A recent Flex Index survey of flexible working habits found that 72% of UK employers offer some form of work location flexibility for their corporate employees, with 44% offering a structured hybrid model.
For hybrid workers, Barratt Homes' Wigston Meadows development in Wigston offers excellent road links to Leicester city centre, as well as surrounding cities via the M1, M69, and A6. Additionally, the housebuilder’s King's Meadow development in Melton Mowbray provides residents with easy access to surrounding cities, via the A46 and A607.
While working from home has many benefits, it also comes with challenges – such as blurred boundaries between work and personal life, which can create a sense of cabin fever.
To help alleviate this, Barratt Homes offers these top tips:
Making Use of a Spare Room
Many Barratt homes across Leicestershire feature dedicated studies or workspaces, including the four bedroom Radleigh property at King’s Meadow, which includes a convenient downstairs study.
Limiting work to one particular room can help residents separate typically relaxing spaces, like lounges and bedrooms, from daily work, reducing stress by maintaining clear boundaries between professional and personal environments.
However, in homes without a study, residents could convert a lesser-used room in the house, such as a dining room or a single 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.
Taking short relaxation break like making a cup of tea and leaving the work space to drink it can help relieve overworking. Longer relaxation methods 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.
Martyn Parker, Sales Director at Barratt Homes North Midlands, said: “Finding a balance and shutting off from work is tough, especially for those working from home. Many of our properties across Leicestershire offer the space and flexibility to create an ideal hybrid working station.
“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.”
For more information about any properties available at King's Meadow or Wigston Meadows, visit the websites or call the Barratt Homes sales team on 033 3355 8472.
To view the range of properties available across the county, visit the website at Barratt Homes in Leicestershire.