The pandemic brought attention to the importance of work-life balance as those forced to work from home gained firsthand experience of the daily routines and moments that brought families together. As we return to normal office life, the need to protect our work from encroaching on our family life has become a goal for many. The devices that often are the culprits in disrupting time outside of the office are the very same ones that can help establish healthy boundaries.

The most simple solution is to have separate devices for work and home. Install work apps only on work devices, which may include Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Skype and others. When your working hours are over, shut down those devices.

However, having double devices may not be practical with the high cost of computers and phones. Many companies have replaced providing work machines with a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) to work policy, and that’s when separating your work and personal life becomes nearly impossible. Further, Americans have become accustomed to be always “on,” connected to work communication, just in case: in case of a client emergency or because it’s often easier to respond to an email on the spot rather than wait until Monday morning. With single devices that do double duty, you will have to train yourself to ignore work-related messages, but you can also set them up in new ways.

Set up separate work and home profiles on your computer. Both Windows and Mac allow you to set up multiple user accounts, so you can virtually divide your laptop into two machines. Windows 11 and 10 users will select Start > Settings > Accounts > Family & other users. Under “Other users,” select “Add other user” and then “Add account.” Enter your Microsoft personal account information and follow the prompts. If you haven’t set up separate Microsoft work and personal accounts, now is the time to do it. When you log in, you’ll select the account that pairs with your activity.

You can set up your browser in a similar way. Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox offer a profile feature that allows you to set up multiple accounts. When you open the browser, you will be asked to choose the relevant account. With separate home and work profiles, you are automatically segregating passwords, browsing history and bookmarks associated with each profile, which can also add a measure of security and privacy.

Set up is easy and works similarly across the browsers. (Note that Safari does not offer the profile feature.) For instance, Chrome users open the browser and click their profile in the top right. Choose “Add” from the pop-up window. Choose a name, photo and color scheme. The next time you launch Chrome, you’ll be asked “Who’s using Chrome?” To switch between your profiles, click on the profile icon in the upper right corner, where you’ll see a list of active profiles you’ve created. Select the one you want to use.

Alternatively, you can use two different browsers. You may want to use Microsoft Edge for work activities and Google Chrome for personal ones. You may also choose Firefox or Safari, depending on which browsers you already use.

Your calendar is a powerful tool in helping set boundaries between work and personal time. Both Outlook and Google Calendar allow you to set working hours, which means that someone trying to schedule a meeting with you won’t be able to do so outside the hours you’ve set for work. You can set your workdays and meeting hours in the calendar settings under “View.”

Your phone poses a different set of challenges because only one login is available. One of the most effective ways to limit work interruptions is by turning off notifications on the apps you use for your job. When the weekend rolls around, go into your phone’s settings and scroll down to notifications. You’ll see your phone’s apps listed in alphabetical order. Tap one and toggle off “Allow Notifications,” which is found at the top of the screen, making this a quick process. First thing Monday morning, turn them back on. A handful of work apps, including Microsoft Teams and Slack, allow you to schedule notifications. You’ll find this feature in the app’s settings.

Let’s walk through the process with Teams. Open Teams and tap your profile icon in the upper left corner. Tap “Notifications” and then “During quiet time.” On the next screen, you will see you can set quiet hours and quiet days, which will mute all Teams notifications on your device when toggled on. When on, you will be able to set daily start and end times for your quiet hours. Quiet days are set to Saturday and Sunday by default, but you can adjust the days by tapping the arrow and then selecting the no-notification days that fit your schedule. For ad hoc periods, set your status to “Away” or “Appear offline.”

Leslie Meredith has been writing about technology for more than a decade. As a mom of four, value, usefulness and online safety take priority. Have a question? Email Leslie at asklesliemeredith@gmail.com.

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