To Work From Home, You Need Clear Boundaries Between Work and Non-Work

03 Mar 2025 #career

He said, “You have put boundaries around your time.”

I was on a 1-on-1 with my boss’s boss and not-mentor at a past job. He was right. I had boundaries around my working hours. I always clocked out on time, and sometimes even earlier.

On more than one occasion, my team leader texted me or called me at 4:50 PM sharing details of a task or a bug. “Sorry, but I can’t finish that today. It’s 10 minutes to my end of day and that will take me at least a couple of hours,” I always said.

Eventually he stopped calling me 10 minutes before my end of day.

The hardest part of working from home

I’ve worked remotely for over 5 years. The hardest part? Setting boundaries between working and non-working hours.

When you’re at an office, some boundaries are clear. It’s lunch time. Or it’s 5:00 PM and you see a line of people clocking out. The day is over. No more meetings. No more calls.

But from home, the line between work and non-work is blurry.

From home, we’re a couple of steps away from “work” and we’re wearing pajamas or no pants like any other time of the day.

And, if we don’t pay attention, we’re replying to emails and taking calls after hours. Or even working on weekends. Or thinking about work all day long.

How to put boundaries between work and non-work

To start setting back those boundaries between work and non-work:

1. Have separate work and personal spaces: Your work laptop is only for work stuff.
2. Turn off all notifications after working hours: No Slack or Teams or email beeps or buzzes after 5:00 PM.
3. Do something that signals the end of your working hours: Walk your dog, change clothes, or go to a different room.
4. Uninstall work-related messaging apps from your phone: No Slack or Teams or work email on the phone.

If you’re working from a different time zone than your coworkers, you don’t have to reply after hours, not even to say it’s already past your working hours. Reply the next work day.

And if you’re the one texting, start your messages with a disclaimer, something like “When you’re back online tomorrow: blah, blah, blah” or schedule your messages. And, please don’t send “hello, how are you” messages. That’s how you get ignored at work.

Remember, working from home doesn’t mean being available 24/7.