How to Achieve Work/Life Balance
Working from home is both a blessing and a curse. There are lots of pros and cons, and navigating them takes a strategy (and sticking to it!) for sure. Since our wedding, creating a home together, and embarking on our work life together, Jordan and I have created some tips and tricks that have worked for us. Read on to see how we make it work day in and day out!
1. Set boundaries
One of our most important rules about working from home is that we never (ok, almost never) let our home and office areas blend. It’s super important to keep these areas separate since those two parts of your life (work and non-work) are also separate. Maintaining a solid structure such as specific work time and life time is also a crucial “do.” One of my favorite little tips is using common household routines as a timer for work. For instance, I will do a load of laundry (it’s gotta get done, right??) while I do a work task, knowing that a typical load takes maybe an hour, and that’s a good reminder to take a short break once it’s finished. I’m all about multi-tasking!
2. Minimize time on social media
This may seem like common sense, but lemme tell you, it’s SO important. You simply cannot be productive on work tasks if you’re constantly scrolling Instagram or reading comments on Facebook. I’m obviously very in touch with social media since that’s a huge part of my job, but even I have to remind myself to put down my phone or close that browser…or else it will take over the entire day.
3. Prepare meals the night before
This is a great tip for saving time during the day. When you’re working from home, you don’t want to waste valuable efficiency by having to stop and cook a meal when hunger pains strike. Instead, we like to meal prep the night before so there’s something quick and healthy to grab in a pinch.
4. Delegate
Listen to me, peeps: don’t be a control freak. Hard, right? Yeah, I know. But you have to learn to delegate if you’re going to achieve a happy work/life balance. When we first started, I thought no one would be able to do things as good as me or the way I wanted. Turns out, I’m no genius. And delegating has become a necessary part of my life. We found Care.com as an amazing resource for finding help with our dogs—such as taking them out, going for walks—and the site can also help with childcare too!
5. Create a personal work space
If you’re working with more than one person in the home, you must divide up. Having your own work space is critical, not only for privacy, but also productivity. Jordan established his office downstairs and mine is upstairs. We sometimes meet up in the living room for meetings or things we need to work on together, but otherwise generally try to keep out of those living spaces during work hours.
6. Join social groups
Remember what I was saying about social media? Yeah, it’s true that too much social media can be distracting, but you definitely DO need to get yourself out there somehow. Finding a social group that has like interests as you is a great way to connect and get your name out to others. That’s one of the primary reasons I formed The Sassy Club! There’s local chapters so you can get to know other ladies in the group. In the end, social media is not enough.
7. Use tools to stay connected –
Slack for communication. Asana for project management.
Work/life balance really comes down to productivity and efficiency. Thanks to the digital age we live in, there’s so many tools out there that can help. We use Slack for communication between our team members—it’s a great way to keep messages in a central location. For project management we use a tool called Asana, which helps centralize ideas and work areas. There are just two examples—many more to choose from!
All in all, working from home is something that Jordan and I have chosen, but we have to make a diligent effort to find a balance. We’re blessed to be able to have a flexible schedule that allows us to travel, but working from home also comes with a sense of pressure that never stops. These tips have helped keep our marriage happy and healthy, as well as prevent personal burnout. I hope they work for you too!
Jordan and I even made a YouTube video because we are THAT passionate about it. Let us know in the comments below what other videos you’d like to see from us!
xo,
Dani