How Working from Home Helps to Restore Work-Life Balance

I’m sure we have all had times when we have felt like the Work-life Balance in our lives is off. Issues at home can often leave people struggling to do their jobs efficiently and on the flip side, a busy period at work can totally interfere with family time. Working from home is a solution that can help to restore this balance.

Whichever way the balance is tilted, the most important thing is recognising it. Looking at a solution to put it right. Failing to do so can leave you feeling stressed, guilty, angry and resentful and can result in unfavourable consequences.

When Work is Dominating

Everybody’s personal situations are different. Some people may be parents of young children, some may be carers for parents or other family members. Others might have out of work commitments like sporting interests or music hobbies where they need to travel to gigs. Some people may have no commitments at all but simply relish their time outside of work. We all have reasons to want to get home. 

Many employers caveat their employment contracts with the standard, ‘you may be asked to work additional hours’. Employers, however, should never be denying anyone the right to have a work/life balance.

Most of us thrive on doing a good job. When we feel appreciated for the work we do, we tend to naturally give more. When we feel taken for granted, we can become disgruntled, resentful and are likely to give the bare minimum. In fact, this can be a significant cause of staff absence, through stress and sick days.

When Home is Dominating

We all from time to time have issues outside of work that may affect our ability to do our jobs to the best of our abilities. Divorce, deaths, moving house, sick children are all things that can be very stressful and time-consuming. Add to that, a day at the office and a stressful commute, and it’s easy to see how people can become anxious.

The consequence of poor timekeeping, distracted focus and failure to meet targets etc. can lead to employers disciplining staff if they are not aware of the reasons. The best thing to do in this instance is to have an honest discussion with your employer to see if there is a workable solution that benefits both parties.

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One Solution to finding that Work-Life balance

Working from home is one solution that can restore the work-life balance when it’s tilted either way. If home life is consuming your time, you are in the place you need to be without having to leave work early, arrive late or keep disappearing off to make calls.

If work is consuming your time, you can get the job done in the comfort of your home. You remove the worry of catching trains, being too late to put your kids to bed or missing an important event associated with your hobbies.

Granted it’s about not allowing one side to distract the other and finding a balance. For example, finding the space to be able to conduct yourself professionally without being interrupted. Equally setting a time to stop working and dedicate to your family, to you or to your hobbies without work overshadowing this.

This may mean working more flexibly. We are certainly seeing a rise of people online outside of standard working hours. Generally to make up for the time they may have taken out in a day for personal reasons. 

But if you are successfully completing your job and have good control over your work/life balance, arguably working from home presents itself as a great opportunity to keep everybody happy, most importantly, you.

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