As we make our way through summer, the challenges that can come along with working from home can seem to amplify, yet it’s important to take a moment and appreciate the opportunity of getting to be around your loved ones more often. It’s important to learn how to balance work and family life in order to make the most out of the work day and time with your family and friends. Below, we’ve listed a few ways on how to do that:
1. Summer Fridays
Give yourself permission to spend time with your loved ones. If there is anything COVID taught us, it’s that life is too short and our jobs are not our legacy. How we make people feel is our legacy. So, make a commitment to spend more time with those around you. It’s only a few weeks of downtime and they would love to see you swimming at the pool, taking in a movie or just baking cupcakes with them in your own kitchen. If this is something you can’t do every Friday in the summer – try once a month!
2. Take water cooler breaks with your kids or neighbors
Remember when we used to get up from our desks and talk to people in the hall across from us? We would laugh about things we did over the weekend, share thoughts on new fun places to go and share upcoming life events with people. Unfortunately in a world of virtual meetings, we tend to never get up for a break to even eat. So, this summer give yourself permission to not be working 24/7. Do a “water cooler” break with the people who are close to you. Make lunch with them, go to the playground or for a quick bike ride. And if you don’t have kids, walk to your neighbors house and pop in for a quick second or just go for a walk outside to get some fresh air. I promise the effort is worth it.
3. Not feeling super productive? Rethink how you are doing your work
You can change your focus to concentrate on one task at a time for 25 minutes. Set a timer and when that is done, you move on to the next. Make sure to schedule time for you to either move, meditate or turn off the day. Additionally, set 15 minutes in the morning to establish what the highest priorities of the day are, and assign the blocks so you know your focus before the time shifts. Again, as a reminder, if you don’t finish your task, don’t beat yourself up. Close down that focus time, recenter and move on. You can come back to it later in the day or even the next day. If you think of it like class – Math never blended into English, regardless of whether the lesson was over. Set that bell to remind you of that habit!
Balancing work and family life can be a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity to create time for yourself and lasting memories with your loved ones. By taking Fridays off, incorporating breaks with your kids and friends, and rethinking your productivity approach, you can make the most of your time working from home.