How to Relax At Home – When You Also Work There

I love working from home.

Like everything else, working from home has its pros and cons.

I read about the pitfalls of working from home, long before I got the chance to experience it for myself.

One of the negatives written about was that people working from home have a hard time separating their home life from their work life.

I wasn’t concerned with reading these articles. I knew that wouldn’t happen to me.

Hmmm…

Well, this is a bit embarrassing. It seems my confidence on this matter was slightly premature. Lately, it seems, this is exactly what has happened to me.

My working life and my home life have blurred into one. 

It can be hard to relax at home when you also work there.

The fact that I live alone (which I love by the way) doesn’t seem to have helped the situation. I have no one (like a partner or children) to tell me that it’s time to stop working and spend some time with them.

My cat jumping on the keyboard demanding my attention helps, but that’s about it. He hangs around for a cuddle, then he’s off for a nap.

I’ve decided I need a plan of attack. Fundamentally, it’s about setting some working boundaries for myself.

Here are my thoughts on how to relax at home when you also work there.

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Have scheduled downtime

I know this seems obvious but when you get caught up with work, you can simply forget to take time out.

I noticed recently that anytime I didn’t have my laptop on when I was at home, I started to feel guilty.

Yes, I know, not a good sign.

It’s time to start enjoying my evenings again and schedule in some downtime.

Related content – 

• Working Alone – Is it For You?
• Working Alone – Is it For You? Part 2
• Working Alone – Is it For You? Part 3

Take a digital sabbatical

I have read a bit about this on a few other blogs. Rowdy Kittens has a great post about it.   

While I was over picking up this link, I also found an interesting post over at 99% called Insecurity Work. Also very thought-provoking).   

In theory, a digital sabbatical sounds just dandy. The practicalities, however, involve not turning on my laptop over the weekend.  

Honestly, I’m breaking into a sweat just thinking about that, so this part of the plan might take a little more work. 

One day a weekend, without turning on my computer – sounds like a good place to start.

Get out of the house

This probably seems like a no-brainer.

But here is the drill. I normally work on Saturday, to get the drafts of my blog posts up and running for the following week.

Sunday is primarily my day off.  So what do I do on Sundays? I schedule social media and check emails (which is still working).

By midday on Sunday, I’m usually over working and want to take the rest of the day off (which I then proceed to feel guilty about).

The solution, get out of the house. Leave the laptop at home. Have fun and drop the guilt.

Related post – 20 Ways to Stop Feeling Guilty All the Time

Work outside of the house

This probably seems obvious these days in the world of laptops, iPads, and wireless Internet.

When I started working from home, I had every intention of going to a coffee shop and regularly working from there. I did it once.

Personally, I found the noise too distracting. I like a quiet environment when I write. No music, television, or people chattering in the background. I tried working in the library once and it was much better (quieter naturally).

I need to give it another shot and keep trying until I can fit working sessions outside of my home office into a normal part of my routine.

Collaborate on work projects

I have to admit, I haven’t done a lot of this yet and I seriously need to get cracking on it.

Since I lack experience in this area, I thought I would share some information from the pros.

Related content –

• 33 Types of Blogger Collaborations For Fun and For Profit
• Bloggers Unite – A 10 Point Guide for Blogger Collaboration
• How to Find Bloggers to Collaborate with Your Small Business

Get out and network

I am not doing enough networking. If you work from home, there’s a good chance you aren’t networking enough either. Jump on Google to see what networking functions, workshops or conferences are coming to your area over the next couple of months. Do your research. Ask your peers what they are attending or interested in.

Then, of course, it’s a matter of getting your butt out the door and going to these functions. Intention won’t cut it, you need commitment and follow through.

If you need help with networking (and let’s face it most of us do – particularly if you are an introvert), check out the popular  The Art of Networking online course from the creative folks over at CreativeLive. You can learn online and then attack your networking with confidence.

Related post – 7 Thoughts on Networking from a Former Social Butterfly  

Pick up the phone

To say I have been a bit reclusive lately is a bit of an understatement.

I need to remember, it’s not just about seeing my friends (which is difficult in many cases, since a lot of my friends live overseas or interstate). Even my close family live hours away.

