People who commute to work: I wish I could work from home… Life would be much easier and less stressful.
People who are working from home: I sure do miss the office… I could focus more and I had social interactions.
Does any of this sound familiar to you?
Whether it does or not, the truth of the matter is that work is work, whether you’re at home or in the office. Each working situation has its own set of pros and cons but it’s pretty safe to say that the intricacies of working from home are quite different from working in an office environment.
There have been people who were working in an office environment and hated it, so they started looking for the best work-from-home options available to them. After working their home-based job for a few months, they realized that they hate it even more than the office job they had.
It’s understandable… Working from home isn’t for everyone. It takes someone who can truly be responsible enough to get their work done without supervision. But the biggest character trait of successfully being able to work from home is the ability to focus and avoid distractions.
Distractions are one of the top contributors to a decrease in productivity in work-from-home or remote workers. Social media, TV, household chores, and children are a few of the biggest distractions with remote workers. The thing about these types of distractions is that they wouldn’t even be an issue for you if you were in an office setting, and that’s what makes them so unique.
If you commuted to work, you wouldn’t be tempted to go and do a load of laundry or wash those dishes in the sink… In the minds of remote workers, that’s how you balance your home life and your work life… Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.
But there’s no need to give up hope. You just have to approach working from home in a different way in order to bring just as much balance to your work life as your home life. By following these helpful tips, you’ll be able to successfully balance your responsibilities at home with your responsibilities for work.
How to Successfully Balance Your Home Life and Work-From-Home Life
Outsource House Cleaning Services
When working from home, it’s pretty easy to get distracted by your household chores. Most remote workers feel that they can multitask doing housework while taking phone calls or less tedious work obligations… research shows otherwise.
According to a study by the University of Southern California, multitasking actually causes you to retain less information about your work responsibilities and you make more careless mistakes. So the ability to multitask is no longer a “bragging right.” In fact, it’s a red flag to your employer and clients.
If your home responsibilities are that pressing on your mind that you can’t bear it while you’re working, it’s time to outsource your house cleaning responsibilities. For example, Murfreesboro house cleaning services are accommodating to customers because they offer recurring services, and as someone working from home who needs regular cleaning help, this would be ideal for your situation.
Learn to Say No
This is something you have to take into consideration for your own mental health, whether you’re working from home or not. You might be asked to work over for something last minute, and when you can’t do it, you have to say no. Just because you’re working from home, it doesn’t mean that your life is easier. If you have other pressing issues preventing you from working over, especially if it’s last-minute, you have to learn to say no.
Saying no doesn’t mean being rude either. Talk to your manager about it so they can understand why you can’t work over. It’s especially important to explain when they rarely ask for OT. They may not like it but depending on what’s going on, you have to let them know so that they can plan accordingly.
Create a Real Work Environment at Home
One of the biggest reasons people fail at working from home is because they don’t treat it like it’s a real job. Just because you’re working from home, it doesn’t mean that you can work from your bed or from the couch… you can but that doesn’t mean you should.
Working in an environment that’s too comfortable is setting you up to potentially fall asleep during work hours. To reach full productivity, create a true work environment. You don’t have to have a home office or spare bedroom. Creating a work area will do the trick. A desk or simple card table, with a desk chair, and your computer set up will give you an area where you can work and be just comfortable enough to successfully get through your workday.