Tips of Maintaining Work-Life Balance During WFH Scenario

Balance, a term which is associated with almost everything present around us. Today’s work culture revolves around the concept of balance to a great extent. Here, the balance between ones’ work and life. Times are hectic, humans are more engaged and achieving a perfect work-life balance seems like a far-fetched dream.

“Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management. Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices.”

In today’s scenario, work-from-home is the new normal and many companies have offered remote working options to their employees. For many, WFH might be a new style of working that requires maintaining a balance between professional and personal life. In the new WFH scenario where employees are seen as “always available”, maintaining work-life balance becomes a critical issue. Employees end up spending more hours at work, juggling between personal and professional commitments, and face health issues while sitting at one place in front of their laptops for long hours. All this results in low productivity, health issues as well as the loss of mental peace that undoubtedly takes home life for a toss eventually.

Many companies offer flexibility at work, as they understand that work-life conflict results in business costs in terms of low employee productivity, absenteeism, lower retention rate, and lack of engagement from employees. For employees who get less flexibility at work and struggle more to maintain their work-life balance, we are sharing some simple tips to overcome the situation.

WHAT CAN BE DONE FOR A HEALTHY BALANCE BETWEEN WORK AND LIFE?

As an employer, you have a big role to play here for ensuring your employees don’t remain trapped in the work-life balance feud.

“an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”

Similarly, for encouraging a good work-life balance several measures can be taken beforehand.

definition of work life balance is different, but there are a few basic rules you can follow to define it for yourself.

1. Keep a watch on non-essential activities:- When you work from home, it is easier to get distracted by one or other things happening in your surroundings. It can be tempting to engage in activities that limit the amount of time you have to work on more productive tasks without even realizing it, such as checking personal email, browsing social media and surfing the Internet. To better prioritize your time at work, consider doing an assessment of your daily activities to determine which are least productive. Minimizing how much time you spend on these activities can have a positive impact on your productivity and well-being.

2. Learn when to say “no”:- It can be challenging to say “no,” especially when you’re saying it to your boss or supervisor. However, learning when to say “no” can be essential to your work-life balance. When your answer is always “yes” to a task or project, you may start to feel overwhelmed by your increasing workload, which could result in stress and reduced productivity. To avoid this, evaluate your schedule and make sure there’s room before taking on additional work. If you don’t think you can take on another task, explain why to your boss and thank them for considering you.

3. Establish boundaries and unplug:- Modern technology has made it possible for employees to remain connected to their work through their mobile phones and computers. While this allows employers to offer flexible work schedules, it also means employees are accessible 24-hours-a-day, often taking work home or checking emails after normal business hours rather than waiting until they get back to work the next day. It’s important to establish boundaries on your availability after hours and leave work at the office. Try to avoid checking work emails while you’re at home and only respond to anything that can’t wait until the next day.

4. Carve out working space:- The first step to achieving work life balance is to dedicate a spot in your home to working. If you have the luxury of space, pick a room to become your new office. If you don’t have a spare room, carve out a spot in your apartment to become your work station. As tempting as it may be, don’t work from your bed. Being too comfortable can negatively impact productivity, plus it’s best to leave your bed as a place where you can go to escape from work.

Wherever you set up your work space, make sure that you have a comfortable chair to sit on and good lighting. Natural light is a mood and productivity booster, so set up your space near a window if possible. If you’re going to be on a video call and your workspace is in an open area, be aware of your background and any other distractions from pets, roommates, or kids.

5. Get organised:- Get your laptop, diary, pen, cell phone and chargers in place. If you are in noisy house, invest in a noise cancellation headphone. Use a mouse for better efficiency. Figure out who will take care of the children and keep them from disturbing you with schools closed. If your spouse is on WFH too, share time slots and children related chores. Organised routines and rules for other disturbances like the maid and doorbell.

6. Plan workflow:- Plan your work before you start the day. Have a task list or target sheet in front of you. Prioritise your projects and schedule time slots including extra time in between to cater for contingencies like unforeseen work calls and new tasks received from your manager. When you begin a task, continue it till the end. Do not switch between tasks or get pulled away by your need to respond to a new email. Multi-tasking or frequent switching is a productivity kille .

7. Block people:- The biggest challenge in a WFH routine is the presence of other people at home or from your life. Block out distractions from people by agreeing on ground rules with them. Pretend you are not at home while following rigid work hours. Do not get involved in conversations, personal calls or housework. Use headphones, a hoodie or even tinted glasses to create boundaries.

8. Calendar control:- Remember you are earning a salary in your WFH situation. Stay committed to your timings and deliverables. Avoid home chores or personal appointments during working hours except during scheduled breaks. Don’t abuse WFH by being unavailable or else you will compromise your professional respect and may lose your job when your company cuts costs to deal with Corona-triggered challenges.

