Blurring the Boundaries Between Work and Home Part 1: How to Maintain and Promote Work-Life Wellness as a Manager During the COVID-19 Crisis

Blurring the Boundaries Between Work and Home Part 1:
How to Maintain and Promote Work-Life Wellness as a Manager During the COVID-19 Crisis

The COVID-19 crisis has forced many managers into suddenly working from home and leading staff from a distance. In adjusting to these new work conditions, people are quickly becoming aware of how reduced privacy or structure at home, and the increased, and relying on technologies to check-in with colleagues, can create stress. Further, remote work can raise concerns about productivity and work-life wellness (i.e. satisfaction and effectiveness in both domains). To address this, we’ve created a 2-part blog with  tips and tricks to help maintain your own work-life wellness, as well as promote the wellbeing of your staff during these uncertain times.

Habits to Enhance Your Own Work-Life Wellness:

• Develop a “space” for work – mimicking your work environment can help get you in the mental space for doing work. This can be physically (e.g. having a separate office space or a room where you can shut a door), or psychologically (e.g. turning off your phone to minimize distractions).
• Schedule personal time – when we write something down as though it were an appointment, we are more likely to commit to it psychologically. Part of good work discipline is knowing when not to work as much as knowing when to work.
• Create clear goals for your day – break projects down into tasks so you’re able to maintain a sense of accomplishment in your days. Remember to stop work for the day once you get through your list. While the intention of “getting ahead” is good, it creates the expectation that “work is never done” and can lead to feelings of guilt and failure, ultimately increasing stress rather than lowering it.
• Maximize your “focus zones” – divide your day into chunks of time depending on when you are most productive. Complete your most focused or high concentration work during these times and save lower priority or quicker tasks for other parts of your day.
• Make mental moves – create start-up and shut-down rituals or routines for your work-day to minimize the disruption of transitioning from work to home and vice versa, such as changing the clothes that you wear. This can make it easier for you to mentally transition between your professional and personal life.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog, which will provide habits to promote the work-life wellness of your staff!

Blog by April Dyrda, M.Sc.
Registered Provisional Psychologist and Industrial/Organizational Consultant
Work EvOHlution

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Work EvOHlution has been a world leader in remote work success since our launch in 2014. We are a Calgary-based team of Organizational Psychologists committed to enhancing engagement and performance in distributed workplaces. We offer innovative assessment tools for leaders, teams, and employees based on research conducted since 2003, as well as consulting, coaching, and training solutions. Work EvOHlution specializes in supporting organizations both locally and internationally.

1-587-354-3444 | [email protected]
www.workevohlution.com