Working from home can be a wonderful way to get ahead in your career while keeping an excellent work/life balance. However, it can also be a challenge to find the right job and stay on top of your work. Here are twelve tips for working from home without burning-out from my experience of over ten years as a remote Customer Services Manager, Tech Services Trainer, and Human Resources Professional.

Tip 1:

Start by finding the right job. Working from home is not for everyone, so make sure you find a job that is a good fit for your skillset and personality. There are many job boards dedicated to remote work, so start your search there.

Tip 2:

Set up a dedicated workspace. Working from home can be distracting, so it is important to set up a dedicated workspace where you can focus on your work. This might mean setting up a home office or creating a dedicated space in your living room.

Tip 3:

Set clear boundaries with family and friends. It can be difficult to support a work/life balance when you are working from home, so it is important to set clear boundaries with your family and friends. Let them know when you are working and when you are available to socialize.

Tip 4:

Stay organized. Working from home can be chaotic, so it is important to stay organized. Use a planner or calendar to keep track of your tasks and deadlines and create a daily routine that you can stick to.

Tip 5:

Take breaks. Working from home can be taxing, both mentally and physically. Make sure to take breaks throughout the day, even if it is just for a few minutes. Go for a walk, stretch, or meditate to clear your mind and recharge.

Tip 6:

You would get dressed for work. Working from home does not mean you have to sacrifice your personal style. Getting dressed for work each day can help you feel more professional and put you in the right mindset to be productive.

Tip 7:

Set a daily schedule. One of the benefits of working from home is that you can create your own schedule. But it is still important to set a daily routine and stick to it as much as possible. This will help keep you on track and prevent burnout.

Tip 8:

Avoid multitasking. When you are working from home, it is tempting to try and do several things at once. But this can make you less productive and increase your stress levels. When you are working on a task, give it your full attention and resist the urge to multi-task.

Tip 9:

 Take advantage of technology. There are many tools and technologies available that can help you be more productive when working from home. Use project management software to keep track of your tasks and take advantage of video conferencing for team meetings or client calls.

Tip 10:

Connect with other remote workers. Working from home can be isolating, so it is important to connect with other remote workers. Join online communities or in-person meetups and take advantage of networking opportunities.

Tip 11:

Be available for yourself. Working from home can be demanding, so make sure to schedule some time for yourself each day. Whether it is reading, taking a yoga class, or going for a walk, take some time to relax and recharge.

Tip 12:

Seek professional help if needed. Working from home can be difficult, and it is not uncommon to feel overwhelmed at times. If you are struggling to manage your work and life balance, seek out professional help from a therapist or counselor. Working from home does not have to be a struggle, with the right tools and mindset you can be successful.

Do you have any tips for working from home? Share them in the comments below!

Work-from-home options are quickly becoming the most in-demand work models in America. Many blame the pandemic as the major driver in the shift to workers demanding more flexibility and work-life balance. However, it was already well in motion. According to a study by FlexJobs, the number of people working from home at least part-time has increased by 115% since 2005.

And this trend doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

New demographics; new attitudes

There are many reasons for this shift, but one of the biggest drivers is changing workforce demographics. As Millennials increasingly enter the workforce, they are starting to demand a better work-life balance than their predecessors.

They watched their parents spend their days stuck in traffic or crammed into a small office cubicle. When they entered the workforce themselves, Millenials were also met with the same anemic wage growth, job insecurity and long work demands. But now they also had ballooning student loan debt, exploding housing costs, and lived through multiple economic crashes in their young lives.

And they thought, to what end?

Massive productivity gains have done little for workers

Over the last few decades, there has been a remarkable increase in productivity across many sectors in America. Workers have become increasingly efficient and productive, leading to major gains for companies and shareholders. However, they have not benefited workers proportionally.

Thanks to stagnant real wage growth, workers have actually seen little benefit from their increased productivity. Most businesses are focused on maximizing their profits and meeting the demands of shareholders at almost all cost, rather than on increasing pay for their workers.

