We live in an age where many of us work out of our homes either full-time, part-time, or flex-time. Naturally, this can create an imbalance between the ?work? and the ?life? spaces in our homes.

Working on my laptop or opening mail in my bedroom wouldn’t even cross my mind! Why? Because when I sit in my home-office in front of my laptop, I automatically get into a ?work? state of mind. As soon as I walk into my bedroom, I relax and my mind switches into ?rest? mode.

Now, let’s identify what’s the deal with opening the mail. At my home we place our mail on the kitchen counter, behind the fridge, so it’s hidden a little bit. My husband, who is in charge of the mail (thank God!) takes care of it either in the kitchen or in our home-office. You would never see him open the mail in the bedroom or even in the living room.

Separating your home space from your workspace is essential in order to create Work-Life Balance. (Click to retweet)

Even if you work away from home, you still have some ?work? to do at home, such as sorting mail, paying the bills, organizing household chores. You might even bring some work home with you. If you are a teacher, you might grade exams at home. If you are an executive, you might clear your email inbox in the evening.

It is hard to set boundaries if you work at home or you bring work home with you, and keeping your spaces separate might help you. If you sit in your living room working on your emails while watching TV, you end up spending your evening dividing your attention between the TV screen and your computer screen. If instead you spent 30 minutes in your office working on your emails, turned off your laptop and moved to the living room to watch TV, you would be more engaged with each activity and you might even be present enough to have a conversation with your partner or family members.

The Bottom Line: Work in your office or home-office. Leave work out of your bedroom and your living room. The separation of space will help you to associate spaces with tasks so when you walk into your bedroom you automatically relax, and when you enter your living room, you are no longer working. You are engaged in ?life outside of work.?

Ask: What habits do I want to change to create work-life balance?

Affirm: I work in my office, I live in my home, and I’m balanced.