While working from home has been in place for almost two years now, most workers continue to struggle to create healthy routines. With many offices closing or being downsized, employers are increasingly granting WFH options, and hybrid work is officially here to stay. It’s time we build those boundaries, routines, and habits that ensure success in the future of your work.
The Facts
While productivity typically stayed the same or increased without time spent commuting, many employees feel like they’re working more than ever. While that burnout can be related to several factors -- lack of childcare, lack of social opportunities, the general stress of COVID testing and transmission rates, and many more -- generally, today’s workers feel there’s no “life” to their work/life balance.
Microsoft created the 2021 Work Trend Index by studying over 30,000 people and analyzing LinkedIn and Microsoft 365 signals (for example, how many hours users spent in Teams meetings). These stats stand out in relation to boundaries:
70% of workers want remote work to remain an option, but 65% of them also want to see their colleagues in-person more.
54% of workers feel overworked and 39% feel exhausted, despite productivity remaining the same or higher.
Surprisingly, 39% of people say they’re more likely to be their full, authentic selves at work and 31% are less likely to feel embarrassed or ashamed when their home life shows up at work. These close interactions with coworkers built stronger work relationships, as well as higher productivity and better overall wellbeing.
Despite 97% of workers preferring and recommending remote work, the majority struggle with unplugging.
So let’s make 2022 the year of boundaries that results in your best work yet.
Digital & Physical Boundaries
When you worked in a physical office, you had very clear physical boundaries: you drove to work, you drove home from work, you chatted with coworkers during your coffee break about non-work topics. While you may have replied to emails after hours, you still transitioned to homelife with a physical commute.
Those transitions, routines, and habits become more difficult when your commute may be to the desk next to your bed. In fact, we wrote about boundaries back in August 2020 to offer a starting point on WFH boundaries. With hybrid or remote work, many of the boundaries you’ll be building are digital: when you’re offline, when you turn off all notifications, when you can be on a video or phone call. While these may seem obvious, they need to be communicated clearly to the entire team and supported.
Building Routines
Routines are just as important now as they were before. Now that you most likely won’t return to the office five days a week, it’s time to build routines that keep you productive and fulfilled all day.
Try beginning and ending the work day the same way every time so your brain learns it’s time to get to work. Whether that’s lighting a candle, turning on a productive playlist, and drinking your coffee, choose things that help you feel inspired and do them every day.
Sometimes transitioning back to home life after the work day takes more effort. If you just shut your laptop and run to make dinner (or answer the door for delivery), your brain is most likely still processing the work you were doing. This takes away from time with your family, or simply keeps your energy too high when you need to relax and refuel for the next day. Instead, take the last 10 minutes of your day to plan the next day’s top priorities, then go for a walk or stretch for a few minutes to replace that drive home.
Physical Boundaries at Home
You can (and should) still have physical boundaries at home. Maybe it’s time you switch from a laptop to a desktop: so you don’t lounge on the couch working and watching TV. You can only work in your home office at your desk (similar to your in-office work environment).
If your home office is in a living space or your bedroom, your boundaries may be built around the time of day you’re working. Only working at the same desk in the same chair each day can greatly reduce the feeling that you’re always working, as well as reinforce a routine like your in-office days.
Establish Boundaries As a Team
In SWAY workshops, we encourage teams to discuss their boundaries together because communication is the most important component. You’ll need to align expectations and decide as a team to turn off notifications at a certain time (or understand that one team member may be offline while others are working). But don’t just think of the new boundaries: what are the current elements you team does well? How do you work best together? How will you stay accountable, so no one feels like they are carrying a larger workload than others? When is it absolutely necessary to work simultaneously instead of asynchronized?
Rather than thinking of a boundary as a wall, choose to see it as a fence, keeping the good stuff in and the bad stuff out, while allowing for energy to still flow through.
Here’s a few questions we ask in a workshop that you can answer personally to start setting the boundaries you need to succeed.
What habits do you have to learn and unlearn to make hybrid work for you?
What could a time-based routine look like for you?
To live by your values, what boundaries do you need to establish? WHY are they important to you?