RWL190: Setting Boundaries While Working Remotely and Working from Home

Speaker 1
0:00

Hey , it's Alex from Remote Work Life and the Remote Work Life podcast . Thank you for joining me today . On today's tip of the day , I want to talk about setting boundaries with remote work , especially when you're working from home . This is something that I really struggled with to begin with , when I first started to work from home . What I wanted to do is just really share just my personal experience and give you some tips , some , I guess , actionable , hopefully insights that can help you to create more of a balanced productive environment when you're working from home . When I first started working from home , it was a real struggle for me because I just started working from home and that was it . I didn't really think about setting boundaries between my work life and my personal life . I didn't really think about it because I've been so ingrained into the in-office environment , in-office setup , where there are defined boundaries , you leave your in-office role and you go home and then that's a natural boundary that doesn't necessarily exist when you're working from home , because if you're working from home , you leave your desk but you're still at home . That was something that had been ingrained with me over years and I didn't really think about it when I first started working from home . The other thing is I have children , so I guess I just again fell into the whole idea of I'm at home now I'm going to work , didn't necessarily think about how I would go about that with my children being in the background . That meant I struggled to maintain focus . It wasn't again until I started to have open conversations with my family about the importance of the boundaries , the importance of me having a dedicated workspace and time that was uninterrupted , that I began to experience the real benefits of working from home . Because you have to be again this is a word I use often is you have to be intentional and be specific and deliberate about how you set yourself up when you're working from home . Here are a few things that I learned that I hope you can implement , I guess , into your patterns if you are struggling at the moment . Just a few things that I've learned I want to pass on to you . So let me know what you think .

Speaker 1
2:39

The first thing is having open communication , so having an open conversation with my household about the hours that I work and the importance of having uninterrupted time , often with children . You have to have repeat conversations , but conversations nonetheless , so to make them understand the importance of having uninterrupted work time at specific periods of the day . That's something that you really must do . Do it with your spouse , do it with your partner , your wife , whoever it may be , who you live with , so that they understand what's going on and then they can communicate that to people who may just be visiting the house , for example . So that's number one .

Speaker 1
3:22

Number two is again I've said this multiple times , I'll say again having a designated workspace . That might be a dedicated office space , but if you don't have the space without having a specific area , that is your workspace and that basically signals work mode for you . That's what it did with me , that's what it does with me . This can help the household as well to understand when you're there , that means you need to focus and that you're at work . That's number two .

Speaker 1
3:53

So setting number three is setting clear expectations . So again , it's about communication communicating your work hours , your specific work hours and when you're available , not just with your team but again with people in your family . And again , I've said this before , say it again the transparency helps to manage expectations and reduces that interruption . You are going to get interrupted there's no doubt about that , I'm sure , whether that be by the postman , whoever it may be , your children coming home from school , whatever it may be , but you must set those clear expectations . Break times that's on the forum I list , not necessarily in any particular order , but communicating your break times with your household members to encourage interaction .

Speaker 1
4:43

So this all sounds very scripted and very sort of deliberate . It has to be sometimes like , for example , me and my wife we would have breaks at the same time so that we could both go on a walk at the same time and have our lunch together at the same time , and again , it just helps us align our schedules . We would both finish work at the same time , for example , if we possibly could not always the case , but that's what we would always aim to do . So that's number four and number five . As much as this all sounds quite rigid , quite specific , quite deliberate , flexibility and compromise has to be part of this whole idea of setting boundaries . So be open to flexibility and compromise .

Speaker 1
5:28

It's important to set boundaries , but it's also essential to be understanding of the needs of the household and members of your team and find a balance that works for you but also something that works for other people as well , the people especially that you're working with and by setting boundaries with work and other people in your household , you can experience increased productivity . That's what I've experienced . You can experience better well-being mental well-being , physical well-being . So there's lots of good knock-on effects , and it's essential that you treat remote work keep saying this as well treat remote work with the same level of professionalism as you would with your traditional office environment , if that's something that you've done before as well . So thank you for joining me today . If you want to reach out , please do so . I've left a link to my LinkedIn in the show notes . That's the place where I normally hang out , so you can connect with me there , by all means , and enjoy the rest of your day .