Raise your hand if you’ve logged onto Twitter, watched a YouTube video, or stepped out to hit the gym during the workday today. You’re not alone. Ninety-three percent of people say they do a personal activity during work hours in the average week, according to a new Captivate Network survey.
The survey responses—from more than 800 workers in the U.S. and Canada—showed a 30 percent increase in the number of people who worked more than nine hours a day in the past two years (Captivate Network asked the same question in 2011). Yet there was also an 11 percent increase in the number of people who said they have a solid work/life balance. The researchers’ reasoning: A trend they’re calling “homing from work”—everything from making travel plans to using social media to running out of the office for a doctor’s appointment or to buy a gift.
“That’s reality, it’s how we have to manage things to get it all done,” says Cali Williams Yost, work flexibility expert and author of Tweak It: Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day. “The question is, how do you do it in a way that’s thoughtful and deliberate so that you are performing your job on the job and also being your best in the other parts of your life?”
That’s where these tips come in. Incorporate them into your workday to boost your balance—and happiness:
Remember this mantra: Your job comes first
Work should always be your priority, says Heather R. Huhman, career expert and president of Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy. Log a few hours at your desk before breaking to handle something personal, she says—don’t sit down at your computer and immediately start scrolling through tweets. Lunchtime is a good time for a breather or an errand. You might also have to flex your schedule muscles: If you know you’re going to have to handle some personal business in the afternoon but your workday is going to be crazy, go into the office a little earlier, says Yost, or wake up early and do the opposite of “homing from work”—working from home—for a little while.
Have a purpose and a time slot
Whatever you’re breaking for, know what it is and how long you have, says Yost. That could mean taking 15 minutes to catch up on the news or walk around the block a few times—it just has to be intentional, she says. “You have an activity you want to complete, and you complete it. Then when that’s over, it’s over.”
Keep it SFW
Whatever personal business you’re dealing with should help keep you balanced—without throwing your colleagues off-kilter. Don’t do anything that causes a disruption, says Yost. An argument on the phone with your partner? Not cool. Same with conducting a full-on job search or doing any work for your side gig, she says. (But Yost does give you the green light to maintain your network, such as by having coffee with a colleague or updating your LinkedIn profile.)
Know your office’s (and boss’s) policies
Of course, much of what’s deemed appropriate or inappropriate for you to do on the job will come down to your specific situation. “You really have to read the culture of your organization,” says Yost. It might be fine for your friend to Facebook message you from her cubicle, but that doesn’t mean it’s OK for you to log on. And while another pal might be permitted to slip out of the office every now and then without announcing it to her boss, you might always have to ask your supervisor for permission. What it comes down to: “Know what your unofficial and official workplace rules are, and respect them,” says Huhman.
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