Honestly, work-life balance is not my strong suit, but I am a work in progress & this is something I REALLY try to work on. SO- this post is for you guys (always), but also it’s for me. It’s good to get these things down in words, something about writing it all out always helps me put things into motion.

I actually had a friend over the other day & she asked me “working from home is new to me, so how do you do it without getting lonely or distracted?”.

FAB question. Working from home is a real treat but there are definitely it’s pit falls. It does get lonely sometimes cause you’re not around people like you would be in a workspace.. but for me, I have Zack (also works from home) & the dogs here so loneliness isn’t my biggest problem.

I have two really big problems with working from home.

PROBLEM #1: work is always in my face, so I miss out on a lot of the relaxing at home stuff. Making dinner with Zack, watching a movie without the distraction of my computer, getting to bed at a decent time. Those things are my STRUGGLE & nearly impossible for me. Like I said… WIP over here. You don’t clock out at 5pm & you don’t have pre-determined lunch breaks, so it’s a lot about self control & iPhone reminders. Sometimes I need to set an alarm just to remind me it’s time for lunch. I can easily get sucked in to the computer for hours & realize it’s 5pm and I haven’t eaten ANYTHING all day. It happens, & I am WELL AWARE- it’s not healthy.

PROBLEM #2: distractions! I know, I just said I zone out & don’t remember to eat, but there are those days where everything in the house is a huge distraction. The dishes need to be done, the dog needs to be walked or just snuggled, the TV is on, the house cleaners are here, the laundry is overflowing. You are at home, so it’s your space, & for me- I can’t focus until my space is organized. This can also get the best of me- I sometimes wake up, go straight to cleaning, & before I know it- it’s 3pm & I haven’t gotten a post live or even checked my emails.

THE STRUGGLE MAN. I know I know, you ladies/gents sitting at your desks rn in your office are rolling your eyes into last week, but remember- the grass is ALWAYS greener. I love working from home, but sometimes I miss the days of working at a desk with headphones in listening to music, happy hours with co-workers, or just walking to a new lunch spot with a work friend.

So, plan moving forward? Read on for the tips I am slowly but surely incorporating into my life to help keep me sane while working from home & having a more FUNCTIONAL work-life balance.

“Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management. Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices.” -Betsy Jacobson

6 Tips for Maintaining a HEALTHY Work-Life Balance

i. own your choices & decisions

be confident in your decisions. If you choose NOT to practice work-life balance one day, but do the next day- just own it. Be confident in your choices & let go of the guilt of not doing things the “right” way. Yes, today’s post is about how to maintain a better work-life balance, but also, I personally feel like beating yourself up cause you didn’t balance super well one day is detrimental to achieving what that balance.

You know what needs to be done, & if cleaning the house takes precedence over work because you can’t work until the house is clean, you do that & don’t apologize for it. Ultimately, it’s more about work-life choices & those choices have consequences. You just gotta own those consequences & learn from them so you can do better the next day.

ii. daily to-do lists

start your day with a REALISTIC to-do list. I do this EVERY single day & it definitely helps hold me accountable. Also, it helps make sure I don’t bite off more than I can chew in one day. If I have a TON to do, I may even start Monday with an to-do list for everyday of the week. I know- it sounds excessive, but it just keeps me in check to know that by the end of the week, I can have everything done versus trying to pack it all into one day, which is the perfect segway to my next tip.

iii. don’t try to jam pack your days

all about that BALANCE BABY. There are 5 days in a work week, so you don’t have to have it all done by Monday. This is a big one for me cause I am really trying to embrace the idea of doing it tomorrow. I like to check things off my to-do list way too much, so the daily to-do list’s help, but ultimately it’s up to me to cut it off & keep my days less packed. Go-go-go & do-do-do is STRESSFUL. I try to balance out my workouts with my appointments with my work schedule so that there is some downtime in my days.

iv. take breaks (& use those phone alarms!)

like I said, working from home, you don’t have a boss coming by your desk telling you it times for lunch. You need to do these things yourself. My best friend uses time blocking cubes to help her manage her time, I set alarms. Either works. During these breaks, try to disconnect. I love to take a break from my work day to go take a workout class. Sometimes I don’t think I have time or I am overwhelmed with the thought of taking a break from my work, but after I workout I feel SO much more productive & refreshed. The human interaction is good for you. Breaking a sweat is good for you, and stretching your legs/body is REALLY damn good for you.

v. make a point to be social

also a tough one for me, but spending times with your friends/family/loved ones is important. I heard an analogy that work is a bouncy ball. If you drop it, it bounces back. Relationships are glass balls, if you drop them, they may break. I could do better at seeing my girlfriends more, but to start, Zack & I like to spend Sunday’s together NOT working. I also always make time to spend time with my family when our schedules line up. These things keep you sane, & human interaction is essential to your sanity.

vi. stop doing shit you hate to make more time for things you love

this is all about setting BOUNDARIES & learning to say no to what doesn’t serve you (which I talked about last week, cause I am also learning how to get better at saying no!). If you can’t or don’t want to do something that isn’t helpful to you, DON’T DO IT & replace it with something that is good for you. It’s okay to say no to a friend who asks you to go help them shop for holiday presents cause you’re “soooo good at gift giving”(always buttering me up with compliments) because you want to get your hair blown out. Those things, self care, are so good for your sanity & productivity. Prioritize yourself.

WHEW- did you make it through those tips? If so *clap clap* for you. You just successfully practiced work-life balance by taking a BREAK from work to read something that will help better yourself. Yahooooo. If you’ve got anymore work-life balance tips I missed, comment below!! Remember, I am new to this too & could use all the help I could get!

x, E