaries between work and personal time, which makes transitioning to a more flexible schedule easier. By designating specific hours for different activities, I can manage my tasks more efficiently. Another thing I've learned is the importance of scheduling time for self-care and communicating it with my team. This not only benefits me but also fosters a culture that values personal time. This approach has a ripple effect, preventing burnout and promoting a positive mindset for both myself and my team.

I have a job with flexible working hours) because I'm a soloist executive coach/consultant. I 1) Start each day with exercise and meditation; 2) Focus on my biggest priorities, checking in over the course of the day to make sure I've maintained my focus on highest-priority items; 3) I take a 15-minute break between client calls. I owe my clients that to bring them value; 4) I limit "work" (not including networking and building relationships on LinkedIn) to the hours of 10:30 am and 6:30 pm. IF, I need to do a little work in the evening to maximize the next day, I embrace that I'm consciously choosing to do this to prepare for the next day (rather than resenting that I've taken time from my personal life) and limit it to 30 minutes.

Having a schedule cannot be underestimated. I have the chance to work flexibly, mainly in a remote way. I invest a lot of time in looking at my schedule, refining and improving it. Every week and also a few mins every day when needed. What are your top priorities for the week ahead, the day ahead? These priorities need to be both professional and personal. The mindset required is looking at your schedule in its entirety, professional and personal together.

schedule my week by prioritising both personal and professional tasks. This ensures productivity and helps me stay on top of my responsibilities to clients, my family and myself. Daily, I stay connected with and support my clients while managing essential tasks. I also make it a point to schedule my daily self-care activities, such as meditation, journaling, and exercise. Family time is a priority, and I leave my evenings and weekends mostly free for personal moments and relaxation. By carefully planning my week and each day, I stay on task, achieve my goals, and ensure I take care of myself, my loved ones and my clients with a sense of fulfilment and achievement by week's end.

Balancing personal and professional life with flexible hours is like juggling, but with a rhythm that works for you. Start by setting clear boundaries—define your working hours and stick to them. Use a dedicated workspace to mentally separate work from home life. Prioritize tasks with a daily to-do list and set specific goals. Communicate your availability to your team to manage expectations. Take regular breaks to recharge, and make sure to unplug after work hours. Schedule personal time for hobbies, exercise, and family. By keeping a structured yet flexible approach, you’ll enjoy the perks of flexible hours without letting work spill into your personal life.

Creating boundaries is mainly about communicating with your colleagues, stakeholders and yourself. When defining your goals, which are MUST DO, SHOULD DO, COULD DO. A cue: if you have no personal goals in the MUST DO, you do not have the right balance. Even when I am client side the whole week, there will a personal goal. could be as simple as a run, or visiting an interesting place where I am, or calling my family and friends. Your colleagues need to understand these priorities and the way you will manage these throughout the day.

I so totally agree with this! It's so hard to keep this up. It would be great if from HR and management a flexible reasonable policy would be found for this. Because often it's hard to keep up boundaries for all kinds of reasons like - fast paced startup, often implies that your boundaries will be crossed - when management is across international timezones - when your spouse thinks that because your home, you should be able to help out - because your kids just want to hang out when they're bored So yes, introduce and try to enforce boundaries. But acknowledge when they fall and discuss openly ways get them up again.

Flexible hours make balance possible. Let's face it, a traditional 9-5 schedule doesn't require boundaries because you know you're stuck. Flexibility gives you the luxury of setting your own boundaries.

Keep work and personal time, clearly defined and stick to it. Maintain a level of privacy during working hours. Avoid checking emails or work-related tasks during personal time. By separating work from personal task, you'll avoid the potential for burnout.

I totally agree with this! I think it can be job on its own creating a line between personal and work life. Although working from home can give you many benefits, it can also create a downfall when you don’t leave the house much. You may also find yourself spending too much time working when you’re not watching the clock, or you receive an email on the weekend and you can’t help but reply. It is something that I am still working on myself, but ensuring that you have a strict mindset and allow a good balance of work and ‘play’. Personally, I think it is a good idea to work remotely sometimes - like taking your laptop and working at a local café. Another idea is to set alarms on your phone and make sure you track the hours that you work.

A couple of tips that work for me: - breaks and walks around the neighbourhood are in the diary marked as an out of office. I would only move these for client meetings. - think about all the chores you need during the week and weekend. What about doing a chore when you need move during the day?

Yes, very important! It makes your time spent more productive and effective. For me when working from home a break can definitely be: - do a quick chore to help out in the family, like doing the dishes or quickly getting some groceries - a quick coffee break at the cafe nearby - adding an exercise / stretch break before lunch time - a good hug and small chat with the kids when they come home from work Working physically away from colleagues takes away some enthusiasm / energy that you can have when you're together. So imo you need to have replacement of that.

I was heading into the grocery store parking lot recently when I realized something: I don’t have to spend five minutes finding the best parking spot. I can choose to find the first one available and then use the opportunity to exercise by walking farther to my destination. I encourage all of you to do your version of this throughout the week. Park far away. Stop at the subway station that is a few blocks farther away from where you’re going. Take the stairs.

