Is there really such a thing as work-life balance? After 12 years of working from home, I’m starting to believe there isn’t, at least not totally.
We all know that life has a way of throwing us little surprises at us. It can throw a wrench in even the most perfectly planned out day. But I still believe we can come this close to living your best work from home life.
There is a big misconception that working from home is a walk in the park. Well, I’m here to tell yah mama, that’s not always the case. Sure you’re not commuting to work and you can opt out on wearing make-up…but.
If you have kids, especially littles, you have to plan around their schedule. And then you have to make sure your work-from-home job won’t interfere with your mom shift.
Now, if you have a work-from-home job, you have a set schedule to work around and that makes it easy to manage the mom shift.
But if you’re running a home-based business, you more likely to work more hours than you did working a job.
3 Ways To Live Your Best Work From Home Life
More often than not, running a home-based business means working longer hours. And that means sitting at your desk for most of the day. As a result, you might be late getting dinner on the table or forgetting to do the laundry. Been there done that!
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t follow a healthy work schedule. I can sit here at my desk for hours at a time. But we all know sitting for a long period of time can be bad for our health.
And if you’re not healthy then you’re not living your best work from home life.
After learning my lesson the hard way, here are three things I make sure to do to balance my day. If you’re struggling to slay your day, follow the following tips.
Give Yourself a Work Schedule and Stick To It
It’s important to give yourself a work schedule. That way you can determine the number of hours you want to work as well as which days of the week. And this will help you fit in those mom shift duties. You know the ones…driving the kids to school, soccer practice or choir rehearsal.
Be disciplined as if it were a traditional job and do not take advantage of the freedom.
If you decide to put in an eight-hour work day, remember… you don’t have to work the eight hours straight through. There is no rule that says you can’t split up your work day. In fact, that’s what I do and it works out perfectly.
Schedule Breaks and a Lunch Break
You should also schedule breaks and a lunch hour. Just like you would plan out the days of the week and number of hours you work.
If you’re not going to eat, use that time to do stretch exercises at your desk or walk around the house to get the blood flowing.
Schedule Vacation Days
My favorite part of working from home is that I get to be off on any holiday I want. When I worked in an office I was at the bottom of the seniority chain. By the time the “vacation book” got to me, time off for holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break and Easter were already taken…but I digress.
Schedule your vacation time and consider it the payoff for working so hard all year long. And it’s a great reminder of ‘why’ you’re hustlin’ like you do.
Wrapping It Up
So those are the three things that have helped me live my best work from home life and I hope it does the same for you!
