5 Tips to Manage a Hybrid Work Life

1. Plan Ahead

No longer can you wait until you get into the office to plan out your activity for each day. With locations shifting, a weekly plan can be more effective to ensure that you account for activities that must happen while you are at the office and tasks that are better suited for home.

2. Classify Your Tasks

Determine which tasks are better done in the distraction-limited zone of home. These are things where you need a sustained focus that can’t be interrupted by people dropping by your desk, phones ringing, etc…. Block off time on your calendar to get those tasks done on your at-home days. There you can more easily silence alerts and dig in. This will free up your in-office days to spend more time collaborating with people rather than focusing on solo work.

3. Twin Your Workspace

Create similar set-ups at home and in the office in terms of how you set up your desk and what supplies you have on hand. You may want to try to split up supplies keeping half at home and half at the office so you never have the excuse of not having the right “stuff” to get the job done. This includes doubling up on critical supplies like charging cords. Even consider copying the snacks that keep you fueled in both locations – whether that is a specific brand of sparkling water or a trail mix that you keep in your desk.

4. Get More Visibility Into Colleagues’ Schedules

To ensure you are getting the most out of in-office face time, make sure you’re in the office with the “right” people. Teams today need more visibility into one another’s schedules to ensure that when an in-person meeting is scheduled attendees are already planning to be (or can be) in the office. Make sure at home and office days are clearly noted on online calendars. Instead of picking a time and waiting for RSVP responses to come in, do more legwork in advance, checking key attendee calendars before you send the meeting invite.

5. Re-evaluate Your Finances

Commuting less often can have a positive impact on your budget as well as your time management, but there are hidden costs in splitting your time between two places. Do the math to ensure you’re not spending more month over month for parking or transit passes by paying the daily rate rather than sticking with a monthly contract. Also pay close attention to what you are spending on groceries and eating out to see if your food budget has increased.

BONUS! Be Patient

Even though teams may have been managing remote work for two plus years, the permanence of a hybrid work life is still fairly new. Expect issues and conflict as everyone settles into schedules and be flexible to roll with changes caused by hybrid work challenges.