What happens when home becomes your new work place? How do you balance the idea of leaving work at work?
Photo credit: Retha Ferguson
Leaving work at work is never about having split personalities at home and at work. The rationale behind leaving work at work is to give you a chance to pursue things that may relieve you from work related stress. However, what happens when home becomes your new work place? How do you balance the idea of leaving work at work? Does it mean everything about your home will be all about answering emails and calls?
Under normal circumstances, every Friday evening you get to see excitements on faces as you get off from work. The weekend mood changes when Sunday evening begs to leave. Then you remember that Monday is coming, and that alone depresses you. You tend to think that work is a place of confinement. When in the real sense, it should not be so, unless you are not looking for prospects of career growth.
With the current lockdown, almost all businesses have resorted to working from home. Work is here to stay with you. The dilemma is how you create a harmonious environment between work and home. Does that mean that you would be working 24 hours? The blatant answer is NO. So how do you survive the stresses of work during this lockdown?
1. Have an office
Working from home does not mean working from bed, or from the couch. You do not have to play loud music, or tune into television. Keep distractions as far as possible. Maintain your discipline the same way you do in an actual office. Make sure you have everything in place, internet connection, a laptop, and stationeries. Having a set up office place at home, creates a boundary between work and your house. Balancing between the two is just a matter of jumping from one environment to the next.
2. Adhere to Office hours
You do not have 24 hours on your sleeve, to keep saying that you will start work later. Working at home throws at you distractions that if not managed well, may result in your underperformance. Remember you are at home and some other things need your attention. In fact, the earlier you finish work the better. Everything has its own time, let office time be office time. There is always time for everything.
3. Create Daily Goals And Adhere To Deadlines
Working with no clear objective in mind, is like trudging murky water at night with a blindfold on. Chances are, you will orbit around and come back to the same point. This may result into frustration. However, creating goals and adhering to deadlines keeps you focused on completing a particular task.
Also, at the end of days’ work, create a To-Do list of tomorrow’s session. Failing to plan is planning to fail, when it comes to organizing yourself, it is that simple. There is no greater boost when you wake up with a clear mind on what exactly you need to achieve for the day. It works for me as a writer. I go to bed, thinking about what I will be working on tomorrow, and when I wake, everything just fall into place.
4. Reward Yourself After Work.
After, working, you need to reward yourself whichever manner you deem fit. The only reason for rewarding yourself, Is because you have had a successful day, and you need to be happy and proud of yourself. You have kids around, play with them. On the other hand, when alone, grab a blended juice, coffee, or tea, and Sink into your favorite couch with a lifestyle magazine, or a novel, put on some music and have a moment. Tune in to watch an exciting movie. Appreciate yourself for the day. You are now in control of your work place, and your house. You deserve to relax.
