Navigating Remote Work: My Guide to Achieving Work-Life Balance
Embracing the freedom of remote work has opened new doors in my professional life for more than 20 years. But in recent years things have changed, I’ve grappled with the challenge of maintaining a healthy work-life balance because of the changes this has introduced since the COVID-19 crisis. In this article, I’ll share my strategies for working remotely without succumbing to the 24/7 availability trap.
Consistency is my anchor. I’ve set regular working hours that sync with my natural energy levels and the expectations of my team. By communicating these hours clearly, using tools like my calendar to signal availability, I’ve established a routine that everyone respects.
Designating a specific area in my home as my workspace has been crucial. I have made my office feel much like my office when I was in the corporate location. I have it decorated and equipped the same way some would expect a modern office to be. This IS my office, and I have a certain sanctity for it.
This physical boundary helps me mentally separate work from personal life. When I am in my office, my family knows that interruption is not allowed without urgency. Communicating these expectations minimizes disruptions during working hours.
I’ve learned to manage communication effectively. By specifying response times and updating my status (using Teams) to reflect my availability, I’ve made my best attempt to set expectations for my team. Transparency about when I’m online and offline has become an essential part of my remote work etiquette. Without this communication, we are doomed to lose favor among both our clients and our co-workers, as expectations are unmet.
Breaks are not negotiable. I schedule regular pauses throughout my day to prevent burnout and maintain focus. Stepping away from my office and engaging in activities that promote relaxation during these breaks is non-negotiable. I take a break for re-warming my coffee in the morning, and my favorite break is to take my dogs for a walk around lunch. I have discovered that when I let these important times go, I let go of myself in subtle ways that build up over time. We need to have time that we are not questioned about that is our time during the day. And we need to know that we are not being judged because somebody sent us a Teams request and we were taking care of ourselves. I refuse to load Teams on my personal phone, because my time is my time, and when I have had a company phone, I leave it on my desk during my time.
Prioritizing tasks has become a skill. I evaluate assignments based on urgency and importance, recognizing when taking on more work would jeopardize my work-life balance. Realism is key, and if necessary, I negotiate deadlines to ensure a sustainable workload. In a world where everyone seems to be consumed with more, I feel like less is more healthy for me. And that doesn’t mean less productivity or less of my effort, it means less of being available to hear all the gibberish of everyone’s problems.
Non-working days are sacred! I’ve designated specific days (weekends and holidays) to completely disconnect from work-related activities. Communicating these off-days to my team and refraining from checking work-related communications reinforces the importance of dedicated personal time. It’s not like I don’t care, it’s more like I need to have time for myself and in order for me to be my best, I can’t succumb to a constant buzz. Also important, If I continue to always be available, other associates on our team get ignored, and they get stressed for being overlooked.
Balance between effectiveness and familiarity is very important. I realize I will be a high priority contact, but my team is also competent to solve most problems. I am only available on off-days if the team sincerely tries to resolve the issue and can’t. But even saying that, I may not be available because of mobile phone coverage in backcountry areas I often travel to during my days off. Again, there is a balance and it needs to be important to my employer, or we won’t get along.
Regular self-assessment is crucial. I reflect on my remote work boundaries periodically, ensuring they align with my well-being. If adjustments are needed, I communicate changes to my team transparently, maintaining a healthy dialogue about my evolving needs.
When I started working remote, I was part professionals who very well established in our software specialties and handled our remote work accordingly. Unfortunately, a bunch of bad actors have found this relatively new phenomenon of working from home to make claims of work being completed when no actual work has been accomplished. This is a disservice to the professionals I know who have successfully built phenomenal software from home for many years. For the professionals who have been “working from home’ for decades, this is a disservice to our pride in accomplishment.
In conclusion, my remote work journey has been a quest for balance. By consistently reinforcing these boundaries, I’ve found a rhythm that allows me to savor the flexibility of remote work without falling into the 24/7 availability trap. It’s an ongoing process of self-discovery, but the rewards of a harmonious work-life balance are well worth the effort.
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