10 Tips for Better Work-Life Balance in a Virtual Team
In this post, we’ll share practical tips for better work-life balance in a virtual team to help you stay productive without burning out.
1. Step away from the email
Earlier this year, a report circulated that a French law banned employees from checking work emails after 6pm. It wasn’t true but fitted with our notion of the French as a nation of slackers favouring long lunches, five-day weekends and plenty of slap and tickle while les rosbifs carried on working through the night. But maybe there should be a law against after-hours fielding of bosses’ emails? “It would be impossible to enforce,” says Leeds-based life coach Melanie Allen. “But companies should think about productivity. Is this incessant checking of emails and social media by their employees adding to productivity or just pointless stress?”
2. Just say no
If you’re constantly available for your boss’s nonstop demands and feeling overwhelmed, it might be time to harness the power of no. Allen advises: “If you tend to say yes automatically, pause. Say you’ll get back to them, then decide if it’s a real yes—or a no.” If it’s no, say it firmly and clearly. No need to justify or make excuses—just be respectful and direct.
The Mental Health Foundation also stresses the importance of speaking up when work demands become too much. Take inspiration from footballer Eric Cantona, who in Looking for Eric, teaches the power of a firm “non.”
3. Work smarter, not harder
Some advocate working more and sleeping less—citing examples like Margaret Thatcher, who reportedly thrived on four hours of sleep. Today, it’s called sleep hacking, but US academic Matt Might argues that this mindset is flawed. Productivity isn’t just about hours worked, but how much you achieve per hour. The Mental Health Foundation advises: “Work smart, not long,” which means prioritizing tasks, setting time limits, and avoiding unproductive activities like endless meetings.
Yet many of us still confuse busyness with effectiveness. UK productivity remains low despite long working hours. The Mental Health Foundation reports that prolonged overwork impacts mental health: 27% of employees feel depressed, 34% anxious, and 58% irritable.
4. Leave work at work
Imagine you’re just about to leave your workplace, possibly for cocktails at TGI Fridays, even though it’s actually Tuesday. Before you do, write a note to yourself listing outstanding tasks or any work things that are on your mind. “Then shut the diary, turn off your PC, store your message and leave it.” counsels Allen. “Focus on the image of shutting the diary, saving the message or turning off your PC.” If this is not possible, she recommends what she calls a stop-breathe technique. What does that mean? “Take a slow breath and acknowledge that you’ve left. If you can’t do that at the office door, when you’re getting a train or bus and the door closes, imagine that’s the end of your working day. Or if you’re in your car, sit at the wheel for a short while before you start the engine.”
Closure is a big theme among those offering tips to a healthy work-life balance: the Mental Health Foundation says that if you do happen to take work home with you, you should try to confine it to a certain area of your home – and be able to close the door on it.
5. Forget about perfection
The idea of leaving work behind sounds great—until you remember a task you could’ve done better and head back to fix it. Is that really wrong? “Some people struggle to let things go,” says Allen. “I call it ‘good enough versus fabulous.’ Sometimes, especially when overworked, you need to remind yourself that good enough really is enough.”
She shares the story of a woman returning to full-time work, frustrated that her partner doesn’t do laundry her way. But redoing it only adds more stress. “Don’t put extra pressure on yourself—at work or at home,” Allen advises.
As Netmums reminds working mothers: “Give yourself a break. It doesn’t matter if your home isn’t immaculate or your kids don’t eat perfectly cooked meals every day.”
6. Don’t be a martyr
“There is also the tendency I come across where somebody will say, ‘I have to do everything round here,’” says Allen. “To feel like a martyr gives some people a great deal of pleasure – they feel they’re powerful and busy.” And what’s wrong with that? “It’s worth thinking about how infuriating that is for other people. The reason most people are martyrs is that they want the approval of others; if they realise martyrdom – just doing all the work – is exasperating to be around, they might stop behaving that way.”
7. Ease off the adrenaline
Do you need the rush of adrenaline all the time, whether it’s at the gym, in the sack or at the coalface of paid employment? “You really ought to monitor that,” says Allen. “You need to ask yourself how well your life is really going. What happens often is that those hooked on adrenaline hop from one rush to another – from one task to another, from work to gym. What’s that like for your family and friends to be around? Not much fun, especially when you crash – which inevitably you will.”
8. Think about retirement
“Some people are wedded to work, especially the self-employed,” says Allen. “But what happens if you lose your job or retire? You need something else to fall back on.” While gaps in employment or retirement are inevitable, many struggle to shift focus away from work. Allen encourages finding interests beyond your job—not just old-school hobbies like stamp collecting, but anything meaningful that helps you recharge.
The Mental Health Foundation suggests reducing stress through exercise, relaxation, or hobbies. And if all else fails, throwing darts at a photo of your boss might just combine all three.
9. Make ’em wait
One way to avoid being incessantly available is to make it clear to your colleagues that you will reply to emails within 24 or 48 hours. “As long as you’re reliable about replying in the end, it’s surprising how little this bothers people,” argues Oliver Burkeman, author of Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done. Quite so, but texting is based on different parameters – to send a text is to expect a quick, even immediate reply. But fear not, remember point two – just say no. You need to make it clear that you’re not endlessly available for work queries outside working hours. Admittedly, that’s easier said than done.
10. Set your own rules
“You need to find your own work-life balance—with support, but guided by your own intuition,” says Allen. “Ignore the ‘shoulds’ imposed by others or absorbed over time.”
Work attitudes are shifting. Millennials, in particular, tend to blur the boundaries between work and home, with 81% believing they should set their own schedules. For some, that means flexible hours, remote work, and fewer traditional meetings—ideally with no backlash if they say no to weekend requests.
Of course, the dream of total flexibility doesn’t always match reality—but a more balanced, personal approach is becoming the goal.