How to Create Balance Working from Home Now

I’ve never been a huge fan of The Game of Life. It starts out simple enough … you’re moving around the board, living your best life, and BAM! They give you a husband and kids, usually twins in my case. You continue on, choosing from jobs or selecting a career, and eventually landing a house, a mansion even if you so choose. Nowhere in the game does it show any kind of struggle trying to balance work with life. There are also no options to have a working from home career.

When I became a full-time Blogger, I struggled to find my work-life balance. It was automatically assumed I had all the time in the world to make sure the house was immaculate, errands were run, and all 3 meals were provided. I’m certainly not saying it’s impossible, I’m saying for me it couldn’t be done in a day.

There is no such thing as “finding” work-life balance. It doesn’t just pop up at your front door like, “Hey, girl, hey!” dropping this master plan at your feet. Everyone’s life situation is different and there is no one right way to do it, but trying to do it all at one time will overwhelm even the best of us. Tomorrow will officially be 3 months since I was laid off and I’m just now figuring out what works for me. How did I do it?

MAKE A LIST

Lists are like vision boards in a way. You want to get certain things done in order to better manage your time and list help you to visualize those things better. They also make you feel more accomplished as you go through striking off each completed task.

I made a general list of everything I wanted to get done around the house and on the blog. After, I broke that list down into a more detailed list and split it up between the 5 business days of the week. I only did Monday – Friday because I designate the weekends to my family.

DEVELOP A ROUTINE

Being a parent, I’ve lived on routines with the kids. It’s helped avoid the “What’s for dinner?” annoyance immediately after work and the “What are we doing this weekend?” on Fridays.  I found I needed my own routine for being at home to assist me in knowing what to do each day and when.

There’s nothing I hate more than piled laundry, be it dirty in the hamper or clean in the basket. Because it piles up I made that an everyday task, washing one load every morning and folding in the evening. I clean one room each day rather than trying to do one or two things in different rooms.

For the blog, every day is different depending on what I have to accomplish that week, but I set the same task for each day of the week. I have days I do photo shoots, days I do meetings, and a day designated for writing my upcoming blog post.

CREATE OFFICE HOURS

I designated office hours for many reasons. I take my blog seriously, it’s definitely my business and office hours were non-negotiable. Not only do they keep me focused, they remind people like my mother and boyfriend that I can’t talk to them during those hours because I’m busy working.

Office hours give me permission to switch my work hat for my home hat. I don’t feel bad about ending work to start dinner. I don’t worry about dirty dishes while I’m working.

TAKE WORKING FROM HOME ONE DAY AT A TIME

Working from home has many benefits but it can be stressful. After I created my office hours and developed my routine it made things so much smoother. I was able to create a work-life balance where I felt accomplished in both the areas of my business and family. Not only did I feel less overwhelmed, I was able to keep my family abreast of what to expect each day.

They know sheets will be washed Monday mornings and bathrooms are cleaned on Friday evenings. I know I will spend Friday office hours creating my blog post and planning for the upcoming week. That any meetings will need to be scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays.

What are your best tips for creating work-life balance? Did you find it more difficult working from home? I’d love for you to leave some tips in the comments. As always, thank you for following along!