Isobel Fearn
14 April, 2025
News

South Yorkshire homebuilder reveals top tips for a suitable work-life balance

Leading housebuilder Barratt Homes has compiled a series of top tips to achieve a good work-life balance for hybrid working residents at its Thornberry Gardens development in Dinnington.

A typical street scene at Thornberry Gardens

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.

Positioned on Lodge Lane, Thornberry Gardens offers the ideal semi-rural location surrounded by green open space and built with convenience in mind. For hybrid workers, the development offers excellent road links to Sheffield and Worksop, via the A57, A1 and M1.

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.

A typical bedroom with dedicated study space at Thornberry Gardens
A typical bedroom with dedicated study space at Thornberry Gardens Credit: Barratt Homes

To help alleviate this, Barratt Homes offers these top tips:

Making Use of a Spare Room

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.

In homes without a dedicated study, residents can convert a lesser-used room, such as a dining room or spare bedroom, into a makeshift office to further separate work and leisure.

At Thornberry Gardens, the three bedroom Maidstone and four bedroom Kingsley properties include versatile single bedrooms that can be easily adapted into a home office.

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 breaks like making a cup of tea and leaving the workspace 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 at Thornberry Gardens 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 Thornberry Gardens, visit the website 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 South Yorkshire.