Blog: 3 Top Tips for your Work (from home) Life Balance

The corona virus pandemic has ushered in a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘work life balance’. With so many people working from home, home schooling and being furloughed, work and life has been thrown together in the same space, at the same time with very few boundaries. Granted, we are starting to venture out of our homes and back into the big wide world, but many remain working from home.

We have seen both positive and negative impacts from this very different way of life. Some of the positives include companies realising the vast majority of their workforce are very productive at home, perhaps leading to a much more flexible working environment going forward. For example, employees or contractors who were living outside London with long daily commutes now have the opportunity to renegotiate their contracts to spend less time commuting and more time doing what they enjoy. However, households with young children and working parents have had a juggling challenge on their hands, with many feeling like chaos is unavoidable and down time is rare. Potentially leading to increased stress, less productivity and burnout.  

Although the impacts of the pandemic on work and home life have been as broad ranging as there are different types of people and businesses, there are fundamental approaches to life and work which can help to improve your experience. These tenets apply to life at all times, but are especially pertinent in the current situation.

1. Create a structure for your day/ week

Taking the time and energy to structure your week or day with a clear plan of action including what needs to be done, what are the non-negotiables and your essential commitments, goes a long way to helping you stay on track and feeling in control. Useful technology to help you do this include calendar apps such as iCal, Microsoft Outlook Calendar etc. 

2. Set yourself achievable goals or milestones

As weekdays blend into weekends and weeks turn into months having small, achievable goals is an excellent way to know you are moving forward. This strategy will increase clarity around your progress and give you a reason to celebrate your successes. Useful technology includes Microsoft To-Do or Todoist. 

3. Be kind to yourself

High performing, ambitious people set especially high standards for themselves and tend to criticise themselves harshly for falling short. Reminding yourself that perhaps your best effort during this pandemic looks very different to life and work pre-pandemic, and that’s OK.

These three top tips to help create balance in work/ home life are very simple and no doubt you have heard them before, however it’s useful to be reminded to take action on them. As we continue to move through this new way of way of life, with constant changes and lots of uncertainty, SKCI is here to support you and your business in whichever way we can.