28 Ways to Achieve Work Life Balance for Remote Workers

Balancing work and personal life is one of five essentials for promoting the health and well-being of workers according to the U.S. Surgeon General. So why does the practice of achieving work life balance seems so elusive?

The key a Harvard Business Journal article points out is to recognize that work-life balance “is not a one-time fix, but rather, a cycle that we must engage in continuously as our circumstances and priorities evolve.”

If you’re starting a new job remotely or you’re a seasoned remote worker in need of some new tweaks in your routine, here are some ideas to help. Rather than trying to master them all, pick two or three that could work for you right now and revisit the list over time. 

The Work Balance

1.     Get ready to communicate

In a MIT Sloan Management Review, almost half the respondents said the best way their organization supported their transition to remote work was by communicating frequently and well.  If you sense that you need more information, then you likely aren’t alone and it’s also likely your management isn’t aware of what you need. Don’t be afraid to speak up to ask for more support, clarification, and transparency. 

2.     Work like your boss is watching

If you find social media distracting, put it only on your phone and put your phone out of sight. Little distractions can easily spiral into large amounts of wasted time, so take notice of what is a roadblock to accomplishing your goals and make a change.

3.     Embrace a personal productivity model

Productivity is more than just getting things done in a haphazard way, it’s prioritizing and accomplishing what’s most important. If you need personal productivity guidance, models such as The Pomodoro Technique help you organize your work time into productive chunks with brain breaks in between. 

4.     Use a team productivity app

Productive teams use tools to keep themselves and their work organized. This list includes several of the best tech collaboration tools such as Trello, Todoist and Evernote.

5.     Clean up your email

Utilize an online email sorting tool such as Unroll.me, SaneBox, or Clean Email to help sort and manage your inbox.  A tool like Boomerang also lets you schedule times to send messages. You can seem like an early morning person after all!

6.     Get serious about breaks

Schedule a 15-minute break twice during the day, at 10 am and 2 pm, for example. Try to avoid scrolling aimlessly through your phone. Instead try to use the time to reconnect with a loved one or friend via text or email, take a walk or spend time with the family pet.

7.     Manage your availability

As much as it is up to you, and this will vary with different projects or seasons of work, don’t let your work schedule bleed into the rest of your life. Encourage your team (and stick to it!) to send things via email instead of calling when you’re done with your workday. Set boundaries from the beginning and your work won’t follow you into the time set apart for not working. Of course, this means you treat your co-workers the same and respect their time away from company priorities.

8.     Switch it up with in person meetings

Schedule in person meetings quarterly or more to maintain a connected sense of team and shared vision. Utilize time-saving software like Meetify to simplify in person meetings and cut out the back and forth of where and when to meet.

9.     Have fun together

Yes, you read that correctly. If you’re managing a remote meeting or feel comfortable suggesting this to your team, consider incorporating a quick virtual team-building activity to add some laughs before you dive into your meeting. Chances are, once you start laughing together, the positive feelings will continue into the meeting and beyond.

10.  Ask for technology

If you find that your technology isn’t keeping up with your needs as a remote worker, then advocate for more support from your organization. The MIT Sloan Management Review found that 45% of its respondents said they felt supported when their organization provided or subsidized such things as platforms for collaboration and adequate Wi-Fi connections.

11.  Get out!

A change of scenery may be what you need to get your productivity juices flowing. A growing number of establishments are offering unlimited beverages for a monthly fee such as Panera or some Great Harvest Bakery Café’s. Consider scheduling an in person meeting where you hold your subscription and it’s a win/win!

12.  Utilize list-making

13.  Fight isolation during the workday  

Remote work can feel lonely at times, so be intentional about incorporating habits and people that bring you joy. For example, playing motivating music while you work can break up the silence and improve your mental health. Other ideas could be to pop a joke into your team messaging channel occasionally, go for a walk and invite a co-worker to join you for a brainstorming session, or make a quick video call so your day isn’t full of just words on a screen.

14.  Embrace peek productivity time

More remote workers are using the flexibility of being at home to work during their most productive time of day, even if that doesn’t fit the usual nine to five schedule. You can craft emails to be sent later and draft important documents for an upcoming meeting if your mind is in its sweet spot of productivity.

The Life Balance

15.  Create a transition ritual

Power down your work brain with a transition ritual that helps you ease out of work and into life.  Maybe it’s a game on your phone, a favorite podcast, or just shutting down everything in your home office and turning off the light. Creating this end-of-day ritual can help you look forward to the (hopefully) work-free evening ahead.

