During this time, a lot of people are dealing with the challenge of working from home. Some of us may really miss our everyday commute by now and have learned what’s it like to make our living room or bedroom our new office space. While working from home may sometimes seem like a pain, finding a balance between the flow of work and everyday life may help us get into a routine that can become our new normal (at least for now). It’s important to feel like you’re almost going to work, even if it is just at home, so you can feel some normalcy and figure out how to do other life activities the same way. Here are some simple ways on how you can try to balance work from home and life.
For those who have begun working from home during quarantine, this time can be challenging. We are used to our everyday routines- grabbing coffee, trying to make the train on time, or leaving just early enough to maybe beat rush hour traffic, making lunch for the next day, or thinking of where to order delivery from. It feels like working from home requires more energy than it does going into the office (maybe it’s because of having to actually get involved in the zoom meetings).
Anyways, you know how there’s a song for everything? There’s definitely a playlist that can help you find some peace as you work from home. During our normal morning commute, we may listen to the radio, our music through Bluetooth, or a Spotify playlist in our headphones. This can help us relax before the morning ahead at work as we can sip our coffee on the train or have a nice drive into work. As we are normally accompanied by our favorite tunes, we should do the same thing while working from home. Find a good playlist to help you remain relaxed and productive! This might mean simply starting your day listening to your favorite songs while eating breakfast. Music can help set the mood for the rest of the workday and sometimes even having that playlist in the background can add a little joy to your work from home atmosphere.
A full day of work can be different every day, some days seem to drag on while others went by so quick. Despite how the day went, we all need to take some time to unwind once it’s over. This means finding what helps you relax at the end of the day. Whether that is taking a bath, lighting a candle and watching a movie, meditating, ordering takeout, binging a show, or reading a book – we all have our moments where we feel the calmest after a long day. Working from home can require a lot of energy, even if you are not doing the physical commute – but don’t worry, you’ve got this. You can chill on your couch and eat some Mac and cheese as soon as your work is done!
Obviously, we are in quarantine, and we cannot get together with our friends in person – but that does not mean we can’t connect with them virtually or over the phone. Give your friend a call, or a family member – someone you haven’t talked to in a while, or at least all day while you’ve been working from home. You may not be able to sit down at a restaurant with them right now, but you can absolutely catch up this way for the time being. Making sure you’re connected with your friends even if that means drinking coffee or wine together over FaceTime, can help balance your work from home schedule and your everyday life.
Yes, we may not have the time or motivation to make dinner after working from home – that’s why we included the word “order”, of course. If cooking is relaxing for you though, it is a great way to unwind after work. Throwing on your favorite cooking playlist and making a delicious meal can put you in a feel-good mood and help you focus on something other than work. While on the other hand, ordering out can do the same. After a long day of work, you deserve your favorite takeout delivered to your doorstep. Even if we can’t go out to dinner right now and sit down in a restaurant, we can still enjoy some quality food in the comfort of our homes.
While it may not always seem easy to find the motivation to hit the gym after a long day of work – we do know that we will feel better after working out. Gyms aren’t open right now, but we don’t need them right now anyway. Without any equipment, we can still do at home workouts that require just ourselves and a soft surface like a yoga mat or rug Doing an at-home workout after a long day of work from home can help relieve unnecessary stress and give us more energy to take on the rest of our day.
The world is experiencing something together at the same time, and none of us really knew how to prepare to fully work from home if we had to do so – but, you know what, we are really doing our best and it shows! Though we may feel a lack of normalcy during this time, finding a balance between work from home and life really begins with giving yourself a break. Making sure you don’t think of you didn’t do today, but rather thinking of what you did accomplish is essential to keeping a positive mindset through working from home and keeping with other everyday life activities too. So don’t worry, you’re doing great. And even if a workday seems longer than it should be, make sure you take the time to relax at the end of the day!
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