I’ve always wanted to work from home full time and now because of Covid I am. Technically I’m supposed to start going into the office 2x/week, but we’ll see what happens. The last time I worked from home full-time only lasted for one month after Superstorm Sandy. So now the debate is whether or not working from home full time is good or bad? Does it allow for enough work-life balance?
I am a huge believer that we need to set our own work-life balance. If we don’t set boundaries for ourselves no one else will. In my department they are setting up some rules to help people achieve the right level of balance. Some of the rules include:
- Vacate during vacation – no work engagement during vacation, unless it’s an emergency
- Meeting Free Time Zones – no meetings on Fridays after 12pm unless essential
- Friday’s are video free
- Email traffic contained to regular working hours… no emails from 6pm-7am
- Cut 1-hour meetings to 45 minutes
While I agree with most of these rules I was surprised that they needed to be said at all. Isn’t it understood that you don’t have to work on vacation? Do we need a reminder that we don’t have to answer emails at 10pm? But apparently some people did need that reminder.
I’m good with all the rules, except for the timing of sending emails. I am a night person… I never send emails at 7am, but I do send emails at 9-10pm, which is my own choice and I definitely do not expect anyone to answer me until the next day during that person’s work hours.
All these rules do help with work-life balance, but there are some additional ways I’ve achieved better work-life balance since working from home full-time:
- no more worrying about my kid’s school having half days or random days off
- household chores don’t have to be planned. I can thrown in a load of laundry during my lunch break.
- Someone is always home to take care of house/car repairs and maintenance. I don’t need to be as mindful when I’m scheduling appointments.
I love the flexibility that working from home affords, but I have noticed that there are some cons:
- I’m not as organized, because I’m more time available to do things
- I have not been walking to/from the train, so I tend to stay in place. I have to make much more of an effort to get out and walk around.
In the past I’ve struggled with work-life balance. Here are a few of my past posts from when I struggled most and how I got myself back on track:
So, what do you think? Office? Home? Hybrid? What’s your preference?
Until next time,
Shaindy
