Telecommuting blurs the line between business and personal life, making it hard to separate work and relaxation. As a result, many remote employees may find themselves working unusual hours, making it difficult to completely disconnect at the end of the day.

Also. working from home may be a very lonely experience. Working at home, rather than in a typical office setting, eliminates a significant social element of work. Coffee breaks, group lunches, and office jokes, while seemingly harmless, are significant means of connecting and creating connection. Telecommuting has the potential to eliminate this sense of belonging and support network.

However, these aren’t insurmountable obstacles. Remote employees can reap the benefits of flexibility while avoiding negative emotional and professional consequences if they are properly managed. Here are two measures that any company may do to improve the remote work experience.

The first step is to try and keep remote work visible and regulated. Usage of digital tools may help you to manage time and schedule work, which helps to maintain a healthier work/life balance. There are several tools that can help with this, including as planning applications, activity logs, and to-do lists, but automated time trackers are by far the easiest and most comprehensive option.

The second step is mixing office and remote work. Employees that go into the workplace at least one day a week have been proven to be the happiest. This should be promoted wherever feasible (for example, by providing “in-office days”), so that the advantages of on-site and remote work may be combined. Of course, when personnel are dispersed throughout the globe, things get more difficult, but you still have choices. Annual business meetings assist to foster a greater sense of community and provide an opportunity for many colleagues to meet for the first time in person.

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The unusually high amount of job quits seen in the past few months is widely called the Great Resignation. Many researchers, analysts, and strategic consultants have been actively discussing the issue. In my recent evaluation of the Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://business-and-money.net/the-great-resignation-what-does-the-data-say/) I tried to look at the numbers behind this Great Resignation talk. To put it briefly, the data shows that the tide of quits is real but is very likely to be short-lived and will subside in the coming several months.

So should you personally join the current quits flow? Should you finally try and look for a better position? Here are some major points to think about before you set sail.

First things first. The standard 4 Ps are to consider. But keep in mind that these apply at any time not just the post-pandemic quits fever.

• Passion. To my experience, the most crucial aspect of any job is whether you enjoy doing it. If your new career opportunity offers a more interesting or challenging set of tasks it may be time to think about pursuing this chance.
• Prospects. The future development outlook is at least as important for any job as its current perks are. The more exciting the vista, the more acceptable quitting your current job should be.
• Pay. Well, it’s pretty straight-forward here: if you have a promising position in the field that you find fascinating with a really nice raise offered – go for it. I mean there certainly are other things to think about – see below – but realistically money is important.
• Position. Almost the same as with the pay. Most times getting a higher post means that you should seriously consider taking it, as it’s generally comes bundled with the previous three Ps.

But all of this is pretty obvious, and I described it just to keep your thinking straight and not lose any aspect of the job change decision. Here are the two points that I think are key today.

Work-life balance. Always take into account the way your new position is going to affect your life. Landing a new job mostly means more work, at least at the start. But other factors are also vital: changing location, new transport route, longer hours, more stress – consider all of these and compare the sum of negative effects to the advantages you new job gives you.

Fitting and adapting. Changing a job always comes with risks attached. Usually, up to 50% of the success on a new job depends on establishing good relations with your new co-workers and your superiors. You may have impressive professional skills, be hardworking and easy-going and still wouldn’t be able to work out the chemistry needed to seamlessly join the new team. So be very careful to evaluate the level of stress come under in a new place and the risk of just not casually making it before you accept some insignificant pay raise.

Overall, going on with the seagoing analogy: don’t look enviously at the boats sailing away – not all of them will reach their destination, so assess your strengths, your possible benefits, and your risks before your join the Great Resignation tide.

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In the previous article, I described my opinion on distant work in general, but now we’ll talk about more important things for everyone. Here are four personal tips for any person who have to (or want to) work from home for a long time.

Firstly, you have to maintain your work-life balance. Sure, it’s a standard tip for any workers, but it’s even more true for remote ones. The reasoning here is quite simple: as you work from the place where you live (and where your personal life is usually concentrated), it’s easy to go all-work, you wouldn’t even really notice. Don’t do that, even if there’s overtime pay on your job – and especially if there’s none. That’ll do in a short term, but you’ll feel the negative results in 3+ months.

Secondly, don’t discard the lunch break. Even if you’re eating in front of a computer (which can be harmful for your health by the way), it’s important to make a pause even if you’re working on an hourly basis. It’s even more important if you constantly have to do overtime work – cook something or go for a walk for 30-60 minutes. Again, all negative possible effects might not appear instantly, but they certainly will, sooner or later.

Thirdly – Do. Not. Get. Distracted. You can’t really do anything with the presence of relatives or other loving ones, but you must build some barriers with them at the working time – otherwise, you’ll be focused on your home, not on work. What’s even more important, you shouldn’t get lost in the Internet surfing or gaming at work. From my personal experience, time drags much longer in those cases, comparing to simple work-brake-work regime. What’s worse – your head is all messed up for some reason and you get tired really fast while doing much less work. This is not even about work discipline, but about your well-being and the clarity of mind.

Fourthly – and lastly – keep company with your colleagues. Work is a social-heavy activity. Even if you feel yourself better without human presence, it’d be good if you’ll chat with your team on non-work matters, or call them to talk. A little bit of socialization certainly wouldn’t harm in those troubled days

Aforementioned tips are just excerpts from my personal experience. I can only hope that it’ll be helpful for you worklife.

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