Lets face it, at some point in your life you have gotten into bed and lay there wondering where the day went. You left work, leaving behind an unfinished task, knowing that it would be on your mind all evening. As you travelled home, you found yourself wishing there were more hours in the day. You tossed and turned all night, worrying if your boss would be angry because you hadn't met the deadline. Or, it could be, that you stayed late at the office in order to finish your task, but now have no time for a social life.
Having a great work/life balance is vital, even more so now, as more people than ever are working remotely from home. While this seems like everyones dream, (no commute, no having to deal with office noise such as the constant ringing of phones, or colleagues chattering), working at home brings its own distractions; children running around, neighbours banging, television blaring, all of which can make it difficult to concentrate. As a consequence, productivity levels may drop and stress levels may rise. On the other hand, some may find that their hours increase as they feel they should keep working until the job is complete.
So how do we get the balance just right? One word: structure.
Structure is important and helps us cope with our every daily lives. The easiest way to achieve this is by drawing up a schedule. As well as improving productivity, it can help us manage our time better.
Follow these steps:
Ask yourself what you want to accomplish/complete each day and prioritise each work task into urgent, important but not urgent, non-urgent.
Set yourself realistic targets - can you complete the given task within the timeframe?
Do you split large tasks into smaller sections, or should you keep them as a whole? Should you dedicate a whole day to it or complete the task over a few days.
Be flexible. Remember things can crop up and other work may need to be prioritised, an extra job may come in that needs immediate attention.
Maintain your routine, try to start and finish at the same time each day.
Take regular breaks and have a little excercise, even if its just a walk around the room, this will reduce stress levels and you will feel more productive when you return to your workstation.
Reflect on your day and what you have accomplished. This will help predict similar tasks for future scheduling.
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