Millennials look at this and wonder why businesses get to hold all the power. They are now turning away from seemingly endless work for inusffient pay that sacrifices home and social lives. The pandemic only brought these worker inequalities into sharper focus.

Courtesy of NorthOne

Worker flexibility–or else

Employees are demanding more give-and-take in the employer-employee relationship. They want the flexibility to work from home when they need to take care of their kids or run errands. They want to be able to take a mental health day or leave early for a doctor’s appointment without having to call out sick.

A big part of this is retaining the work flexibility they had during the pandamic–or they walk. And they have in record numbers. In November and December of 2021 alone, 8.8 million people quit their jobs in the U.S.; more than 47 million over the entire year.

The confluence of once-in-a-century economic turmoil, changing demographics and pandemic shutdowns that accelerated Boomers leaving the workforce has, for the moment, given workers more leverage. In a tight labor market, smart companies are embracing this social wave by instituting more flexible work models that provide employees with the work-life balance they crave.

Clash of ideologies leaning toward workers

As more companies adopt these policies, it will become increasingly difficult for those who don’t to attract and retain top talent. Some, like Goldman Sachs is holding its line of demanding all workers return to the office. But on the day they reopened, half of its workers didn’t show in defiance of the order.

So while the fully remote or hybrid work models may not be perfect, they’re quickly becoming the expected, new normal for a growing portion of American workers. If your company is one of the holdouts, you might want to reconsider. The talent war for the best and brightest workers is only going to heat up and those that can offer what workers want will be the big winners.

How NFTs are Changing Real Estate

Since the inception of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, there have been a flurry of new projects and applications being created. One such application is Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

NFTs are unique in that they represent an individual asset on a blockchain. The recent spate of eye-popping NFT purchases, including the 10,000 NFTs of the Bored Ape Yacht Club fame, is bringing a lot of attention to the potential within the technology.

This continues to fuel their use in a variety of industries outside of cryptocurrency, including both virtual and physical real estate.

Real Estate is starting to embrace blockchain and NFTs

The first recorded NFT property sale was in January of 2019 when a virtual world (metaverse) called Decentraland sold a virtual plot of land for $200,000. The land was purchased with the cryptocurrency Ethereum. Two years later, it sold a plot of land for a whopping $2.4 million. The precedent had been set for other NFT property sales that followed suit.

These sales demonstrated there is a tangible market for NFT properties. But more importantly, the technology behind it. NFT purchases are fast, easy, can be done at any time and are trackable forever on the blockchain.

This ease of purchase, and the ability to parse ownership across sellable NFTs, caught the attention of the physical real estate industry.

Tapping into home equity using NFTs

A big benefit of NFT purchases of virtual land is the lack of government regulation. This can be seen as a positive or negative, depending on your view. On the one hand, it allows for a free market with less bureaucracy. On the other, it could also lead to more scams and fraud.

Compare this to getting a traditional home equity loan. It’s much like the original home purchase process, with only a few less steps. It’s long, there’s still a ton of paperwork and plenty of fees and required middlemen to take their cut along the way.

Straddling the virtual and physical worlds

Using NFTs to unlock your home’s equity is done by creating a digital representation of a home and selling it as an NFT in an online marketplace. What’s more, the actual sale can potentially be done in minutes. The proceeds can be used as a down payment on a new home, investment property, or anything else the homeowner desires.

The downside is that there are still some risks involved. The biggest risk is the value of the NFT could drop. This leaves the homeowners with less money than they started with.

Compare this to the physical world. When your home value drops below its outstanding debt (primary mortgage plus equity loan), you’re upside down. But with the equity loan money already in your hands, you’re putting off that debt with the hope the future value rises enough to recoup it.

Do your homework!

NFTs are still in their early days, but they hold a lot of promise to offer peer-to-peer, streamlined transactions. For real estate investors and homeowners alike, they offer a new way to tap into the equity of their property. And as technology matures, we can only expect more innovation in this space.

The most important thing is to educate yourself and be sure to first seek legal advice from those who specialize in NFT transactions. Remember, you and your house still live and operate in the real world.

This article is not intended as investment or legal advice.