As COVID-19 continues to spread and lockdown measures are extended and reinstated in some cases, many of us continue to work from home. For a large number of people, working from home for an extended period of time is a new concept. In that you may be facing difficulties managing your time, getting into the right mindset, avoiding frequent disturbances and maintaining a good work life balance; as the lines between your personal and professional lives blur. In this article, we are going to look at a few tips that can help you become more efficient at working from home, and parallely make the most of this extra time you have with your loved ones. 

• Have a designated workspace:

It is a good idea to maintain a separate room or corner in the house as your designated workspace. As far as possible try to allocate a separate room since this will reduce disturbances while you work, and can give you some privacy when you may have important calls. Having a workspace allows you to reinforce the separation of work and home, even though the environment is being shared. 

• Maintain the routines that differentiate work and home:

A big factor that differentiates your personal and professional lives are the routines that you follow. This includes the travel to and from work, changing between your office and lounge wear, stipulated meal times, etc. While you have had to forgo many of these routines, maintain the ones that you can. On workdays, try to ensure that your meals are had at the same time you would have in the office. Similarly, change into your office attire before you start working and back into your loungewear when you wind down. These things can allow you to create a mindset which helps you differentiate between your personal and professional life effectively.

• Define tasks and take stipulated breaks:

Just like in the office, define particular tasks to complete each day, and make a schedule accordingly. Incorporate breaks within your plan and try not to take one whenever you want. By scheduling your day, you will be able to hone your attention and productivity, and track your progress efficiently. Just like in finance, even when it comes to working from home, coherent planning is the most optimal way to ensure that you achieve your targets and goals.

• Set a time limit for your job:

Just because your office and home are now the same place doesn’t mean you should be ready for work all the time. This can be extremely stressful as your commitments at home should not take a back seat to your job. So while scheduling your work, also make sure you set a time limit for work. You can model this based on your office timings prior to lockdown and make some changes, if needed, to adapt it to the current situation. When you’re done working, turn off your laptop and avoid taking calls from the office. Spend this time with your family and doing things that you enjoy, that are not connected to your job.

Maintaining a work life balance can be difficult if you’re not used to working from home for an extended period of time, but it is not impossible. By keeping these tips in mind and planning well, you can balance your personal and professional commitments to get the best of both worlds.