Many people who work from home find themselves feeling like they are constantly playing catch up. They feel as though their house is always a mess, or that they never have enough time to take care of everything on their plate. This article will help you avoid the dilemma by giving you tips on how to balance your workload with your household chores.
Be Realistic About What You Can Accomplish Per Day
The secret to balancing house chores and work is not looking at what you have to do day-to-day, but instead looking at how much work you can get done in a day.
By setting realistic expectations about what you can accomplish on any given day, you’re more likely to be able to get things done. You wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by everything that you need to do.
For example, if your goal is eight hours of remote work each day, then don’t schedule more than four hours of housework per day. You might struggle. You need time to relax, too, and to sleep for at least seven hours every night.
Make A List
Another important tip for avoiding feeling like you are constantly playing catch up is making a list every night before bed. When you make a list of all the things you need to accomplish the next day, you feel more relaxed because you have a plan and are more likely to be ready for work the next morning.
You can also plan ahead and schedule which chores you should do per day, so that you can make sure that all your tasks — both professional and personal — will be completed.
The trick is to organize your time every day, and making a list will help you do that.
Ask for Help If Necessary
You don’t have to do everything on your own. There’s only 24 hours every day, and you have limited energy to accomplish a mountain of work and house chores.
So, if you’re feeling burned out, you can send an SOS. Your loved ones should be able to help you with house chores. Meanwhile, your co-workers may be able to take on some of your workload if you can’t finish them on-time.
If it’s within budget, you can also hire professional helpers. You can call residential window cleaning services to take care of the dust and grime that have settled over your home, or send your dirty clothes to the dry cleaners.
For work, you can hire an assistant who can handle small tasks such as organizing your schedules, answering phone calls, and setting up meetings.
Make Time for Yourself
The consequence of trying to do everything at once is burnout. Make sure that you’re giving yourself time to relax.
You can go to the movies, catch up with friends, read a book for pleasure, or treat yourself to your favorite meal every once in a while.
It’s okay if you don’t vacuum the floor for one day, or leave the dirty dishes in the sink overnight. You can do all these chores some other day.
Even remote employees deserve some time off of work. Any type of work, whether done in the office or at home, can be a source of stress. Those who don’t get the opportunity to rest can lose energy and motivation which will affect productivity and mental health.
If you don’t make time for yourself, then you’ll end up becoming irritable and unhappy. So, every day try to set aside some time when you do
Focus on One Task at a Time
Don’t try to be multi-tasking queen. You may not be as efficient as you think you are.
Most people aren’t actually good at doing multiple things at once. Trying to do multiple things at once can stress you out even more. Plus, you are more prone to making mistakes because your brain is trying to perform two different tasks. It can get confusing, and you may do a bad job at both if you try to multi-task.
Just focus on work when it’s time to work, then do your house chores after when you clock out.
The tips in this article should help you to balance work with house chores. It’s important to set realistic expectations for yourself, make a list every night before bed, and ask for help when necessary. You also need to take time for yourself so that you don’t become overwhelmed or stressed out. Finally, try to focus on one task at a time so that you can do them both well.