Hence where the good old phone comes in. Note to self: ring people more often dammit. Shut the computer off, pick up the phone, and reconnect with someone for a long leisurely chat.

I am sure a lot of people (including myself just thought about ringing them on Skype instead). More time sitting in front of the computer, is not really what I need.

Related post – How to Cope with Feelings of Loneliness

Plan activities with people

Again this seems like a no-brainer. But for someone who lives alone and is single, it suddenly takes on a lot more importance. 

Back when I was saving to leave work, I could on rare occasions go whole weekends without speaking to another person. I know that would drive most people nuts but it didn’t bother me because I enjoy my own company. Besides, I had the office from Monday – Friday as a source of communication with people. 

Now I don’t have that, which is fine. The problem comes when you are spending too much time on your own (even I have my limits it seems). I don’t feel lonely but I can sometimes feel isolated (and I’m the first to admit that this can be a result of my own doing). 

This might be a good time to point out that some people might have the exact opposite problem.  They are surrounded by people all the time and never have any time for themselves. You might enjoy being in this situation but remember even the most extroverted people could benefit from five minutes of reflection time every now and then.

The other issue that everyone faces is that people have busy lives.

Spending time with friends, particularly ones with partners, children, or extended family, is not always easy. I have to be a lot more organized if I want to see my friends nowadays. I need to book ahead. Sometimes way ahead.

Get organized, get planning, and book time with people. It’s always worth the effort.

Related content –

• Are You a Planner or Are You Spontaneous?
• Do You Need to Reconnect with Old Friends?
• 20 Heartwarming Friendship Quotes

Eat regular meals sitting at a table

This one just popped into my head for one simple reason. I can’t remember the last time, I sat at my table and ate dinner.

I normally sit in front of the television and eat. On the odd occasion, if I am upstairs working in my office, I skip dinner altogether.

Again this is probably worse because I am single. No rallying the troops to the dinner table for a sit-down meal.  However, I can’t help but wonder, how many families don’t have dinner together anymore or sit in front of the television to eat dinner?

I have a sneaky suspicion I might not be alone on this one.

Have a place in the house that is a non-working area

I have a small townhouse (compared to Australian housing standards), so this is not all that easy. I tend to mainly relax out in my courtyard (usually with my boy by my side).

I have on occasion had trouble falling asleep at night and thought to myself, ‘I should get up and get my laptop and work in bed’. I did it once but thankfully have talked myself out of it on other occasions. This is one area where setting boundaries comes into play.

My bedroom is a no-work zone. (I don’t even take my mobile in there).

Related post – Why Boundaries are Important

Exercise more

Writing can be bad for your health. Okay well, that is not quite true, writing won’t hurt you – but sitting for long periods of time, hunched over a laptop is bad for you. 

Just ask my chiropractor.

The trick is to sit correctly (you need to constantly recorrect your posture) and to take regular breaks in which you move around and stretch. I plan on taking this a step further by actually stepping out of the house and going for a walk.

The other great part of this plan is that walking always gives me some of my best writing ideas. A walk around the block and I will be pumped up with ideas and energy!

As I have mentioned in an earlier post on how to stop clock watching, I tend to suffer from an energy slump in the afternoons. My friend suggested recently that this would be the perfect time to take a walk.

Be more productive by working less

I need to get more done in the traditional five working days time frame. They can be any day of the week mind you but I need to start working within five days.

I find what is happening, is I am wasting time during the day, with the thought that I can make up for it by working the weekend. 

You can see the problem here already, can’t you?

For starters, we can never ‘make up for wasted time’. The time is gone. Secondly by the time I get to the weekend, sometimes I am either too tired or I have run out of energy. Consequently, my workload on the weekend doesn’t go to plan. I don’t get enough done, and then Monday morning the cycle starts again.

Therefore, it makes sense to take more time off on the weekends and focus on being more productive during the week.

If you are reading this and thinking, this doesn’t apply to me because I work in an office, you may have a valid point.

On the other hand, substitute the words home or house for office and you might need to have a rethink.  

If your partner is subtly begging or downright nagging you to spend more time with them, you might want to take notice.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love working from home. I simply need to make some adjustments to make my work life more productive and my home life more enjoyable.

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