This article was written in collaboration with FHMoms, a homegrown startup whose mission is to empower Pinay moms by providing support, learning, resources, and job opportunities to jumpstart their journey to success.
“Work-life balance” is still an interesting topic to tackle despite the numerous available talks and articles about it. There is always something to say when “work-life balance” is the topic. Given the recent events that happened to us, to the world, we can say that this realm is always evolving. Different factors may affect our definition and how we understand the terms of it; such as trends, social issues, adversities, priorities, and life milestones.

We are not just talking about the ability to play along with your career and your personal life. This is all about making sure you feel fulfilled and content in both areas of your life. Though contentment and priorities vary for every person, we, somehow meet and find a connection on the middle ground. We find every “work-life balance” idea and understanding relatable.
When the pandemic hit the world, we are forced to adjust and devised a new norm to adapt to the changes happening.
Digital world has found its way to being discovered. We found new ways, new tools, new terms, and new perspectives on how we can continue our lives through the utmost utilization of technology. Even the traditional companies welcomed the idea of the work-from-home set-up as a contingency plan for their businesses. This brought drastic changes to the day-to-day life of most people.
Some enjoy and benefit from this setup, and some find these changes overwhelming and immensely difficult to adapt to. It took a toll on people’s health, physically, mentally, and emotionally. It is important to pause and give yourself space to think about how you can continue moving forward without suffering any aspect of your life. It is quite challenging to accept that you have an unhealthy work-life balance but acknowledging its existence, will help you improve its terms that fit your needs and priorities. Moreover, it will give you healthy well-being; physical, mental, emotional, and social.

If you are working at home or from home right now, let’s improve your work-life balance today!
Master Work-Life Balance
Tip #1: Create a routine
Flexibility is one of the perks of working in the comfort of our homes, but it can sometimes lend itself to a lack of work-life balance. It creates a pressure to work more that tends to lead to burnout.
Try to stick with it. It will help you work a manageable number of hours, plan personal activities, and it will help you give people cues on the best time to reach you about work.
Tip #2: Get Ready to Work Drill
As part of the routine, this will help you prepare physically and mentally. You will not feel sluggish or in a rush. This will help you focus and improve your productivity.
Tip #3: Indicate your Online and Offline Workhours
Set this up in your applications/ tools so you will not receive notifications when you’re offline. And by publicizing your working hours with your coworkers, clients, and your affiliates, they will be mindful of your personal time.
Never check email when you’re about to sleep, having personal time, or during your rest days. This will help you minimize thinking about work when you’re not working.
Tip #4: Make Use of Your Personal Errands
You can use this time to take breaks from working and at the same time, you’re still accomplishing some things in your personal life. Because sometimes, the monotony and solitude of remote work can get lonely, and make you feel like you don’t have a minute to yourself when you’re working, and doing personal errands in between helps you take a couple of minutes away from your desk or computer and still be productive.
Tip #5: Set up a Workspace
It doesn’t have to be a picture-perfect setup. Just dedicate a space where you can work comfortably and free of distraction. Working from home tends to offer more things to do than a usual office setup, and if you’re seeing everything that’s happening inside the house, it will be difficult for you to focus; so setting up a workspace is a must!
Tip #6: Use Remote Work Productivity and Management Tools
There is a variety of productivity and management tools that you can use to improve your daily routine. There are free trials to enjoy. You can try as many as you want until you find the tools that best fit your style and needs. This will help you ease your workload or to manage and monitor your tasks.
Tip #7: Eat on Time
We all deserve good food! Though working steps away from your fridge are tempting as it is, don’t indulge yourself with snacks or unhealthy food. You need to recharge and nourish yourself to function well. This is good for your productivity and sense of work-life balance.
Tip #8: Chat with your Friends
Have a conversation with your friends or workmates from time to time. You can do it virtually or you can also plan out a quick meet-up with them after your work hours. This will help you divert your mind to something else and connect with other people. It is beneficial for your mental, emotional, and social health.
Tip #9: Find Time to do Physical Activities
Prioritizing your health includes having daily physical activity. It does not have to be extraneous or extreme. You can simply walk around the neighborhood, walk your pet to the park, or do a simple exercise daily. Commit to this daily and it will be life-changing. You will not just improve your physical health, but also your emotional health.
Tip #10: Take Time Off
You can plan post-day activities or a vacation. This is to let go of some steam and refreshen from a heavy workload. Take some fresh air and find new scenery. It is an awesome way to support your wellness. Working from home can be really exhausting, and after taking time off, you will come back refreshed and ready to take on work challenges.
Tip #11: Talk About Your Routine With Your Family
It might be a challenge to improve your work-life balance if the people around you are not in sync with your goals and plans. Just discuss with them what you’re trying to attain, the kind of environment you want, or the routine you have. This will help them to avoid distracting you or to respect your personal space and workspace. In this sense, you’ll find support from your own loved ones and you will be a good role model to them.
Benefits of Work-Life Balance

- It reduces stress and anxiety.
- It will boost your productivity in different areas of your life.
- You’ll feel more driven and inspired.
- You’ll be more in control of your life.
It seems easy to follow. Yes, it is, but the key is consistency. To improve your work-life balance, you have to be committed to your goal, then all good things will follow.
Proper work-life balance has proven its benefits not just for you, but also for your coworkers and your loved ones. It will also give you an opportunity to create your own terms and routine so you can be productive and efficient while still doing activities outside of work.
While work-life balance means different to different people, only you can decide the lifestyle that suits you best.