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To be honest, I wanted to talk about my new frosé recipe today, but I figured work-life balance tips were more important for the current state of the world. Due to COVID-19, people are either essential and still at work, let go, or required to work from home. I’ve heard it so eloquently said that it isn’t “working from home” it is “at home, trying to work” during a crisis. Heck, maybe you did need the frosé today instead!!

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Regarding work-life balance tips that I’m sharing today, I want you to know that I’m writing this for myself more than anyone. I’m not really good at drawing a line between on and off time, but I HAVE gotten better. That’s something, right? I’m not currently corporately employed, but I was from 2013-2019 and can only imagine what consistently working from home has been like. As much as I am a proponent of being able to work from home, most days I preferred to be in office. That’s saying a lot considering I’ve always had a 30+ minute commute both ways! Why it is especially hard right now, is that home is usually a place you can be comfortable and use to getting away from all the work chaos, but working from home is often like inviting the chaos in and having nowhere to hide.

When I was writing my draft for this blog post, it began to feel a lot like my tips for working from home blog post… the difference? THIS blog post should transcend WFH / pandemic time. Though a lot of my work from home tips do support a good work-life balance, it would be ignorant to think that working from home automatically produces a wood work-life balance. If anything, I think it blurs the line and makes it harder! Here are some tops to try and create a good work-life balance:

Set times. Work your normal work hours. End of story!* It is also a good idea to set time to unplug and truly relax. Put your phone away and be present!
Be flexible*. If you know you are going to have a later day because of a project deployment or something like that, shift your day to have the same hours. Obviously let your superiors know, but they should honestly be advocating for this. Good companies do! Also keep in mind that sometimes extra work is required. Having worked in the apparel industry, we have a “busy season” and the hours are longer then. HOWEVER, there is a difference between a certain peak time and an uneven distribution of work.
Take breaks. This is crucial! As someone who often skipped her lunch break, I know the importance of taking a break. It’s actually scientifically proven that breaks help keep you focused and result in better work. Not to mention they can guard against burn out.
It’s also important to truly take time off. It’s hard for me with the blog, but rarely truly took time off corporately. I always had a hand in my emails…
Prioritize your own work. Basically learn to say no! I’m not saying to never help a teammate or make exceptions, but remember your own responsibilities. I used to put work for other people above my own and it made my job so much harder. I made the decision to only prioritize specific requests from my boss over my “daily to-do list” and even then, I often asked them to prioritize their priorities. “Okay you want to add this? It more important than X and XX? I can only get 2 done today.” Obviously there are times when “all 3” are a must and I have to get them done, but that shouldn’t be an every day occurrence.
Side note - prioritizing is huge for me. I keep a running list of everything I need to do / have coming up, but I set a couple of priorities daily. This helps keep me focused and on track.
Draw a line. This is hard for me to do. I’m not necessarily a “people pleaser”, but when I’m given a job, I act like it is life or death for me to complete. I enjoy being depended on and like being known as reliable. Recently Nick had a counterpart that “drew a line” and I wasn’t sure if I would have made the same decision. (Which explains my need for this post!! Heck I mean I once answered a call from my boss while in a public restroom… why couldn’t I have just called him back?!) Nick’s coworker had been putting in extra hours during the week and It was the weekend. He was on a hike with his girlfriend and ignored a call from the client. Guess what? His boss applauded him for that. I know not all companies are like that, but WOW. The most similar thing I ever did was remove my work email from my phone and the only time I did it was for my wedding / honeymoon! If you can swing removing your email from your phone, DO IT.
Something I have been able to learn (though it took a while) is that the work will still be there tomorrow. Sure sometimes I might work a little later, but I typically only do that to arrive at a good stopping point or complete my main priorities for the day. I don’t have to work myself to the bone over something that isn’t due until a month from now.
Keep your calendar up to date. This is one of my favorite tips! Whatever calendar of yours others can see (outlook, google, etc), make sure it is 100% correct. When people send meetings, they usually glance at these and are less likely to overbook you. Obviously there are some meetings that trump your own, but for the most part this shouldn’t occur. I used to work with people who were chronic lunch meeting people. I began scheduling my own lunch on my calendar to make sure I got a break. Even if you don’t have that issue, I would recommend doing this, as the calendar will remind you to take a break!
Give yourself a sense of accomplishment. One of the worst things (for my personality type at least) is working a long day only to feel like I got nothing done. Having a sense of accomplishment and feeling like I can step back from work are super important to me. Here are 3 ways I try to realize this feeling:
- Begin with an easy win. What are things on your list that you can done quickly and cross off? Do a couple of those things first. Whenever you finish a task and mark it off, your brain releases dopamine, which causes feelings of accomplishment, satisfaction, and happiness. Beginning the day with completing a few key tasks can help give you the motivation you need to complete the day.
- Identify your top 3 priorities for the day. If you have more than that, take note of your top 3 and leave the rest “on deck” for if you have time. Knowing your MUST COMPLETE tasks will help keep you focused on what actually needs to be accomplished. Personally, I like to keep a running written list of everything that I need to do regardless and place a post-it note on the page with my top 3. I update the post-it daily and re-write my running list weekly. Writing things out helps me remember them and gives me a visual, plus I get to cross things off, which I LOVE.
- Play background noise. I stay on task much better when it isn’t dead silence. If I’m doing something mindless, it might be a podcast or show. When I’m writing or need to focus, I prefer instrumental music. One of my favorites is Vitamin String Quartet. They cover popular songs and are so talented! The music honesty keeps me going and I need less mental breaks. It helps me flow!
Move your body. If you have a fitness tracker that reminds you, even better! Go for a walk on your lunch break, get your run in after work, etc. Exercising helps you relieve stress and keeps you healthy. Make sure you prioritize your health in all of this too. Remember you can’t do your best work if you’re running on steam.

Have any good work-life balance tips? Please send them! Also keep in mind that any progress should be celebrated. It’s a hard thing to actually balance, so keep on trying!

Side note - May is mental health awareness month, so I hope this post contributed to keeping your own mental health top of mind! I also wrote about a mindfullness/meditation app and CBD this month, as they both help me keep mine in check.

P.S. If you liked this post, you’ll probably enjoy these:

My Favorite Planner

How to Deal with an Uneven Distribution of Work at the Office

Work from Home Tips

Tips for being a Good Co-Worker