In today’s world, there is a significantly larger group of people trying to figure out the balance between work and life when both are at home. There has always been a struggle between the two, but the physical difference of the office and home was a nice separating tool. Now, the space has become one: Home. In the same way we must tackle work and life separately at home, we can start by looking at them as separate.
Work
A healthy work environment is imperative for staying on task. It is important to block out background noise and keep focused on the tasks at hand. Easier said than done, right? Separating out the jobs, or assignments, that are on the to do list for each day is one helpful way of doing this. Whether that means physically writing it down, or adding it to your google calendar, seeing what needs to be done that day is going to better ensure you complete it all. It is easy to forget you are allowed to have an off switch when you are working from home.
Usually, when people are finished working, they leave the office. If your office is the same place you cook, clean, sleep, enjoy life, and live, then that just got a lot harder. It is very easy to say, “Well, I’m home, let me look at this really quick,” and a few hours later you are still “looking at it.” Being aware of yourself and how much time you are spending on work at home is important to keeping a healthy balance in your life.
Life
Living life at home should not really need much of an explanation. Except in this case, it does. A lot of the time we forget to live life because we are so focused on living to work. If you are passionate about your job, or overwhelmed at your job, or whatever the case may be, then it is understandable why you focus so much of your time on work. It is important, though, to remove yourself from the mental workspace you are in to truly visualize life outside of work. I do not mean life in a sense of traveling the world or having crazy new experiences every weekend because that is not realistic. I mean life in the sense of cooking dinner with your significant other, or having a family Mario Kart night, or taking that weekend trip to the beach.
Taking care of yourself is important for you and those around you. Creating happy memories and taking a breath of life away from work creates a great balance in living to live for yourself, and not for work.
Tools For Success
To be successful in balancing work and life, you eventually must look at them together. Looking at it from a bird’s eye view, or bigger picture outlook, there are a few tools to consider for success:
First, prioritizing things in your day will help you figure out where to start. When you have a long to do list, prioritizing can help you quickly get your day started, without agonizing over the to do list for too long. Second, creating plans set for the future, like going on a trip or working on a big project, helps to manage the overall Work/Life balance. This balance has never been easy to figure out, and the added obstacle of them both being at home makes it that much harder. Figuring out what works for you, and personalizing it to your situation makes all the difference.
About Megan Valco
Megan Valco is an Account Assistant at Haute In Texas. Currently attending UTSA, she is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Digital Communications. Her hobbies include enjoying day trips to Fredericksburg and the beach, painting and finding new thrift stores to shop. After graduating, her aspirations have no limit as she plans to continue working in the PR and Marketing world, as well as traveling and living across the U.S. and abroad.
