Healthy boundaries are a crucial part of all relationships—they help instill respect, trust, and safety—and work relationships are no exception. In fact, failing to set boundaries at work can cause stress, lead to burnout, and impact your productivity.

Unfortunately, with the influx of remote jobs that began during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s become harder than ever to set boundaries with bosses and colleagues. After all, it’s not as easy to end your workday when you always have the ability to log back on to your computer from the comfort of home. Don’t worry, though—it’s still possible to set boundaries while working from home. Here are some tips for how to do so:

• Create a work schedule for yourself and stick to it—just because you can check your emails in the evenings and on weekends doesn’t mean you have to.
• Schedule vacation days for yourself even if you don’t have anything specific planned.
• Create a home office—even if you don’t have a spare room available, you can designate a certain area of your home as your office—and commit to working only in that space.
• Don’t be afraid to let your manager and teammates know if you’re stretched too thin and can’t take on an additional assignment (but be sure to communicate that to them as early as possible to avoid missed deadlines).

Start Improving Your Work-Life Balance

Setting boundaries can be difficult—especially with your bosses and colleagues—but an experienced therapist can help. Contact us today to schedule a therapy session. We’ll be happy to discuss any issues that you’ve been experiencing while working from home, and once we’ve learned about your unique circumstances, we can offer you tailored advice on how to set necessary boundaries.

Do you have trouble balancing work and your personal life? If so, you’re not alone. According to Mental Health America (MHA), almost 40% of U.S. adults who are employed full time reported working 50+ hours a week, and 18% work 60+ hours.

Despite how common it is for people to work long hours, having a healthy work-life balance is critical. Working too many hours—especially if it bleeds into your evenings, weekends, and holidays—can cause you to:

• Feel stressed and burnt out
• Strain your relationships with your loved ones
• Neglect your hobbies and self-care activities

All of this, in turn, can negatively impact your physical, mental, emotional, and social health.

How to Achieve a Healthy Work-Life Balance

Creating a healthy work-life balance can sometimes be difficult, but it’s certainly doable. Here are some steps you can take to balance work and your personal life:

• Manage your time. There are various time management techniques—such as Pomodoro timers—that can help increase your productivity, meaning that you’ll get more work accomplished in a shorter amount of time.
• Multitask. If your job allows it, try to get some work done while simultaneously engaging in a self-care activity. For example, you could listen to a seminar while you go on a walk or do some laundry.
• Set boundaries. Decide what times you’ll be starting and stopping work each day and stick to that schedule as best you can. Also be sure to set aside time for vacation days even if you’re not planning an out-of-town trip.

Get Help Balancing Your Work & Personal Life

Work-life balance plays a crucial role in our overall health and happiness, so if you’re struggling in this area, we invite you to contact us and schedule a therapy session. We look forward to helping you take the steps needed to balance work and your personal life.