5 tips on working from home…without burning out

I’m sure many of you would agree that in recent weeks, the days have flown by in a bit of a blur. It’s felt like a steady sprint where work life has fused with home life, against a backdrop of a seemingly unending cycle of bad news. We’ve all been grappling with different advice on how to stay safe, get work done, take care of our families, and get ready for whatever comes next. 

How will we keep up our resilience to work from home effectively as long as we need to…and find the right balance to still have energy in our personal tanks, and delineated personal lives along the way?

While no one has all the answers, I want to share five things that are helping me find a sustainable work-from-home rhythm.

1. Create boundaries on workspace

Look for ways to create a designated physical workspace, even if you’re working in a small condo or apartment. For me, that meant finally moving away from spreading my work and devices on the floor because all the desk space in my home was claimed by my kids and spouse.

After four weeks of working that way, I finally decided it was time to get a basic desk, lamp and laptop stand that was shipped to my home in just a few days. This was a game changer in giving me an actual dedicated workspace at home that I can go to – and get away from – as needed.

Whatever that designated workspace is in your home, whatever official working corner you can carve out, it is helpful to keep the work stuff contained within it.

2. Protect personal time

For many of us, trying to declare a regular nine to five workday is neither practical nor optimal in the current environment. We all have competing demands we’re solving for – whether it’s taking care of kids, pets or other loved ones or navigating the grocery store for safe stock-up shopping. Those important tasks simply can’t be put off until the email pile is thoroughly managed and meetings are all done for the day. The challenges of multi-tasking truly have taken on new meaning. 

We need to acknowledge that those home-life activities are priorities and cut ourselves some slack in figuring out how and when to best get our work done effectively around them. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer, but it’s important to draw a line around what is out-of-office time – and during that time to actually park the work-related stuff, close the laptop and put down the phone. And be mindful of the fact that if some of us are sending emails at odd hours, it’s because that’s what works best for our individual coping plan – it doesn’t mean that our peers and teams need to be on alert to respond outside of business hours.

We have just emerged from a moment in time where things were changing so quickly, and we constantly needed to be on high alert. Although the situation continues to evolve, we need to give each other permission to disconnect when we can.

3. Prioritize your work pile

While this one may sound obvious, I think it’s worth a reminder. Not everything is urgent, not everything is a crisis, not everything needs to be done today.

In the wake of a crisis situation, most of us feel a real desire to be useful – to contribute somehow to the solution. Ultimately, I think that this human instinct is going to be what gets us through this crazy time. But it can also sometimes lead us to devote urgent-style attention to things that may not really be all that urgent.

Here again, we can give each other permission to defer non-time sensitive items to a moment when there’s less on our collective plates – fewer truly urgent deliverables, less anxiety, less pressure to manage competing priorities on the work and home fronts. Good dialogue on setting priorities clearly within working teams is critical.

4. Get some fitness in the mix

It’s easy to let this one go by the wayside when we’re busy and largely confined to quarters. But rest, recovery, and exercise are all so important to maintaining overall wellness and a positive mindset. Even a short and socially-distanced daily walk outdoors can be a good way to get in some steps, and enjoy the Spring weather. I find I have better odds of exercising if I block time for it in my calendar. And if I forget, our new puppy, Toby, frequently reminds me that it’s in everyone’s best interest to take regular outdoor breaks.

5. Use meetings smartly

We need to connect and collaborate on getting things done. That workplace truth hasn’t changed in this pandemic setting. What has changed is our way of doing that – which has de-facto become scheduled and remote. We need to find ways to take the remote feeling out of remote working and find virtual substitutes for those impromptu coffee chats and hallway conversations.

I’ve loved hearing about teams experimenting with virtual coffee and donuts sessions and other similar forums to get people together purely for the purpose of enjoying each other’s company and comparing notes on our experience of these unprecedented times. Proactively putting our remote work tools (calendars, phones and videoconferencing) to work to stay truly connected on more than just the immediate work deliverables in front of us is helpful.

And while on the subject of virtual meetings, I think now is the time to really challenge ourselves to make virtual meetings truly effective. Not just remote copies of in-person meetings, but rather shorter sessions, fewer presentation materials, with better participant engagement, agendas well-aligned to the priorities we most need to accomplish, and the gift of good feedback on whether our virtual meetings are running smoothly and how we can improve them.

Now, how are you finding balance during these challenging times? I’d love to hear your top tips for working effectively – and sustainably – from home.