I saw a question the other day in a professional online portal about keeping balance while working from home.

So many people have the pressure of answering emails and messages 24/7 now that there are not physical office boundaries.

The boundaries of office hours have been ignored in many cases in the past few months, and people are developing bad habits that are killing their self-care routines in the process.

Here is the answer I posted for that person who needed help in coming up with some ways to restore balance (and sanity):

Some best practices for keeping work and home separate when they are anything but are:

1- Have a dedicated workspace that is simply for professional activity and nothing else

2- Keep regular office hours; these hours may not look the same as they did in your “not at home” office, and that’s okay – it’s the healthy boundary of dedicated working hours that is important.

3- Have recess. Just as you did when you were a kid in school, take a break from things in the middle of the day for a determined amount of time. This includes screens. Screens include your phone!! Don’t pop on Facebook or Insta to see what’s going on. Get away from the blue light devices and give your body a stimulation recess.

4- Commit to healthy boundaries. Years ago when I called my Mama’s cell phone, I was frustrated that she never answered. I rarely use the word never because it usually is not true, but in this case, it is. She never (ever – not once) answered her cell phone. She took no time informing me that her cell was a convenience to her – not me. *gasp* Well, okay then! But, take a page from my (now dearly departed) Mama and treat your cell as the tool it is… YOUR tool.

5- Separate Phone Lines: If you don’t have a dedicated work phone line – GET ONE. It’s easy, and you can even use the number you have now and have two lines on one phone. I did that with a Google Voice line that I use for work only and I can shift JUST that # to “do not disturb” during my family & personal time so I don’t miss personal notifications but have a guard dog keeping professional notifications out of my dedicated personal time. 10 times out of 10 my notifications are still waiting for me when I turn that “do not disturb” function off!

I used to have a sign posted in my office: “A lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.” Make that your mantra! Keep calm and be a time management machine & advocate for your time.