fbpx
Potentash
  • Relationships
    • The Singlehood Series
    • Dating
    • Sex
    • Parenting
  • Lifestyle
    • Home
    • Food + Beverage
    • Fashion
  • Fiction
    • Short Stories & Poetry
  • Skin + Beauty
    • Skin
      • Skincare
    • Hair
      • Haircare
  • Wellness
    • Physical Health
    • Emotional Wellness
    • Mental Wellness
    • Social Wellness
    • Spiritual Wellness
  • Business
    • Business Finance
    • Personal Finance
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Investments
    • Personal Investments
  • Travel
  • Entertainment
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
Potentash
  • Relationships
    • The Singlehood Series
    • Dating
    • Sex
    • Parenting
  • Lifestyle
    • Home
    • Food + Beverage
    • Fashion
  • Fiction
    • Short Stories & Poetry
  • Skin + Beauty
    • Skin
      • Skincare
    • Hair
      • Haircare
  • Wellness
    • Physical Health
    • Emotional Wellness
    • Mental Wellness
    • Social Wellness
    • Spiritual Wellness
  • Business
    • Business Finance
    • Personal Finance
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Investments
    • Personal Investments
  • Travel
  • Entertainment
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
Potentash
No Result
View All Result
image from https://www.stylist.co.uk/tag/working-from-home

image from https://www.stylist.co.uk/tag/working-from-home

7 Ways To Set Boundaries With Family And Friends When You Work From Home

Working from home requires discipline, diligence, and an understanding with the people you live with. Find out how to set boundaries with your roommates, family, and friends.

Laura Ayienga by Laura Ayienga
October 6, 2022
in Careers
Reading Time: 5 mins read
3 0
0
4
SHARES
21
VIEWS
FacebookTwitterWhatsApp

If there’s one good thing that came from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s the rise of remote working all over the world. Working from home is great! It saves you a lot of time, money, and at the very least, small talk.

Even so, and after working from home for almost a year, I have learnt that it comes with some weaknesses. For example, when you work from home, you may experience loneliness, become anti-social, and the biggest of all – find difficulty in managing a work-life balance.

You see, when you work from home, ‘work’ stops being an actual excuse to the people around you. Friends will call you and want to pop in at random times of the day. Your family will expect you to help them do things. Your children will expect you to play with them – simply because they can see you.

In short, the people around you will probably not take your work as seriously as they should.

Because of this, you’ll need to learn how to set boundaries, and not just with others – with yourself too. Because when something clicks in the brain that your bed is only 15 steps away, you have to tell yourself no. You have to remind yourself to stick to your schedule.

Whether it be with your roommates, your friends, or family, if working from home is to work for you, you have to establish some sort of rules for those around you.

Here are 7 ways to set boundaries when you work from home:

1. Communicate your boundaries

You can’t expect people to obey your boundaries if you haven’t laid them down and spoken about them. It may be obvious to you but not to them. So, let your people know that you do not take visitors during your working hours. Tell them that you expect silence, and that they can’t just barge into your room as they would like to. No matter how harsh it seems, it’s better if you speak about it than to bottle up everything and slowly build resentment. Do not be shy to ask your roommate(s) not to have their friends over during working hours. In the end, you are the only one who will suffer from not communicating your boundaries.

In a blog on Hubspot, Pamela Bump says, “Almost all the colleagues that I spoke to explained that communication is key when working remotely with roommates and family.”

How To Set Boundaries And Stop Being A People Pleaser

2. Learn how to say no

I once read something life-changing about setting boundaries. You have to be comfortable with the backlash that will come with it. People won’t always be thrilled by the idea of you saying no, but that’s not your problem. As long as you are kind about it, allow them to be unhappy with your decision.

So the next time you receive calls from friends who want to play catch-up with you over working hours, simply let them know that it will not be possible and perhaps you can arrange another time. Try as best as you can to be assertive, leaving little room for negotiation.

Learn To Say NO Without Feeling Guilty With These Simple Steps

3. Have visual boundaries

Again, you can’t blame people for crossing your boundaries if you haven’t actually set them. Consider putting up a ‘Do not disturb’ or ‘Meeting in progress’ sign on your door. That way, anytime someone wants to come in and tell you about the latest gossip, they will be reminded that you are not available at that particular moment.

This works really well with kids. It might mean putting a colourful “STOP” sign on the door during conference calls and work periods. Set limits about interruptions and what is expected during working hours.

Parenting: How To Keep Kids Engaged While You Work From Home

4. Share your schedule

If everyone has access to your schedule, it’ll be much easier to explain to them that you are unavailable. It will also encourage them to wait a little longer for your next short break.

