Valuable Ways to Spend Your After-Work Time When Working Remotely

Have you noticed that since working from home became a regular thing, working hours and boundaries between home life and work have blurred significantly? If you’re a bit of a workaholic, it’s often difficult to determine how you should be spending your time in-between stints of office interactions.

Do you find that you should be doing something productive after work, even when your day is technically finished? While there’s nothing wrong with relaxing when you need to, there are a handful of things you can do with your time after work if you want to make the most of it.

Here are some ideas that might help you separate your workday when working from home.

For me, I have a designated office at home that is away from the bedroom, kitchen table and lounge/ living areas. I go for a walk in the morning when I would usually be doing my commute and start work at the same time as I would if I was travelling into the office.

Ideally, you should be finishing your working day at a specific time each day – even when working from home. Again, I take some time, usually 20 minutes or so, to go for a walk to clear my head and to get some fresh air and exercise. I put on a podcast or listen to some upbeat music to get me walking at pace. Afterall, when working from home, you don’t get as much incidental exercise like you would in the office.  Having time to yourself where you can wind down and think about what you’re going to do for the rest of the night can help you maintain a positive attitude.

Create a work plan that works for you

When planning your day, ensure you plan in some ‘you time’ to get away from the screen and do something different. You can use your “you-time” however you like. For some people, the best option will be listening to relaxing music. Others prefer things like exercising. Experiment to find what works for you. Me personally, I play with my dogs. If its sunny outside, I sit in the sunshine and rough play with them. It’s the best of both worlds, bonding with pets and getting my vitamin D hit.

Working from home when you should be relaxing might feel productive, but most of the time it simply leads to increased stress and burnout. Not to mention, other people expecting you to be on-line at all hours of the night. Create boundaries and stick to them.

Sit down at the end of each workday, about ten minutes before you’re due to stop for the day and get your desire to continue working out of your head by planning what you’re going to do tomorrow.

Having a to-do list of everything you need to cover can reduce your anxiety, by letting you know you’ve assigned the right amount of time to every task.

Writing down your plan is also a great way to get any concerns out of your mind, so you can move onto your personal life without feeling like you might have forgotten something.

Know Your Priorities

No matter how much you love your job, a lot of your life will happen outside of working hours. This is the time when you’re going to be making memories and enjoying the good stuff in life – so use it wisely. If you want to utilise your time effectively, know your priorities.A simple tip I do is program these into my day when I would normally be taking a lunch, morning or afternoon tea break. I take the time to get up, walk around, make any calls that are not work related to rest my brain, but also helps me feel productive.

It’s up to you to determine what matters most in your world. For some people, it will be spending time with the family and watching their children grow up. For others, the most important thing might be preserving friendships and other relationships.

After you’ve focused on building your relationships, consider what else is important to you – such as your physical health, hobbies, and activities you enjoy. Writing a list of all the things that really matter to you can make it easier to assign your time correctly.

Give Yourself a Break

Finally, don’t fall victim to the notion you need to plan every part of your life, from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep. You don’t have to be doing something valuable 24/7 to make the most of your life. It might be good to schedule an hour a day to do absolutely nothing or to be spontaneous with that time. Take a bath, walk to the shops to buy an ice cream or do something creative like drawing or painting. It’s up to you to decide how you want to use your time. If you’re happy, then you’re making the right choices.