In recognition of Stress Awareness Month in April, organised by Stress Management Society, the leading homebuilder is highlighting the importance of making sure work and home life are kept separate.
A recent Flex Index survey of flexible working habits found that 72% of UK employers offer some form work location flexibility for their corporate employees, with 44% offering a structured hybrid model.
Willow Grove is surrounded by green open space and built with convenience in mind. For those who hybrid work, the development offers excellent road links to Bedford, Luton and London.
With the many benefits of working from home, come the inevitable drawbacks, including the blurred boundaries between work and personal spaces, creating a sense of cabin fever.
Barratt and David Wilson Homes’ top tips to alleviate feeling trapped while working from home include:
Making Use of a Spare Room
Many homes at Willow Grove have dedicated studies or work spaces. Limiting work to one particular room can help residents dissociate typically relaxing spaces like lounges and bedrooms with daily work.
However, in homes without a study, residents could convert a lesser-used room in the house such as a dining room or a spare bedroom into a make-shift office to further separate work and leisure.
Schedule in Downtime
In an office environment people are more inclined to take small breaks throughout the day, whether that’s grabbing a coffee or chatting with a colleague. At home these natural breaks may happen less frequently, resulting in working non-stop.
Creating short relaxation activities like making a cup of tea and leaving the work space to drink it can help relieve overworking. Longer relaxation activities like exercising and listening to a podcast can be scheduled into evenings or lunch breaks, allowing residents to have full control and balance throughout the working week.
Let People Know You’re in the Zone
Whether in an office environment or working from home, sometimes it can be hard to get into the working mode. It’s important to balance the time spent working and the time spent talking. Placing a flag on the desk or putting on headphones can be a signal that someone is disconnecting from other distractions and concentrating on the work in front of them.
The same technique can apply in the office with work colleagues as it does at home with family distractions.
Find Your Own Balance
Every individual’s ideal work-life balance is going to be different. It’s important to remember that we are all human and balancing work, social and family life is not simple. Small daily changes can help, such as placing a work phone on do not disturb when outside of working hours, or spending lunch time away from the desk, ideally on a nearby walk, and with family or colleagues.
Alison Raine, Sales Director at Barratt and David Wilson Homes Northampton, said: “Finding a balance and shutting off from work is tough, especially for those working from home. Many of our properties at Willow Grove have a dedicated study to help with this, or the potential to adapt a spare room into a working environment.
“Modern living and working from home can be easy and manageable, and we hope homeowners find our guidance beneficial for improving their work-life balance.”