The dangers of working from home

When you’re trying to start a business or looking to fit a career amongst a busy schedule as a parent or a student, working from home can be a fantastic way to reduce costs and keep earning. However, underestimate some of the difficulty that can come with it and you could risk trashing not just your business or job, you can risk your home life as well. Here are some of the problems with working-from-home and what to do about them.

Blurred lines

Work-life balance is going to be a recurring topic. If you can’t thorough separate home life from work life, both will suffer. You won’t get work done because home life keeps intruding, and you will feel stressed at home over the work you haven’t done. The first rule is to set a clear work-from-home routine. Have a set start time and finish time. Make sure you get dressed and ready in the morning to “get in the zone”. Then make sure you don’t let things like work phone calls or emails interrupt your day outside your working hours.

All on your own

Working from home can be isolating, too. You don’t have the coworkers that might normally help a day go by quicker. That’s why it might be essential to find a hobby or an online group you can chat with on your breaks. If you’re running a business, then running it from home can limit your access to employees, too. However, many businesses are relying on remote workers and digital nomads nowadays, so learn how to incorporate them and you shouldn’t struggle as much.

Goodbye to good sleep

Working from home can disrupt sleep in many ways. Not having a proper schedule will mess up your body clock. Working in your bedroom can make it a much more stressful and cluttered space. Make sure your bedroom is kept your bedroom. If you’re having trouble sleeping, make sure you get a high-quality mattress by reading the full review, shut off light as much as possible from the bedroom, and give yourself half an hour with no screens before your head hits the pillow. If you can’t sleep well, you won’t be able to work well.

The home that’s no longer a home

As mentioned, working in the bedroom doesn’t work. You need to create your own home office and separate it from the rest of the home. This stops work life from bleeding over into home life. It also ensures that you have fewer interruptions and distractions getting in the way of your workflow.

Create your own feedback loop

Without having a team or employer to give you the positive reinforcement that can be crucial in creating motivation, it can be easy to feel like you’re getting little done even when you’re hitting a target and achieving goals. You have to find ways of rewarding yourself to create the feedback loop that you’re missing.

This post isn’t intended to serve as a warning against working from home. Rather, it’s all about ensuring you’re aware of the potential dangers and responsible for mitigating the chaos that can follow when you manage your work-life balance.