The perks of working from home plentiful. Being able to work whatever time of day you want is great for those who don’t work best around the typical 9-5 or need to fit their work around other responsibilities.

However there are two problems: motivating yourself to work and telling yourself when to stop. Freelancers will generally fit into one of these categories. In this post we’ll talk about the latter.

When you work in a casual environment that you also live in, work and personal lives can easily merge. If your work is still piled on the kitchen table then it can be tempting to dip into it after dinner or stay up too late getting stuff done because you haven’t set boundaries for yourself.

So how do you switch off at the end of the day?

Have a winding down routine

In order to form a positive habit, you need consistency. This goes for winding down as well as getting yourself to work. If you have a routine, it’ll be easier for you to get into the right frame of mind and shut off at the right time.

You could begin your winding down process by writing out a to-do list for tomorrow or turning your computer off. If you can step away from your workplace, this will make it easier. If not, then clearing your desk or kitchen table of work notes or paperwork could stop you from just checking one more thing.

Create a separate work and personal login

If you can’t step away from the computer for whatever reason but know you need to step away from work, you could set up a separate personal and work user account on your computer. So when you’re done for the day, simply log out of your work account and hop on to your personal one.

This is also useful for keeping focus. You can strip your work login down by having only work related bookmarks and programmes and keep the fun stuff for your personal account.

Have a set time

Having set working hours is the best way to keep on track. You don’t have to keep traditional hours, pick what’s best for you and stick to it. If you can stick to strict hours then this will make it easier to snap out of work mode at the right time.

If you’re often forgetful, you could even set an alarm to sound when you’re due to clock off. You could set one at the start of the day too to remind you.

Get people to hold you accountable

You don’t want your work to eat into your family time. So let the people you live with know when you plan to finish work. You’ll be less likely to run over because you’ve got people waiting. They can also prompt you to step away if you need it.

How do manage your time at home? Are you struggling to switch off at the end of the day? Let us know your thoughts.