How to Balance Telecommuting with Your Personal Life During COVID-19

• Author: Kelly Cooke
• Posted: 2024-08-19

With the increase in people working from home as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis, more workers are dealing with the challenge of making that transition from your workday to your personal time. Without the buffer of a commute, it may be difficult to find that delineation between the two sections of your day. Here are a few tips that you can employ to help you to make this transition and find the balance that you need to enjoy a successful work from home experience.

Review Completed Tasks and Make a New To-Do List

One of the best ways to bring about closure to your workday is to take stock of what you accomplished and look toward at what lies ahead tomorrow. Start this process by reviewing the list of your completed tasks. Not only will this help you to understand what needs to be prioritized tomorrow, but it will also give you a sense of satisfaction seeing what you accomplished over the course of your day. Making a list of the items that you need to tackle tomorrow will give you peace of mind when you walk away from your desk knowing that you have a plan in place. All of this will serve to help you to put your workday behind you and to enjoy your personal time.

Schedule Challenges First

Most people are better equipped to jump into their hardest work task early in the day. You will have more energy and motivation if you check off the most challenging tasks first thing in the morning. It will give you a mental boost to knock the hardest task out first. Once you have this big to-do item crossed off your list of tasks, you will automatically feel more inspired to get more done. Save the easier tasks for the dips in the day when you historically have a more difficult time concentrating.

Set a Strict End Time

One of the biggest hardships with telecommuting is not being able to turn off that laptop and move on with your personal life. It can be extremely tempting to wander into your work area at various times in the evening to try to get one more thing done. It is up to you to set a strict end time to your day and do what you can to adhere to this balance. Setting office hours will help you to create boundaries so that you are able to separate your workday from your time away with your family and friends.

Tidy Up Your Work Area and Laptop

It can be difficult to make a peaceful transition away from your work if you are leaving behind a cluttered workspace. For this reason, it is a good idea to take a few minutes to clean up your desk area before you log out for the day. Part of this tidying up includes closing all of your work tabs and replying to urgent emails so that they are not hanging over your head all evening. This is particularly important if you plan on using your laptop for personal reasons later in the evening. You do not want an ocean of open tabs to draw you back into your work. You will be able to relax better if you know that you will be going back to an organized work area in the morning.

Create a Transition Habit

While you may be loving not having a commute, there is no doubt that this time used to serve as a great way for you to decompress and leave your work where it belonged. Without a set commute, many workers find it hard to separate their work time from their personal life. You can help to encourage this time to separate by creating a regular transitional activity. Maybe you want to go for a walk after you log out for the day? Or perhaps you need to leave the house to run errands? The goal is to find that space that helps to relax your body and mind and get you out of work mode.

It is certainly an adjustment to learn how to successfully balance your work and personal life. However, these five tips will help you to achieve this crucial balance so that both parts of your life are in sync.