Business & Finance

There’s a common phrase, “what happens at work stays at work, what happens at home stays at home”. Not an easy thing to do, but especially for the one who’s work is at home. These people have unique challenges to find balance of these two roles.

Of course after I say that I need to clarify. I also believe that your job takes at least eight hours of your day, and that being able to share that time with your spouse is important. Talking about it is one thing, coming home and taking it out on your family is something else.

One: Use the drive home to transition from the work issues to prepare for the family needs. Try to consciously let go of the work day happening and refuse to dwell on those issues. They will be there tomorrow.

This strategy is more geared for people who work outside of the house, it’s important. However long your commute from work to home is, use that time to work through work issues somewhat and then focus on what you have to look forward to at home. Think about your loved ones and what their day might have been like.

Tip Two: Make a Schedule

You might need to think outside of the box when you work from home. There’s a tendency to put in more work hours when you work from home, simply because there’s not clear boundaries of work hours. Maybe you can work after the kids have gone to bed, or early in the morning. But look at the schedule of your family and see if you can find times in their day when their needs are less and use that for work hours.

Strategy Three: Get Separate Phone lines

Fortunately for me, with my business I rarely have to be on the phone, almost all communication with clients is done via email. But if you are finding that you are getting business phone calls at all hours, having a separate number for them to call is great. You also have the option of making your cell phone your business phone and the home phone is personal. This way when your work day is done you can put the phone down and walk away from it. You can also separate the rings for people you know personally and business so you don’t accidentally answer a business call after working hours.

Strategy Four: Have an Office that is separate from the rest of the house.

I know this isn’t always realistic, but try your best to create a work space. Is there a spare room? There are beautiful little room partitions that you can get to help make a workspace. It’s important for you to be able to get up and walk away from work, plus it helps in keeping family members out of the work area.