As someone who has such a creative job working from home and whose mind is constantly on the go, it is difficult to always stay within the time limits set. Sometimes I may not be working but suddenly get a thought late at night - if I don’t act on this, I might forget it. However, it is vital that we all get the breaks we deserve - and that doesn’t include doing the house work whilst you have a spare 10 minutes! Without good rest and breaks (and some good nutritious grub!) you will find your attitude at work may change. You find it hard to think of new ideas and struggle to focus on tasks. It is important you take sufficient time to yourself! Take that break!

Getting enough steps a day is crucial (which you can increase by taking walking-meeting outside, or with a standing desk+treadmill). This restarts your attention span and increases creativity by disconnecting for a while.

Host virtual walking meetings. Spending an entire day on video calls can feel overwhelming and exhausting. With the increase in video conferencing usage, I’ve heard that many people are exhausted. I’ve noticed this myself. Screen fatigue and video conferencing fatigue are real. It’s important to acknowledge and prepare for this and its impact long-term. We are not built to be in front of our screens for hours on end. Take at least one call per day via audio-only and turn that call into a virtual walk-and-talk meeting.

Working flexibly and remotely most of the time means that I sometimes miss the in-person connections. These are hard to replicate with online tools. Definitely try and call people in an unplanned way to check-in and get some news, it helps. For me, what has worked is to be even more purposeful and planful when organising my 'social' calendar and networking activities. I now connect physically with more people in my industry than before.

While there are tremendous benefits to flexible working, you can run the risk of isolation if not managed well. Stay connected with your colleagues, through virtual meetings, and live team functions. Innovative collaboration tools can also keep remote teams connected. It's important for flexible teams to work at collaboration more so that those teams that might otherwise have greater office visibility.

I am a person who definitely gets energized more around colleagues. The online mechanisms kind of can work, however imo it cannot replace the atmosphere you have when you lunch together in real person or have that drink after work. Besides the digital tools for social events I would still opt to: - head to the office and if it's far consider staying overnight some where ... coordinate this with after work social things with your colleagues - or agree to drinks and dinner after work with the colleagues who are physically relatively close to you - or hold breakfasts for one-on-ones or team update meetings

As someone who works from home, feeling isolated is a big thing! It is SO SO important that you make time for family and friends, and that you get outside at least once a day - even if it’s for 5 minutes! Not doing this can have a major impact on your mental health and cause signs of depression and anxiety. It may be a good idea to meet people who are in a similar position to you - networking is a great way to do this (and you get to learn new skills whilst doing so!). You can also choose to take a laptop and work away from home with friends in a similar position.

I actually think that with WFH and flexible work hours there should be routines and rhythms where asking for help or showing that you're stuck with sometime becomes explicit. Like the daily standups when blockers / impediments should be stated! Good managers should have this within their weekly / fortnight one-on-ones. Or when coders suggest pair-programming with each other. It should be less of "Find support", but more "Use the support options that are there! If you really have to "Find support", then I'm not sure that you're working at a great workplace.

Sometimes working from home means that it is more difficult to get the help you need - that does not mean you have to suffer alone though! There is a numerous amount of resources online, such as hubspot which offer free courses if you ever feel that you are struggling with a task. There are also SO many people out there in a similar position to you - don’t be afraid to reach out… I’m sure that in doing so, you will find that you have helped them too. Then you can both discuss topics that you are uncertain of and help each other out in different areas.

In flexible work environments, self-review is key. It's not just about managing time, but understanding our work patterns. Simple tools like time-tracking apps and satisfaction surveys can be eye-openers. They help us pinpoint what enhances or hinders our productivity and well-being. Reflecting on this data lets us adjust our work-life balance effectively. By continually tweaking our routines and support systems, we can find the sweet spot where professional success and personal happiness coexist.

Balancing personal and professional life with flexible working hours requires periodic reviews and enhancements. Regularly assess your schedule to ensure it accommodates both work responsibilities and personal time effectively. Identify any patterns of imbalance and make necessary adjustments, such as setting clearer boundaries or reallocating tasks. Seeking feedback from peers or mentors can also provide valuable insights. Continuous improvement in managing this balance promotes well-being and sustained productivity.

Have well defined daily outcomes that are realistic to achieve in a specified timeframe, it helps with focus and to manage time effectively. Ask for support from team members when needed, but be prepared to help them when the need arises. Be aware of personal habits that may be stealing precious time both at work and home, eg endless need to check social media, or messages. Use apps that help you track such habits. I also believe it comes down to personal and professional goals, how inspiring and passionate you are towards them as they will pull you towards having better habits.

If your company offers flexible working hours, it gives you the opportunity to take control of your work-life balance. This control lets you choose which part of the day to focus on which aspect of your life. Achieving this balance requires being mindful of our values, needs, and reasons behind our actions. Increasing our self-awareness is the key to taking charge of our time.

Standing up while working, particularly during video conference calls, is one of the most important things I do to stay physically and mentally sharp. I typically burn 50 percent more calories when I stand up versus when I sit down. And because standing utilizes my entire body, I can communicate more effectively through my movements and gestures. This allows for increased engagement during conference calls; and ultimately, I feel more positive and confident as a result! Analyze your calendar over the next week, and identify three to five video meetings you can take standing up.

Instead of balance, think about alignment. You don't want/need to be on a tightrope, weave your work and homelife in a way that works.