Boundaries help protect both our well-being and personal relationships and enable us to perform at our peak levels at work. To establish healthy boundaries, begin by assessing your personal needs and values before communicating these boundaries to others in a direct yet respectful manner. Doing this can prevent miscommunication as well as avoid tension-causing misunderstandings. Some boundaries can be hard and non-negotiable, while others are flexible or negotiable depending on individual situations.
1. Set a Do-Not-Disturb Time
No matter whether you work at home or in the office, it is essential that others know when you are busy working so as to prevent any miscommunications or interruptions that might come your way. By communicating clearly, this allows for effective cooperation among co-workers while limiting potential misunderstandings or disruptions of productivity.
If you don’t enjoy answering emails outside of work hours, consider setting an out-of-office auto-reply that informs people you will return in one business day, giving a window for when you will be available again. If family or neighbors tend to interrupt you often, consider having them put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door as an effective deterrent.
2. Set a Finish Line
Many women feel overwhelmed with household and caregiving duties. You can create boundaries within your home life by assigning tasks to members of your household, setting a schedule, and posting deadlines. Establishing clear work-related boundaries is vital to your success and well-being. By honoring yourself and the needs of others, this shows you are showing respect.
An example of a hard boundary would be declining overtime hours, as this can increase stress and compromise work quality, but it may not be unreasonable for you not to accept overtime for reasons related to health or relationships.
3. Create a Workspace
An effective workspace can help you focus, mentally switch into work mode, and avoid distractions. While an ideal scenario would involve setting aside an entire room, an alternative such as using your dining or kitchen table may work just as effectively.
Colorful walls can serve as visual cues to alert you and others that it’s work time, as well as help them understand that you need to focus. If you don’t have enough room to paint your workspace, try hanging colorful curtains or wall art to add visual interest and keep things visually stimulating.
4. Set a Schedule
Working from home can be rewarding but can present its own set of difficulties. Without physical barriers to stop us from lingering beyond our designated end time or checking email without prompting, working from home may present unique temptations that make working offsite more challenging than anticipated.
To combat this, establish a schedule and build regular habits to mark the beginning and end of your workday—be it a morning routine, shutting down your laptop at night, or signing off of business messaging apps. Communicate your schedule to family, friends, and coworkers—this helps everyone know when you will be available to assist them or when your responsibilities require your full attention.
5. Communicate Your Boundaries
Establishing boundaries can be challenging when working from home, especially when coworkers and family members forget, cross boundaries, or fail to understand your needs. When this occurs, it’s essential to communicate your boundaries openly and calmly. Establishing physical boundaries involves ensuring you leave the work area promptly and designating a specific room for focused work.
. Emotional ones include setting what situations or people can interrupt you without feeling forced into interrupting yourself; trying to ignore or overlook these boundaries could result in feelings of frustration, stress, and resentment if ignored or delayed in addressing them directly and quickly.
6. Set a Goal
Establishing and sticking to work-life boundaries makes people feel more productive. Although some people may find assertiveness comes more naturally than it does for others, it is essential for maintaining health while working from home.
Setting hard and soft boundaries can help to create balance in your life. For instance, setting an absolute no overtime rule might be ideal, but if your manager needs you for an urgent project, it might make more sense to work out an exception together. In terms of goal setting, tracking them over time is vitally important—they should align with both your values and overall goals as well.
7. Take Care of Yourself
Separating work and home life can be challenging in an online working environment, but setting healthy boundaries and sticking with them can be transformative for both your personal and professional well-being.
Example of non-negotiable: Not working overtime may be essential if you have family and caregiving responsibilities, health conditions requiring rest or medication, or live alone and require time alone each day. Self-care should never be seen as selfish; rather, it should be seen as part of keeping mental health strong and avoiding burnout. Plan some alone time every day—even if only for five or ten minutes!
8. Invest in Yourself
One of the best things you can do for yourself is invest in yourself—this means investing in your health, learning new skills, taking time for hobbies and self-care activities, and cultivating healthy relationships.
Making and sticking to a budget can be an excellent way to invest in yourself financially. Simply writing out your expenses and savings goals or using apps like Mint or EveryDollar to track them will do. Building a personal brand and networking are also critical ways of investing in yourself, which will not only advance your career prospects but also increase overall happiness.
9. Ask for Help
People often struggle to set and adhere to work boundaries because they feel like they lack the right to do so. It is important to seek assistance if needed; for instance, if someone asks you to complete excessively long hours or tasks that go above your pay grade. Discuss this issue with your manager immediately.
Work-life balance is of utmost importance, so be sure to communicate your boundaries clearly and track them with an automatic time tracker such as Timing. If they are ignored by colleagues, it may be time for a change—including possibly finding another job opportunity.
