How many hours are you working each week? Whatever your answer is I’m going to say that’s too many hours. When the sun is shining and you’re overlooking people playing in the park it’s tempting to quit your office job there and then. But you really don’t need to do that in order to start working less and enjoying life a little more. It’s just a matter of careful planning and negotiating; if you play your cards right you could be spending less hours in that stuffy office while still doing the job you love. Here’s how:
Work from home
Alter your current work routine. Convince your boss that you should start working remotely. Plenty of guides exist on the best ways to persuade an employer. More and more of us are spending part of our working weeks doing our job from home. That’s because a business often benefits from the increased productivity of a remote worker. Forbes estimates that 91 percent of these employees feel they get more done when they’re working in their home office. There’s no distractions for a start! And you can set your own hours – so if you work best in the morning, get up early and do it all while you’re feeling energetic. Then the afternoon is free for strolls in the park or reading in your garden. Since you’re more productive when you work remotely (and you’re saving hours on the daily commute!) you’ll have extra time to spend with your family. 
Here’s Victoria’s home office from Apartment Number 4 as featured in Style at Home magazine
Learn to delegate
Delegating tasks will make sure that things continue to run smoothly, even if you’re working from home. Think about your daily and weekly workload and see what you don’t need to be doing. Delegation of duties helps the company as much as you; rather than take on too much work on your own, you could train those who report to you so that they can handle these responsibilities in your absence. You want to set them up to succeed, offering advice when they struggle. You also need to wean yourself away from the habit of doing everything yourself. Delegation is the first step to getting more time to yourself. Once you master delegation, you’no longer need to spend excessive hours at the office!
Here’s Anna’s home office from Don’t Cramp My Style
Balance your time
You probably won’t work remotely full-time nor should you angle for such a dramatic change. You want to create more of a balance. You simply need to find a work-at-home schedule that will allow you to maximize your efficiency during the hours that you allocate for work tasks. In fact, if you have children or a partner, you can include them the new strategy sessions. You’ll gain extra family time (picking up the kids from school, for example) while also giving your family insight into your career when you doing some tasks at home.
Consider a new profession
What should you do if your company won’t let you work remotely? Also, what happens when you need to move location? The best answer to both of these questions is to look for a new job. Also, when your job stands in the way of quality time with your family, that’s a sign that you have the wrong employer. Take a look at the various companies that hire people in your industry. Leverage your network of contacts to find a new position that will enable you to work part-time or work remotely and have more time for your little ones. Look out for flexible jobs (like Amway,) that give you more control over your schedule and free time.
And here’s my home office – Cassiefairy HQ
You can take control of your home life the instant you regain power in your career. Consider the suggestions above as the first steps in your quest to live a more enriching life with your family and start putting a plan together to change your routine. And if you have any tips on working-from-home yourself please share them in the comments section below – I’d love to hear how you organise your working life to get the most out of the day 🙂
This article is a sponsored collaboration. The pink links in the content indicate a sponsored link or information source. The blog post reflects my own experience and the sponsor hasn’t had any control over my content 🙂
