7 Ways to Maintain Your Mental Health while Working from Home
What’s changed?
We’re now living in an era where working from home is considered to be the new normal. Zoom calls in sweat pants, meetings from underneath the blanket, cuddling with your pet for five more minutes before starting work; it’s all valid, especially avoiding the small talk by the watercooler with your peers too). Like Leonardo De Vince once said: “While you are entirely alone, you are your own master.” It’s often hard to motivate ourselves in these odd times.
The pandemic has transformed the way our lives used to be. Along with many other alterations, the current situation has forced us to form and relish our small world inside four walls. If you’ve felt overwhelmed in adapting the new routine, it’s totally alright- you’re not alone!
While most major companies have decided to go remote due to safety concerns, it is important to consider the factors that play a role in changing our mental health. Many people are accustomed to the conventional working lifestyle and are acquainted with a myriad of social interactions at work, coffee stores, and their commute. For them, the shift from social life to remote working might cause different mental health problems and stressors.
Impacts of Working Remotely on Mental Health:
Isolation: Humans are by nature social animals. Our social interactions help us in achieving a sense of well being and belongingness. “Human beings are an ultra-social species — and our nervous systems expect to have others around us,” according to Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., Science Director of the Greater Good Science Center at The University of California, Berkeley. With the majority of people around the world working from home, we might experience a lack of socialization, leading to loneliness. According to a study by Buffer, 19% of the people work who work remotely, report for loneliness. Chronic loneliness can get risky and could be a temporary reality for many as they stay indoors.
Anxiety & Burnouts: Working from home might require you to put on many hats from time management, customer service to goal completion. This can result in mental wear-out. The constant need to stay on top of everything and complete everything on time to cope up can be frustrating. According to Dice Insights, some 66% of remote tech professionals say they’re fried, compared to 64% who go into an office daily. Also, a staggering 82% of stateside remote-working professionals report feeling burnt out and unmotivated. When asked why they felt that way, more than half of remote employees said they end up working longer hours.
Work from home anxiety can also make you feel stuck in the sense of stagnant career growth. This anxiety and depression can lead to sleep disturbance and a loss of interest in activities. Now that we know what can cause mental fatigue and how it might occur through minute symptoms, let’s talk about how can we overcome these problems. Because taking care of your mental health is as important as taking care of our physical health and nourishing the inner self.
7 Ways to Keep Your Mental Health In-check while Working from Home:
1. First things first, Upgrade your Home Office
Get a comfortable chair and desk for the long working hours, put on some mild music, keep your back straight, and start getting the work done. Try to keep this space in a peaceful place where you wouldn’t be disturbed. If possible try to get some sunlight at your workspace, and have this be separate to where you sleep or eat to mimic a productive environment.
2. Create a Schedule or a To-do List:
You need a routine and a specific goal set before you start working. This can help you in staying more organized and accomplishing your work faster. While working from home, it is easy to lose the track of time so it is important for you to stick to a schedule to get things done. This way, you can be done quickly and avoid long, stressful hours.
3. Make Time to Meditate:
Meditating and practicing mindfulness can be crucial to increase your span of focusing. Meditation can help you better handle negative feelings, anxiety, and emotions that exacerbate your stress. While there are many forms of meditation, the ultimate goal is a feeling of relaxation and inner peace, which can improve mental health. Find out more benefits of meditation in this blog. You can also schedule live meditation sessions for you and team.
4. Call other People or Work Around Other People:
Simply talking to other humans can make you feel lighter and happier, share your thoughts, and talk about your problems. It is also important to maintain co-worker and manager relations, try communicating with them, reach out to them offer/provide any help needed. Revelry, a web development firm, has also started a watercooler channel to promote break-time conversations amongst employees.
5. Find a Hobby that promotes Self-care:
Devote some time of your day to self-care activities or things that you truly enjoy doing. It can be anything that makes you feel lighter and happier, taking your mind off responsibilities for a few hours. It could be spending time with your family, painting, listening to music, working on a side project, learning a new skill, or more. Have something to look forward to!
6. Mimic a Day in the Office:
According to Harvard Biologist Christoph Randler, morning people tend to be more proactive. Try accomplishing your most important work in the morning as you are at your highest energy level after a good sleep. Setting aside time in the morning for work that requires more attention will leave room for other activities that can be done during the day.
7. Get moving!
Regular walking can be beneficial for your mood and also has a lot of physical benefits. Exercising for even thirty mins can significantly help your body in fighting anxiety. So move your body, dance, stretch, or go for a short walk. You could also try some at-home workouts that can help you stay active.
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Davis, Nicole. “The Ultimate Home Workout for Each Fitness Level.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 24 Sept. 2019, www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/at-home-workouts.
DiGiulio, Sarah. “In Good Company: Why We Need Other People to Be Happy.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 9 Jan. 2018, www.nbcnews.com/better/health/good-company-why-we-need-other-people-be-happy-ncna836106.
“Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas: Profile.” Greater Good, greatergood.berkeley.edu/profile/emiliana_simon_thomas.
Randler, Christoph. “Proactive People Are Morning People1.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 9 Dec. 2009, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00549.x.
“State of Remote Work 2019.” Buffer, buffer.com/state-of-remote-work-2019.