This post was sponsored by Weight Watchers as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.
We are coming up on one year of my working from home full time. It’s been a wild ride to say the least.
It’s been clumsy and there have been a lot of unexpected tips and turns as we learned to navigate life with this new dynamic of me working full time and my husband staying home full time.
A little background… I quit my job when my first baby was born and became a stay at home mom. Eventually, I went back to work part time in various daycare settings but when the baby kept getting sick from other kiddos we realized we were paying out almost all of my salary to doctor bills and it wasn’t really worth it for me to keep going in to work. I quit my job (again) and have been home with the kids every since.
A few years ago I decided to see if the work-from-home thing could work for me. I started, slowly at first, building my business and we were shocked (and excited) to watch it flourish as much as it did.
Almost a year in, we’ve learned several things along the way about working from home and finding that work/life balance.
- Schedule time off – Depending on your job, you might not be able to take Saturday and Sunday off like every one else. However, it is still essential that you find times to be 100% away from your work. These can be full days, or even just certain times of the day that you know you get a break. If you have kids, it’s essential that you have that “screen free” time when you are just playing with them and enjoying their company…but make sure you also schedule work-free time that is just you and other adults too. Both are important if you are going to make working from home something that you can do long term. Even if it just means taking a few minutes to paint your nails a funky color at the end of a busy day!
- Eat – Okay this sounds silly, but seriously! Working from home means hours start running together and it is all too easy to skip meals or snack on junk throughout the day while you chase deadlines. Set yourself up for success by setting lunchtime alarms (it’s too easy to lose track of the time and miss lunch!). After you get lunch straightened out make sure you have good snacks on hand that will give your body the nutrients it needs and not just fill you stomach. I go to Walmart and grab Weight Watchers Light Mozzarella String Cheese. Right now, they even have a digital savings offer where you can save $1 on two Weight Watchers cheese items. The great thing about getting this cheese, is that it doesn’t take any prep to snack on something that tastes good and is healthy! Usually when I think about healthier snacks my mind immediately goes to things that taste bad OR things that are not convenient enough for my lifestyle. Weight Watchers brand is so confident about their cheese that they say “Great Taste GuaranCheesed!”, if you don’t love it they’ll give you a refund from January 1, 2017 – April 30, 201 (full details here). Finding convenient snack solutions is a MUST if you are going to be working from home!
- Get out of the house – You’ll get tired of being at home REALLY QUICK when you start working from there. I’ve found that even taking a quick walk in the morning does wonders for my productivity and mood for the entire day!
- Create a routine – This is at the top of my goals list for 2017. I’m obviously not great at it yet, but I saw it was a huge problem that I had in working from home last year. I don’t have much of a routine which leads to longer work days (or nights) than would be necessary if I had a better routine in place about when I do what task.
- Designated work space – Having a special area of the house that you work in is a must! Since your home is not longer just the place where you rest/live, you need to have a space that your brain knows is for working so that you don’t start associating the whole house with “work”. I am fortunate enough to have a home office and it so helpful to be able to lock that door at the end of the work day and know I’m leaving all my work behind me until the next day!
- Work hours – Just like it is important to schedule time completely away from the computer and work related things, make sure you schedule designated work hours as well. The more strict you can be about when you are working and when you are working around the house/resting the BETTER!
- Let things slip – See that photo above, and the cute little cards next to my laptop? Those are definitely this year’s Christmas cards that never got mailed to 90% of our list. December was a busy month work-wise and the kids were off school which meant lots of family shenanigans. Things had to slip through the cracks, and that’s okay. Friends and family will be receiving cards that say “Merry Christmas” in February this year, because sometimes that’s what balance looks like when you work from home.
Have you ever tried working from home? What were the biggest challenges you faced and how did you conquer them? I’d love to hear your experiences as well. And whether you work from home, or do something else, don’t forget to take advantage of the Weight Watchers String Cheese at Walmart!
It is full of flavor, made from milk, fun to pull apart and and a satisfying snack for busy lifestyles!
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