You can print out your schedule or even share an electronic copy.

Alternatively, you can communicate with your partner or roommate what your workday will look like each morning. This way, they’ll have a good sense of when your day starts, ends, and when you will be taking a break so you can plan accordingly. This would also be a good time to reaffirm your boundaries. Just remember to be kind when doing so.

5. Consider putting your phone on focus mode

You can set all the boundaries you want within the home, but if you don’t set boundaries for outsiders, you’re wasting your time.

This may be a little bit extreme, but it works perfectly! Turn off your phone notifications, and only allow phone calls from immediate family and colleagues.

You can set your phone such that it sends a message to anyone who tries to contact you within that period. You can also give them an alternative way to reach you if it’s urgent.

During your breaks, you’ll have the chance to check those notifications and respond to everything that needs your immediate attention.

6. Know when to make compromises

Setting boundaries can lead you to the other extreme where it’s ‘my way or the highway.’

This can lead to resentment and conflict with your loved ones, and I’d like to assume you’re not aiming for that.

Sometimes setting boundaries is also about making that extra room for negotiation and compromise. For example, you can let your people watch T.V while you’re working as long it is not a distraction.

If one roommate is sitting at the kitchen table and the rest of the house is empty, find a place to sit where you can take your meetings far away from them rather than interrupting their day.

7. Set bonding time with them

It’s easier to communicate when you have a healthy relationship with someone. One way to do this is to set aside time to bond with them. Whether it be watching a movie, listening to music together, having a conversation about something from the internet, or even doing a chore together, be sure to set time to bond with them daily.

This will also help you to clock out from your work and relax.

When your people can see that you actually care to spend time with them, it will definitely be easier to set boundaries when you work from home.

Productivity: Working From Home – 10 Ways To Make It Work

Tips For Parents Working From Home

How To Furnish Your Home Office

6 Ways To Maintain An Active Social Life While Working From Home

Share2Tweet1SendSharePin
Previous Post

Social Media Stole Ted’s Girlfriend And Made Her Into Somebody We All Couldn’t Recognize

Next Post

5 Ways Climate Change Will Affect Our Lives

Laura Ayienga

Laura Ayienga

I am a passionate 22 year-old writer. I consider myself a young free-spirited soul whose personality is a mixture of introversion and extroversion. I’m a strong believer in the law of attraction. Everything is a reflection.

Next Post
Climate change

5 Ways Climate Change Will Affect Our Lives

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

Home with a dark red colour palette. Image from https://www.amazadesign.com/interior-paint-colors-mistakes-you-must-avoid/

7 Ways To Make Your Home Look More Luxurious On A Budget

June 24, 2021
194
Different potted indoor succulents - how to care for a succulent

Indoor Gardening: How To Care For Succulents

May 27, 2022
18

Popular Stories

  • Pregnant black woman on hospital bed image from https://www.everydayhealth.com/congestive-heart-failure/guide/

    The Singlehood Series: How I Drove My Boyfriend’s Pregnant Girlfriend To Deliver Their Baby Without Knowing

    1778 shares
    Share 711 Tweet 445
  • He Proposed That I Should Become His Mistress – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

    1036 shares
    Share 414 Tweet 259
  • The Cologne Scent I Breathed In At The Supermarket Reminded Me Of Love Lost And The Regrets I Had Over Leaving The Love Of My Life

    174 shares
    Share 70 Tweet 44
  • The Singlehood Series: She Asked Him For An Open Relationship But She Didn’t Expect The Turn Of Events

    476 shares
    Share 190 Tweet 119
  • He Dumped Her Because He Wasn’t Ready For A Long Term Commitment But Ended Up Proposing To Her Best Friend

    194 shares
    Share 78 Tweet 49

Potentash Blog

Potentash

Potentash is an award-winning lifestyle blog. We publish lifestyle content that intersects with health, women, beauty, travel, business, relationships, finances and entertainment.

Categories

  • Ethics Statement
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2022. Potentash, In Partnership with Decima

  • Login
No Result
View All Result
  • Relationships
    • The Singlehood Series
    • Dating
    • Sex
    • Parenting
  • Lifestyle
    • Home
    • Food + Beverage
    • Fashion
  • Fiction
    • Short Stories & Poetry
  • Skin + Beauty
    • Skin
      • Skincare
    • Hair
      • Haircare
  • Wellness
    • Physical Health
    • Emotional Wellness
    • Mental Wellness
    • Social Wellness
    • Spiritual Wellness
  • Business
    • Business Finance
    • Personal Finance
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Investments
    • Personal Investments
  • Travel
  • Entertainment

Copyright © 2022. Potentash, In Partnership with Decima

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Linked In
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In