Working from home has a lot of its own benefits, from making time for your hobbies and other interests to spending time with your loved ones. However, with the freedom of choosing your own schedule, there are times that we tend to forget our duties as working professionals as we get absorbed in relaxation – and oftentimes this leads to cramming and intense stress which may result in burnout.
Balancing our work and personal life in a remote setting sounds so much easier than in an office setting, but it takes practice and discipline in order to incorporate this in our own schedules. Here are some tips and tricks that we recommend to create your own flexible schedule that maintains that work-life balance which benefits you in the long run!
Planning out your schedule in advance
Laying out your entire schedule for the month or week is often the first step in managing your time; it is crucial to know which tasks to focus on certain days. Essentially, planning out your schedule the week before is the framework in tailoring the schedule that will work for you.
Setting a daily highlight can be very helpful in formulating your to-do list for that specific day. Sure, you can finish the said task in one day without any breaks, however going on that route is not productive at all. Try to break it down into pieces that you have the capacity to do, this is where time blocking comes into play.
Pro Tip: Having a physical to-do list is proven as an effective way of being mindful of your time, instead of typing on your phone
Time Blocking
Time blocking can be overwhelming if you tend to procrastinate a lot when you are tired and pressured to do something, especially when you have the tendency to cram all tasks in one day before the deadline. As mentioned earlier, the first step to time blocking is breaking down tasks into pieces and adding breaks in between. There are many methods to do this, one example is the Pomodoro Method, where you typically work on a task for 25 mins and take a 5 minute break and complete the cycle 4 more times. However, you can customize the number of minutes you have to work on and take breaks as you see fit, as long as you know what tasks that you need to do in order to complete your daily highlights.
Time management can be intimidating and tedious at first; but just a friendly reminder that it takes a lot of trial and error to find the perfect method that is suited for your needs. Being more mindful of your productivity and well-being is the key, so try not to be too hard on yourself if one method doesn’t work for you right away. Remember that you still have control over your time.