Thriving in the workplace requires intention, boundaries, and consistency. When you’re working remotely as a life insurance agent with a self-appointed schedule, the challenge to thrive can seem pretty daunting.
Here at Symmetry, we prioritize the health of our agents and our work culture. Finding a routine that supports your self-care is critical to your professional and personal success. In this blog, we’re breaking down how to better promote self-care to keep you thriving in your career.
Work-life balance (create boundaries)
Walking the tightrope between your professional and personal life can be tricky, especially when that tightrope doesn’t have the foundation of a dedicated workspace outside of your home (or other remote office). Creating boundaries between these two spheres of your life is paramount to leading a productive and healthy remote work-life balance.
Setting defined work hours is the first step to ensuring a dedicated disconnect from work each day. A career as a life insurance agent means you have the freedom to create your own work hours. Being intentional when setting those hours is important to creating a routine where work time isn’t bleeding into time for yourself and your family.
Decide what hours work best for your mental health and productivity and stick to them the best you can. Once you have decided what work hours are best for you, it’s important to communicate your availability to colleagues and clients.
This will help to reduce the chance of interruptions outside of your work hours. There will always be exceptions that will cause you to break that routine but let them be outliers.
Outside of setting regular work hours, having a dedicated workspace is huge when it comes to creating a physical environment for your “work mode.” Ideally, your remote workspace is somewhere you’re only occupying during work hours. Avoid bedrooms, kitchens or other spaces that you spend time in after work hours.
By setting this physical boundary, you’ll have an easier time transitioning into your personal time.
Practice mindfulness
It’s probably no shock that mindfulness is a huge part of practicing self-care as a remote life insurance agent. Sometimes it feels like finding time for mindfulness is not easy or doesn’t make sense when paired with a hectic workday. Still, finding time for mindfulness and reflection can make the difference between finding a focused tone at work and creating stress in a remote workplace.
Prioritize mindfulness by starting your day with a few minutes of meditation, deep breathing or just calm reflection before diving into your workload.
Meditation and focused breathing apps like Calm or Headspace can be boons to those new to meditation and breathing exercises. If the prospect of starting a new habit like meditation feels overwhelming, downloading one (or both) can help you build these healthy habits.
Five to 10 minutes in the morning will help you transition into a calm, organized mindset before work starts. Mindfulness exercises like meditation have been proven to reduce stress, improve focus and foster emotional resilience.
Avoid burnout
Burnout is real, but it is avoidable! Understanding your limits and acting accordingly will go a long way in preventing exhaustion at work. Identifying what a sustainable number of client interactions, agency meetings and even emails look like is a great place to start. Set limits to your workload that will help prevent mental and emotional exhaustion.
Scheduling regular days off is another excellent way to recharge and prevent stress from building up. Take mental health days when you need them, and if you feel like work is getting to a tipping point don’t make the mistake of overcompensating and pushing through.
Outside of scheduling days off, make time for hobbies or activities that help you disconnect from your workload. These should be activities that keep you energized and motivated in and out of scheduled work hours. Having something to look forward to once you decide to step away from your phone, desk or computer monitor can work wonders towards avoiding burnout.
Digital detox in the evening
Create space every evening for relaxation and personal connections by establishing digital detoxes in the evenings. Setting aside time to unplug after work every day promotes better sleep habits and can help you start each day feeling more refreshed.
Set a cutoff time for work-related notifications. There’s nothing more intrusive while you’re trying to unwind from work than an unexpected email, text or work phone call. Limit those as best you can by turning off or setting a timer for those notifications.
Choose offline activities to engage with directly after work hours. Feel free to set aside time to binge your next reality TV series or streaming that latest action movie, but before going from one screen to the next choose something like reading, cooking or simply spending quality time with family beforehand.
Limiting social media before bed can also help you avoid undue stress right after a day of work. Choose a time to put down the phone and stick to it! Screen usage directly before bed can affect your sleep quality and keep your mind overstimulated, making it harder to recharge.
Care for yourself at Symmetry
At Symmetry, we understand that self-care requires intention. It’s not enough to prioritize work and hope for the best. Instead, being intentional with your remote work habits can improve your personal and professional well-being.
We encourage everyone to practice some of the advice within this self-care guide and see what works for you. By recognizing the unique challenges that come with working remotely, you can better adapt your own routine to meet those challenges.
