Working from Home: How to Cope When the Boundaries Between Work and Home Get Blurry

For those of you doing office-based work or work with clients, I know there can be a real tendency to work the whole day through without a break, continue working until the project is done, and be available to answer email or calls at all hours. With a lot of people working from home right now, the boundaries between work and home might feel even more blurry than usual, and it can be tough to turn “off” at the end of the work day. Some people are having a hard time separating from the work, and some people feel guilty when they do.

The idea of setting boundaries related to work can feel daunting, and sometimes people aren’t sure where to start, so I thought I’d share some ideas to help get you thinking about the types of ways you might begin to listen to your own needs. You’ll notice that I focused mostly on physical boundaries, and mostly on boundaries that I hope will be under your control, at least to some degree. I know every workplace is different (for example, not every job allows for an hour lunchbreak, or breaks at set times), so please adapt as you need to, with the spirit of the suggestion in mind.

If you do catch yourself thinking “I can’t do that at my work”, I do invite you to pause and make sure that you actually can’t. There are real barriers at work, and I completely understand that we all have to work within these limitations. Sometimes, it may the case that we’ve never thought to ask ourselves or the people in charge if it could be different. I often think back to when my dietician recommended that I have a small snack every few hours and I told her I couldn’t because I saw clients back-to-back. She asked me if I could talk to my boss about the client schedule to see if we could make it work, and of course, I had to laugh. I’m self-employed. So I know I’m particularly fortunate to be my own boss, and yet even I had trouble seeing what was possible, simply because there’s a way things had always been done.

At Work:

• Let yourself have a bathroom break on a regular basis (as in, at least every few hours). Set yourself up for success by setting a timer on your phone, and committing to follow through with it, even if you’re in the “flow of work”, even if you “could hold it a bit longer”, and even if it’s “not wildly convenient”. Trust me, your body will thank you for it.
• Give yourself a 5-minute stretch break every 25 minutes. Research seems to bear out that focusing on one specific task and then taking time to mentally rest helps increase our productivity and sustain our energy. If you’re interested in learning more about how to set up these breaks, you can research it by looking up “The Pomodoro Technique” and you’ll find a lot of great information.
  
• Keep a water bottle at your desk or workspace.
• Have a specific time each day that you take your lunch, and take a full lunch hour. Do so away from your desk and away from all technology. Go outside if possible. This is your time to be with yourself. Enjoy your food and allow your brain the time it needs to background process what’s already happened, rather than continue actively working.

Transitioning from Work to Home:

• Transitioning from work to home may have been somewhat simpler pre-pandemic, when there was actually a different space to distinguish these arenas for most of us. If you’re currently working from home, here’s the first thing I suggest. Make sure you create a work space that is separate from your “life space”. It’s hard to relax with a good book and catch up with a friend if you’re in the exact same office chair you used to complete your admin work earlier. Likewise, it’s hard to get into work mode if you’re doing so from the exact spot at your breakfast table that you just finished your bowl of cereal. Obviously, not everyone has space in their homes to have an office. If you do have the space, I hope you’ve been taking the time to set it up in a way you like, or will take the invitation now. If you don’t, well here’s where we can get creative. You could use a different part of the room you’re in to help distinguish work from home. Or, you could turn your computer to a different side of the room, depending on whether you’re “at work” or “at home”. Maybe you have a work laptop provided to you that’s only for work and a personal one that’s only for fun.
• Once you’ve set up your workspace, you’ll want to set up a “transition to and from work” routine. Mine’s pretty simple. It mostly involves getting dressed in work clothes, turning on my scent diffuser, plugging all my devices in, getting some water, and closing the door to my office. Then I’m ready. At the end of the day, there’s a bit more to it. I close down the programs that I’ve been using, respond to any emails I need to, write down any “to do” items I want to remember for another day, then turn off my computer and clear my desk. Some days, I will sit at my chair and write some feelings from the day, taking time to be with any difficult emotions I may have witnessed. Some days I might walk with the feelings instead of write about them, especially now that the weather is better, taking the time to let them flow through my physically. The idea is to let yourself transition emotionally and mentally, along with moving to a new space physically.
• Once you’ve given yourself the time to be done with work, then it’s time to transition into being at home. That means not checking email or your work phone, and if thoughts about work arise, to let them keep floating by without getting caught up in them. The idea is simple: When you’re at home, let yourself be at home. I know it takes practice to do so, and some days are easier than others. Yet I always come back to believing it’s worth it. The 8pm email from your coworker or client can wait until tomorrow.
  

Some of these ideas are harder than to implement than others, and even that could be different for each person. I’m a big fan of picking one thing that seems like a small challenge but still doable, and giving it a go. You can always add more from there, when you’re ready.