Since the pandemic more and more of us have been either working from home full time or doing a hybrid work set up. It can be hard to separate home life with your work life when everything is happening under the one roof. You no longer have colleagues to chat to between clients or time to head to the canteen for your lunch break. It’s important to find ways to reduce stress when working from home and find a good work life balance.
Set yourself some boundaries
Setting boundaries when working from home is essential. Try to give yourself a proper start time and end time to your day and don’t forget to factor in a tea break and lunch break! Having structure to your day should help reduce stress and stop you from trying to do regular household tasks at the same time as work.
Create a work space
Having a specific space for work can also really help separate the two. Whether you’ve got a specific office or just a desk in the corner of your living room, when 5pm hits, walk away, shut the door and the laptop and don’t be tempted to go back.
Take time out of your day
Another way to reduce stress is to take little breaks. Take 5 minutes between clients to let your brain think about other things. Whether it’s logging on to plays.org to play some of their games or getting out of your chair and doing some quick stretches. I particularly enjoy the word search games to keep my brain busy and preoccupied with something else other than work!
Use your out of office
It’s so important to have some real switch off time from work, whether that’s taking a well deserved holiday or just a weekend off to focus on your friends and family. Use your out of office so you aren’t tempted to answer a few emails in your down time. You’ll feel much better for the break and be much more likely to be productive.