Working from home – how to successfully manage your work-life balance

Where does one start and the other finish?

The coronavirus pandemic has greatly shaken up the ‘norms’ of the working world. Currently, employees are juggling childcare and caring commitments while trying to hold a job down at the same time.

In HR Grapevine, a current article stated that despite the many pressures that staff are facing, new research from Canada Life found that almost half of UK staff (46%) feel more pressure to be ‘present’ when working from home during lockdown.

As a result, more than one-third of UK employees have continued to work while feeling unwell throughout this period.

The reasons for employees working while ill

The study cited the different reasons for staff members continuing to work while ill, with 40% saying that they didn’t think it was serious enough to justify a day off, while others quoted high workloads (26%) and not wanting to hand over important work to colleagues (25%) as reasons for continuing to work.

In addition, workers said that they were worried about the financial implications (22%) of taking a day off, while some felt too threatened by the risk of redundancy (16%). 15% said that they didn’t feel secure enough in their role, while 13% stated they didn’t think they would be able to get a doctor’s note.
The study unearthed changes to work patterns too, with 15% admitting to taking fewer breaks throughout the day and 18% working longer hours to keep up with mounting workloads.

Paul Avis, Canada Life Group Insurance Marketing Director, said that lockdown has made ‘always on’ cultures worse and, as a result, some employees feel that they cannot properly switch off.

He explained: “As the physical and mental wellbeing of UK employees is stretched to the limit, productivity could be significantly hit. But with so many people frightened they might lose their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s no surprise they’re working through sickness and worried about the implications of taking time off.”

Avis added that “employers have an active role to play in encouraging their staff to take the time that they need to recover from illness, mental or physical…” With that in mind, it is important employers and HR consider how they can best offer support to staff.

How can you set working boundaries?

The pandemic has greatly blurred the lines between personal and professional life. Therefore, it is important that employers encourage staff to switch off after work and allow them the time to properly recuperate to avoid burnout-related illness. For example, shutting down work computers at the end of the day will avoid the temptation of doing extra work in the evening and keep work in work-only spaces.

Create a schedule and draw up a timetable to carve out blocks of time for family, work, exercise, and anything else that’s important to you.

Communicate clearly and let people know what you’re doing. If you need to leave your desk at 4pm let the team know and stick to your plans.

After finishing work, it may be useful to mimic a commute – perhaps going for a walk around the block – to separate your home and working day. When we have time away from work it makes us more productive!

Have a great week all!