Amelia Elkins, LCSW, CAS
“We are not working from home. We are working with home” -Esther Perel
Why is Working From Home Taking a Toll?
With all the changes over the past two years, working remotely has become much more popular. There are so many advantages to working from home including the flexibility to travel, attend appointments, and take care of household items. Even the stress of a daily commute is eliminated. However, with these benefits comes unexpected setbacks. Just to name a few: not being able to separate from work, working more than you would in an office, and feeling isolated. And we know what feeling isolated from others can lead to–depression. I recently had a client disclose that she feels she gets the most support and connection out of her day from going to a workout class. Not from her work colleagues, with whom she spends most of her day. Just as we value relationships with the people in our life, our work relationship should be given the same attention.
How to Cope if Working From Home is Negatively Impacting Your Mental Health
If you feel that working from home these last few years has been taking a toll on you, here are some tips to improve your relationship with work:
- Create Separation. This seems to be one of the most helpful tools for folks working from home.
- Having a separate space. Even if it’s a tiny desk in front of a window where you’re able to work daily; this can help the ritual of easing in and out of work to feel more manageable.
- Easing into your day by having a warm beverage and closing the day by shutting down your laptop or even cleaning your space can feel like a “mini commute.”
- While it can be tempting to work in pajamas from the couch, getting somewhat ready or cleaned up in the mornings followed by working at the same space can help reduce stress and create distance between home and work.
- More on this here: https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/5-remote-work-practices-for-better-work-life-balance.html.
- Take Breaks. Research states taking breaks every 60-90 minutes is beneficial for productivity (https://medium.com/mind-cafe/the-science-of-taking-breaks-at-work-to-help-boost-your-productivity-ec3e1f47c818).
- Scheduling in a ten-minute break to walk around the block, 30 minutes for lunch outside, or even five minutes for stretching is important and necessary.
- Previously, a lot of folks would engage in small talk or go find a snack in the office but working from home can make it easy to work more because there aren’t other coworkers around.
- Being intentional about breaks is necessary for reduced stress, higher energy levels, and level of focus.
- Increase Communication. What is and isn’t working for you while working remotely?
- Depending on if you work for a large company or just have one other co-worker, check in with each other.
- Here are some important questions to ask:
- How can we support each other working remotely?
- Can we create in person meetups to increase connection?
- What incentives were provided in office that could be switched remotely?
- Interested in learning more tools for communication at work? Check out these tips: https://zenkit.com/en/blog/workplace-communication-tips-and-tools-for-good-communication/.