16  Jot it down

Keep a pad of paper in a common area of your home but away from your work area. If work ideas come to mind, you can jot them down without having to go back into your workspace. If it’s easier to keep a separate note on your phone or record a voice memo, you could do that instead. Just watch for whether or not the temptation to jump back into work from your phone is too much to resist.

17.  Advocate for your needs

This may seem obvious but dedicated remote workers may feel less inclined to ask for what they need. As long as you’re hitting reasonable deadlines with your work and meeting expectations, you shouldn’t wonder if it’s okay to need support from time to time. Remember to be as diligent about sick days and taking time off as you would be if you worked fulltime in the office.

18.  Get moving

One tough aspect of remote worker life is that it can be a sedate life. Even if you take breaks during the day for a quick walk, it’s your time after work when you can really move your body in helpful and healthful ways. From having dedicated gym time to doing simple yoga stretches at night, activating your muscles will help balance how activated your mind has been all day at work!

19.  Get social

Even if you’re an introvert, make it a goal to have a night of the week that you get out. By getting out during the week, you create a natural boundary with your time so you can get yourself to bed for your next workday. Ideas include going out and listening to live music, seeing a movie after dinner, visiting a family member or friend, or heading to a favorite store for some retail therapy.

20.  Savor the morning

A great tip from the book Work from Home Hacks by Aja Frost is to give yourself time to start your day. “Nothing is stopping you from waking up, dashing out of bed, gulping some coffee, and starting your workday. Unfortunately, this habit is horrible for your work-life balance.” A helpful work from home time management tip is to build margin in your morning in case, for example, a family member needs help getting out the door or you just need a little more time to sip your coffee and pet the cat.

21.  Don’t abandon help

If you were previously working in an office, don’t jump too quickly to change things in your life that helped you create space in your schedule. Don’t cancel childcare, quit using a dog walker, or think you won’t need your groceries delivered anymore. Just like forming new productivity habits take time, it will take time to find what kinds of help you still need in your life as a remote worker to create balance.

22.  Create a shared life goal

This suggestion melds life and work in a beautiful way. Offer your team a chance to join you in working towards a life goal. You might want to join in hitting a weekly step goal for the team or reading a book together that can be discussed over a once a month dinner. If this goes well, you might even want to extend the invitations to other family members or friends to extend your network of relationships.

23.  Stock the work fridge with good things

Obviously, your home kitchen is your work kitchen too. Individually portioned bags of snacks are often stolen by hungry family, so buy or create individual portions of healthy snacks to take into your workspace and then keep larger bags and portions to be enjoyed during off hours and by the family.

24.  Be all in

When work starts taking over life, like breaking in when you’re on vacation or with a relative who needs your focus, it may be time to reevaluate your work life balance. Could you have started on a project earlier or asked for an extension so you could be all in while you’re taking time off? Sometimes work life balance means being very intentional ahead of time to clear your work calendar for those days or a week when you just can truly be off.

25.  If you have to check in on vacation . . .

If you have to be connected to work during time off, the saying “work smarter, not harder” will be important. Here are a few tips and tricks from Frost’s Work from Home Hacks: ask your team to only label subject lines with the specific project name while you’re gone for quick sorting and build a buffer day onto the end of your vacation. That way, you can re-acclimate to life, do laundry, sort through vacation pictures and get back into your normal routine.

26.  Don’t vacillate between work and personal life responsibilities

Are you constantly popping back into your home office to check emails or team communication during your evenings or weekends? It may be time to ask yourself what impact this is having on your mental health. If you have a hard time giving yourself permission to draw boundaries on your work, let your manager know you need help with this. A good boss will know your performance and loyalty will be stronger if you can thrive outside of your job.

27.  Pivot your mind

Exercise isn't just useful for the muscles we can see. Our brains benefit from “mental gymnastics” to function at peak performance, too. Find ways to expand your mind that are enjoyable outside of your profession. Whether you enjoy reading, video games, math puzzlers or creating art, pursuing activities for your brain that are new or unique will help you feel more balanced.

28.  Persistence Not Perfection

Research has shown it takes, on average, around two months or more for something to become a habit. Don’t give up too quickly on new things you’re trying. At the same time, trust your gut that if something isn’t working at all, it’s fine to make a change. No one is going to truly advocate for what is best for you. Be your own advocate to create change and balance in your life.

A good word of advice for work life balance is to remember that there will be ebbs and flows of work and life. Creating and even feeling a sense of achieving that balance begins with trial and error.  You’ll learn as much from what doesn’t work as from what does work, so feel free to experiment while consistently reevaluating how balanced work and life feel with some of these productivity hacks, tech tools and tips.