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Tips to help improve your work-life balance BY METRO The ability to work remotely has opened up different opportunities for the millions of people who work 9 to 5 each day. While the advantages to remote work are too nu- merous to count, logging hours from the sofa is not necessarily a panacea for all working ills. In fact, many remote workers often lament how much their work-life balance has been adversely af- fected by their decision to avoid the office. Remote work grows According to the ca- reer resource Zippia, 27 percent of United States employees work remotely as of 2021. There are expected to be 36.2 mil- lion American employ- ees working remotely by 2025. In its 2020 Household Pulse Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau found that more than one-third of U.S. house- holds reported working from home more fre- quently than before the pandemic. Putting in longer hours Switching to remote working certainly may have improved flexibility for many workers, but it also has led to them putting in longer hours — something that may affect home life. Ac- cording to a survey of 2,800 workers by the Los Angeles-based staffing firm Robert Half, 45 per- cent of respondents said they regularly work more hours during the week than they did before transitioning to remote work. Also, 70 percent of professionals reported working on weekends. Americans are not alone in this phenom- enon. The business sup- port company NordVPN Teams says the average length of time an em- ployee working from home in the U.K., Can- ada, Austria and the U.S. is using a computer has increased by more than two hours a day since the coronavirus crisis. Home and work life blurs As home offices have become a more common feature, workers admit to taking shorter lunch breaks, working through sickness and being "available" during times that would normally be devoted to leisure or family. Technology has made it possible to get alerts on mobile phones even when workers have seemingly logged off for the day. Reclaiming control Mastering control of one's time can be a trial- and-error process. How- ever, there are some tips that can make it easier to achieve: Set limits (and stick to them). Don't oversched- ule yourself. Figure out what you can handle in terms of work and home responsibilities and limit those actions. Detach from work. Try to keep work equip- ment in a separate area from the living room or kitchen. This way you can turn off the computer and call it a day. Turn off alerts on your phone when the workday ends. Schedule fun times with the family. Make it a priority to fill the calendar with plenty of activities to enjoy in your leisure time, which can help to offset the de- mands of work. Prioritize and assess frequently. Everyone has different priorities. Remote work may help you realize those priori- ties more easily, such as working specific hours to be able to care for an el- derly parent or an infant. Don't feel the need to compensate by taking on more work. Remote work benefits many people. But to ben- efit fully from such situa- tions, professionals may need to make a concerted effort to achieve a greater work-life balance. ContactSandyLek at slek@bayareanewsgroup.com for more information on how Bay Area News Group can help you advertise in digital and print. "I'vebeennonstop sincemarketingbegan..." "BayAreaNewsGroupwasextremelyhelpfuleverystepofthe way–creatinganeffectivead,advertorial,digitalcreationand placement.Wereceivedhigh-quality,high-caliberexposure andI'vebeennonstopsincemarketingbegan,settingupmany appointmentsthroughouttheBayArealikeneverbefore– EastBay,SouthBayandMarin!Manyhavemadeappointments toviewourConcordADUandenjoyedseeingtheADUinperson." Thank you for sharing your success Katherine Noe Anderson of Perpetual Homes. ~ Perpetual Homes H12 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 001 Homes | Advertising Section