How To Set Boundaries With Yourself When You Work From Home

You roll out of bed in the morning after snoozing the first two alarms that you had set for yourself.

After grabbing your phone from the nightstand, you head into the bathroom to start your morning routine, which usually just consists of brushing your teeth, washing your face, and combing your hair. After that, you head down to the kitchen to make yourself breakfast and a cup of coffee.

Pajamas still on, you head to your office, turn on the lights, and log onto your laptop for your first meeting of the day. The rest of the day is filled with phone calls, video calls, emails, chats, and projects.

Working from home seems like a benefit in the mornings, but during the day and at night, you often feel stuck to your monitor, unable to get away.

Here's how to set boundaries with yourself when you work from home.

Make a Dedicated Office Space

A physical office location can help separate your work life from your personal life. If you're a remote worker, you may not have that luxury. Try not to work from your bed or your couch. Having a dedicated space for your work can be a better way to separate your work and personal when you're still doing both from the comfort of your own home. Having a dedicated office space can help prevent you from making every room in your home your office space. This simple separation can help you really tune in and focus when it's time to work or if you're in your dedicated area for working. If you don't have space in your home to make a dedicated space, that's okay too. You can try to make a space in an existing room. You can also look into visiting a library, a coffee shop, or a shared working space instead.

Take Breaks During the Day

No matter if you work from your company office or an office out of your home, you're not physically chained to your desk eight hours a day for forty hours a week. You're allowed to take breaks, so take them! Make sure you're taking breaks throughout your day just as you would in an office to grab a cup of coffee, go to the bathroom, make and eat lunch, or go for a walk outside.

Don't Be Afraid to Use Personal Days

In addition to breaks, you also have days for when you're feeling under the weather or personal days for appointments or vacation days. When you're feeling under the weather, make sure you're actually taking the day to rest and recover. If you had to physically go into an office and needed to take a sick day, you wouldn't work. Give your body the same downtime to get better instead of working.

Personal days are also available to use as you see fit. Your company may have a designated number of days or a PTO policy. Either way, if you decide to use a personal day, use it for whatever you had plans, which shouldn't include work. This means not logging into your laptop and not checking your emails or chat messages on your phone.

Next Steps

Just because you're a remote employee doesn't mean that you have to work 24/7. It's okay to set boundaries so that you can have a separation between work and personal time. Striving for a healthy work/life balance is essential to live a happier and more fulfilled life. If you're struggling with finding a balance in your work and personal life, you're not alone. Setting boundaries may seem like a harsh ask, but they're what help you keep your peace of mind. If you're struggling, we're here to help. Reach out to us today to set up a consultation to learn more about counseling for professionals.