Establishing Boundaries for Mental and Physical Work From Home Health
Working from home has so many positive benefits. By eliminating a commute, there is newfound time in the day for exercise, hobbies, and family. But, if you are not careful, and you do not establish boundaries between your work day and daily living, you can end up working so many more hours. Here are some suggestions to set boundaries when you work from home so that you remember to make time to live your life to the fullest.
Establish a routine: Set specific times for starting and ending your workday, just as you would if working in an office. Stick to your schedule as much as possible to create a clear separation between work and personal time.
Designate a workspace: Create a designated workspace that is separate from your personal space, such as a Boxx home office studio. When you are in your workspace, treat it as your office and avoid doing non-work related activities in that area.
Communicate your schedule: Let your family members, or anyone else you live with know when you are working and when you are not. This helps them understand when you are available and when you need uninterrupted time to focus on work.
Take breaks: Schedule regular breaks throughout the day to give yourself time to recharge and step away from work. Use this time to do something that helps you relax and recharge, such as going for a walk or eating lunch.
Turn off notifications: In a 24/7 world, this sometimes feels hard to do. But, hearing an email, Slack, or Teams ping when you aren’t supposed to be working is really hard to ignore. If you can, turn off work-related notifications when you are not working. This can help you avoid the temptation to check your email or respond to messages outside of your work hours.
Set communication expectations with clients or colleagues: Let your clients or colleagues know your working hours and when they can expect to hear back from you. If they try to contact you outside of those hours, politely remind them of your availability.
Stand up and move to keep WFH healthy: Don’t sit and work from dawn to dusk. Dr. Jordan Metzel wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times about NEAT behavior (non-exercise activity thermogenisis). These are the daily steps taken while living and working. If you aren’t mindful, your step count could dwindle to a couple of hundred steps on a daily basis because you are rolling from your bed to your couch. Another reason why we like a backyard office studio solution! You will get more steps in “commuting” back and forth to the kitchen and bathroom. Every step counts!
Having a dog helps me walk over 3000 steps a day, if I add I “Pod Walk” (a quick walk listening to a 30-minute podcast), I can add another 3000-4000 steps. By implementing the rest of these strategies, you can create a healthy work-life balance and maintain boundaries between work and personal time, even when working from home.