March 2020 gave us the gift that humans can adapt to circumstances beyond our control. We shut down our cities, and citizens in many countries came together to stay at home, while many were unemployed, others found remote work. We are now slowly coming out of COVID-19 pandemic and let's face it, the work culture has changed. By cutting down on infrastructure and commuting costs, the favorable way to work for both employer and employee is in a remote environment. 

There are some negative side effects of the pandemic though. According to the American Psychological Association's survey on Work and Well-Being, 79% of employees experienced work-related stress in the month before this survey. Nearly 3 of 5 employees reported negative consequences of work-related stress, along with a decrease in interest, motivation, or energy (26%) and lack of effort at work (19%). Working at home also results in employees working longer hours leaving them to experience chronic stress and burnout in their position. 

Here are 3 ways to create more balance while you working remotely: 

 1. SET A SCHEDULE.

When you allow yourself time to build boundaries with your work and your personal life, you set expectations to the employer and other team members that you take your time seriously online and offline. Setting a schedule of start and end time demonstrates to your employer that your time and work is valuable. These times can be flexible with the meetings and/or project deadlines you have with each day, but overall, you have a schedule of when you start and when you end. Acknowledge that when you are off, you are off. Stay away from your email and any other messenging apps from work. 

2. GO OUTSIDE, STAY AWAY FROM THE SCREEN.

To avoid burnout, it's important to create healthy habits of looking away and physically getting away from any screen. The best habit I built into my remote work routine is setting my timer for 45 minutes to work and then taking 10 minutes to walk around the block outside. It allows me to be more mindful on what I'll be doing for the next 45 minutes. I find I am more focused and each moment is purposeful.

3. EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT EVENTS ON THE WEEKEND. 

As we all have different times we might be working, once we know it's our days off, take those days to enjoy yourself outside of the house and away from the computer. While travel is difficult, but slowly opening up, now it's your time to explore different areas in your town or city. Connect with neighbors, go to different farmer's markets or events that are happening, or reset with nature.

These three techniques will bring more purpose back into your life not only at work but at home as well. Distinguishing between home life and work life is important to achieving life-work balance.