9. Reschedule distractions:- What were harmless social media distractions at office become deadly productivity killers in a WFH where there is no team to pull you back to work. Remove social media extensions and switch off all notifications both in your laptop browser as well as on your cell phone. Switch off your mobile data and use it only for calls. Keep your coffee flask and snacks available on your desk so that you don’t get up too often.

10. Taking Time Off Between Work:- Taking time off in between work helps in dealing with stress. The human body is not designed to endure long working hours in one go. Physical movements like light walks, stretching in between work is essential and particularly for white-collar employees. Quick breaks help the body to recover from the physical and mental exhaustion endured by employees.

11. Volunteering Time Off:- Volunteering is a great way to stay social and build interpersonal connections. Encouraging the employees to volunteer for social causes helps them de-stress and commit socially. Moreover, this also helps boosts a company’s CSR i.e. Company Social Responsibility initiatives. Thus, earning goodwill for the organization and build a better relationship.

12. Proper Planning:- Planning the day to day activities at work is another great way for managing a good balance between life and work. It helps the employees to prioritize their activities and work in accordance with the importance of a task. Moreover, adhering to a well-laid plan also helps save a lot of time at work. Thus, adding more to an employees personal time for taking some rest, reading, playing, gyming, spending quality time with family friends and more.

13:- Encouraging a Healthy Lifestyle:- Maintaining a healthy lifestyle plays a big role in an employees quest to achieve a healthy work-life balance. Healthy employees are like the jewels in the crown for every organisation  An unhealthy work-life balance disrupts the employees physical and mental health. Considering this fact, it hampers their productivity to a great extent. Encouraging the employees to take up a healthy lifestyle eliminates various health risks. Just like having good physical health helps one to stay energetic, a stress-free mind is a room full of clarity. This helps the employees to excel both in their career and life. A healthy lifestyle is also a great stress management solution and helps the employees cope with stress smoothly.

14. Flexible Work Schedule:- Maintaining a good balance between work and life isn’t possible if there’s no personal time left after leaving work. In such a case, having a flexible work schedule becomes very important. Flexibility in work timings helps the employees lay equal focus on their own personal and social side of life as that of their work. Furthermore, a flexible work schedule results in better employee productivity and works fine as an alternate stress management technique.

15. Time Management:- Time management is a very important aspect when it comes to having a proper work-life balance. You may think how it can be when I already said that it’s not time but the priorities that matter. Giving importance to those priorities requires one to be punctual in everything whether in professional or personal life. Arriving to work on time sets the employees on the fast track allowing them to wrap up their quota of work early. This gives the employees the advantage of being more efficient in their work. As well as gain the advantage of having more quality time to spend with their family and friends. Thus, helping them keep a good balance between their work and life.

16. Paid Vacations:- In today’s time, vacation is no longer a luxury, rather it’s more of a necessity. It’s high time employers realise how vacations from work have become an important part of today’s work culture. Letting the employees take long breaks without sacrificing their wages is very effective. Employees feel more rejuvenated and relaxed after returning to work yielding better productivity.

17. Time to Time Feedbacks and Work-life Balance Surveys:- Time to time assessment of the employees is an essential part towards creating a healthy work environment. Situations may differ with the changing time and keeping a track on these changes becomes very important in order to put effective solutions in place. Taking feedbacks and conducting surveys from the employees further helps organizations to know them better and work on the issues raised.

18. Keep open communication at work:- It is never wrong to communicate your needs at work if you are struggling with maintaining the required work-life balance. It is not necessary that if one person can take out time for work during late hours the other person can also do the same. Everyone has different situations and responsibilities. Never hesitate to be vocal about what is not working fine with you. Having open communication with your manager allows you to discuss the challenges you are facing at work and helps you to find a solution with mutual understanding.

Conclusion

Manage your work by prioritizing the tasks that are of utmost importance on a particular workday. If you have loads of work to deliver, never hesitate to discuss it with your manager and get clarity on setting the priorities. Taking excessive work on your plate that practically cannot be delivered affects work quality, productivity as well as your work-life balance. 

It is rightly said that if everything seems a priority, then nothing is a priority!

For you to work happily, it is important to enjoy it. If you are under constant pressure to meet the impractical work timelines and work for a long duration, it becomes a challenge to maintain the much needed work-life balance. Therefore, it is important to plan your day properly. Keep up the productivity, accept realistic targets and take out time for relaxation so that you can go back to work every day with full energy and enthusiasm.

"??????’?? ?????????????? ???????????? ?? ???????????? ???????? ???????????? ?? ????????"

Anything more to be added?? kindly suggest, open for critics & valuable suggestions...!!!