Most individuals have been working from home including partners survive working from home for more than a year now due to the pandemic, except the emergency and frontline workers. While some people support this system of working, there are a lot of disadvantages as well. Many companies have increased their work hours because they feel “it’s comparatively easier to work from home” since there’s no travel involved. However, this increase in workload has led to a lot of difficulties and differences for partners who survive work from home.
Juggling work and home together is quite hard since work from home routines aren’t always as organized as they’re supposed to be, especially if both partners are working professionals. Excess working hours are quite common for most sectors. Living together is about equality, and with that added stress of the pandemic, let’s not get gender inequal roles in our lives. We’ll be talking about how you can help your partner manage their time and deal with work stress more efficiently without getting too worked up yourself.
If you help each other deal with work stress and keep motivating yourselves to do better each day, you’ll be able to manage work well and at the same time, give time to your family members as well. Having understanding spouses is truly a blessing for overworked partners.
Related: 7 Myths Related To Covid-19
6 Ways To Help Your Partner Survive Work From Home
There are various ways to help your partner survive working from home:
1. Listen
Whether it’s work from home or office work, there are times when you’re not able to give enough time to your overworked partner because of your other engagements, whether it’s related to your family or your work. However, this ain’t a good way to go about it. You should have a specific time to talk to your partner when they’re done with their work.
If you make an effort to listen to their experiences throughout the day and help them lessen their stress, it can go a long way in making them feel motivated for working the following day. While making post-work plans, you should always spare some time for listening to each other’s issues. This is one of the most important lifestyle changes that you need to make if you and your partner want to survive working from home.
2. Keep work and home separate
One of the best ways for partners to survive work from home and following exhausting work from home routines is to keep their work-related issues away from domestic matters. If you’re always thinking about your work, you wouldn’t be able to spend time with your family and they would feel neglected.
Work is extremely important, but not at the cost of your mental health. If you manage your time properly, you would surely be able to deal with your work as well as your family, without compromising on any. Once you log out do not discuss work or take any office calls.
It’s important to have boundaries especially when the physical distance between work and home has all but obliterated. Spending time with your loved ones is one of the best ways to deal with work stress.
3. Take breaks
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” and we surely don’t want that. Take breaks whenever you feel you’re overworking or overstressing about something. Make post-work plans with your partner and survive working from home. You can even watch good movies after work to feel relaxed and entertained.
If you’re working throughout the day, you deserve to take breaks at night. Try to set boundaries and abide by them. If you’re able to follow them, reward yourself with a break. If you do something for a long time without breaks, you end up tiring your nerves and that has a negative impact on your body. Get up and go for walks or do some stretching to feel energized again, or take snack breaks in between.
4. Learn to say NO
If you want to give time to your family and your partner, you’ve got to draw certain lines. You cannot keep on working for the whole day. Learn to say no whenever it’s required. Say no to extra meetings or assignments that you’re not supposed to do. Don’t burden yourself with excessive work and be practical.
You would be able to manage your time only if you set realistic goals. Don’t compromise on your family time if you want to be consistent in your work. Consistency comes from the organization and overworking would disturb your regular work-from-home routine. If your partner is overworked, help them imbibe the habit of saying no, for their good.
5. Date nights
If you want to kill it at work on the weekdays, keep the weekends for your partner. Be together and do things that make you happy, instead of worrying about work. If you spend wholesome and relaxed weekends, your productivity would automatically improve on the working days. You can binge-watch movies, have a romantic dinner, play fun games, etc. Don’t let your work come in the way of your date nights with your loved one.
6. Professional help
Professional help is important if you are unable to manage your work and home and you and your partner are facing difficulty in surviving work from home. If you think you are stressing too much and coming out of it is becoming impossible, you should opt for therapy.
You can also try couple therapy if you think that would work better and help the both of you get things back in control. Your mental health is extremely important and taking the necessary steps for sustaining it is fine. Therapy is recommended to anybody who feels they would do better with professional advice on how to lead their life in a better way.
Conclusion
The ill-effects of the pandemic are quite evident but we can do everything that’s in our hands to make our daily lives easier. We have mentioned some of the most common ways that can help partners to survive the woes of work from home and manage time in a better way.
If you follow these ways, you’ll surely be able to create a balance between your work life and your private life.
Also, read: 5 Ways To Take Care Of Mental Health