5 top tips for achieving work-life balance while working from home

Working from home might sound like a dream come true. You can ditch the stressful, expensive, and time-consuming commute, set your own hours and tailor the environment to your needs.

According to a 2025 YouGov poll, 72% of UK workers say they’d like to work from home at least some of the time and 35% already do so for part of their week.

However, if not carefully managed, this way of working could blur the boundary between your professional and home lives, which may compromise your wellbeing and career.

A study published by IFA Magazine reveals that a growing number of Britain’s entrepreneurs are choosing to run businesses from home. While 47% say their top reason for doing so is to achieve a better work-life balance, the reality is often very different:

• 55% regularly work evenings and weekends.
• 33% have had customers unexpectedly turn up at their home.
• 58% say their enterprise has taken over parts of their personal living space.
• 48% have experienced loneliness or isolation because of working from home.

Whether you’re an employee or a business owner, keep reading to discover five helpful wellbeing and productivity tips to maintain a healthy work-life balance when your home is also your office.

1. Set a schedule and stick to it

Without the “end of day” cues, such as colleagues packing up and leaving, phone lines shutting down, or the building closing, it’s easy for the workday to merge into your evening. Thoughts such as “I’ll just reply to this email” or “I’ll do another five minutes on this task” can turn into hours of extra work.

A clear schedule and a firm finish time could help you replicate an office routine and get into the habit of downing tools when you’ve done your hours.

You might find it helpful to:

• Choose realistic start and finish times that suit you and your clients
• Avoid starting new or complex tasks in the last 30 minutes of the day
• Create a repeatable 5- to 10-minute end-of-day routine that tells your brain work is over and stops you thinking about it in the evening. This might include reviewing the day, planning for tomorrow, and closing down your computer.

2. Communicate your working hours and response times

Laptops, smartphones, and messaging apps let you answer emails and check schedules at any time of the day or night. This could lead to a feeling of being “always on”, which blurs boundaries and may contribute to mental and physical ill health.

Once you’ve set a schedule, communicate it to colleagues and clients to set expectations and avoid feeling you must respond to contact immediately.

You might find it helpful to:

• Update your email signature to include your working hours and realistic response times
• Check messages two to three times a day rather than continuously
• Block your core working hours and email response windows as recurring events in your calendar so others can see your availability
• Add your working hours as your messaging status (on Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, and so on).

3. Create a separate workspace

If your office is also your lounge or kitchen table, there’s no clear line between “work” and “home”.

In contrast, a dedicated workspace, however small, allows you to physically leave work behind at the end of the day.

You might find it helpful to:

• Choose a specific room or space to work in every day and avoid using it for anything else
• Keep all work-related equipment in this “zone”, rather than let it spill into living areas
• If space is limited, consider using room dividers or pieces of furniture to mark where your work area begins and ends.

4. Take a lunch break away from your desk

When you work from home and there’s no one to go to lunch with, you might be tempted to sit at your desk eating a sandwich while scrolling through work emails. This doesn’t allow your brain or body a proper rest, which could lead to an afternoon productivity slump.

You might find it helpful to:

• Go for a daily lunchtime walk to give yourself a screen break and re-energise for the afternoon
• Leave work devices in your work area and take a break somewhere else in the house
• Try yoga or mindfulness exercises to de-stress.

5. Avoid isolating yourself

Going to an office each day typically involves meeting and interacting with different people – quick chats in the corridor, shared lunches, Friday evening drinks, and so on.

Whereas remote workers might find themselves spending whole days without any social contact, which could lead to loneliness and poor mental health.

You might find it helpful to:

• Schedule regular check-ins with colleagues, mentors, or fellow business owners
• Consider using a co-working space a few times a week to benefit from face-to-face interaction
• Identify sources of support for times when you’re stuck or feeling overwhelmed
• Plan regular social activities outside of work.

Get in touch

If you you’d like help managing your business or personal finances – and keeping the two separate –we’d love to hear from you.

Please get in touch by email at helpme@aspirellp.co.uk or call 0117 9303510.

Please note

This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at individuals only.

All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.