Tips to Tackle Working From Home; A checklist to support your Mental Health

The lingering impact of pandemic-related restrictions and concurrent economic deterioration has made working from home a usual ritual for many of us. It has created tons of mental health concerns of different grades. All in all, we’re aware of the obvious ways remote work stresses us out. However, it engenders some of the psychological impacts which retain blurry.

Some scholars have revealed that working from home (WFH) has an increasingly pervasive effect on our mental health – 41.6% of respondents reported that their mental health declined since they started working from home.

Is working from home bad for mental health?  Not as such.

But unmanaged minor stressors can compound into more significant, long-term effects that injurious to your mental health. If you can practice some simple tips, you’ll be able to overcome the stresses and prevent negative impacts of remote working – achieve a better work-life balance and boost your overall mental health. Are you ready to take the tour, it’s just three minutes read!

#1 – Avoid rinse-and-repeat lifestyle

When you live and work from the same space, your life gets bored and blend together in a rinse-and-repeat fashion. Get up, observe some music of nature, prepare a simple snack, come back to work, and finish some, get up, enjoy a light music, relish the favorite hobby, and again start on work.

You must be aware that everyday same work with continuous monotony is enough to get anyone down, not to mention, wreak havoc on your productivity.

Engraving a range of enjoyable habits you ponder while working from the same space, you will create a more gratifying flow to your day, boost your mood, as well as free up time. Here are a few simple life hacks to get you started:

Physical Exercise: Don’t neglect the fact that physical health plays in mental wellness. It’s vital to move your body throughout the day. Simply try eight shaped walking for 10 minutes or practice some breathing techniques; it calms down your mind and relieves stress.

Zoning Your Home: Clearly differentiate between your work and home spaces. When you’re in the work zone, it tells your brain to be in productive mode, versus being in your living space will signal your brain to release stress and relax.

Time Blocking and Tracking: When It’s easy to feel like you’re not getting enough done when you are on Working from home. This will lead to self-worth issues. Time blocking and time tracking help break up your workday into manageable chunks give you a visual representation of how much you’ve accomplished. This tip may help you with work-life balance; so you don’t put in too many or few hours.

#2 – Make room for mini–B R E A K S

It’s essential to give a chance to refocus on your work.

For you and me, it can be challenging to separate work and life. True! the biggest issue remote workers face is the “struggle to unplug”. Remote workers are experiencing higher levels of burnouts leading to abundant health issues.

The answer lies within b r e a k s.

There are many reasons that why employees are not taking breaks; Disproportionate workload, Not understanding the positive effects a break can offer, feeling guilty about taking a break when others are not.

But it’s essential to have breaks; it boosts creativity, increase productivity, enhance engagement, reduce stress, decrease the chance of burnout —importantly lessen desk injuries, body aches, and pains.

If your body says that it needs a break, its high time to take one!

A recent scientific study confirmed this comparing two groups of students – One group took breaks and another who didn’t. When all of them were asked to complete an attention-based task, the break group far outstripped the non-break group.

To be your most productive self, take consistent breaks throughout the workday. Regular detaching from your overloaded workload—and the stress that goes along with it. This helps you stay motivated and improves productivity.

#3 –WFH is not a game

When Working From Home becomes a constant game of “Why can’t I be better or do more?” it’s time for a mindset shift.

When inner-you make some voice to holds you to an impossible standard, it causes far more stress than you perceive. You must realize it’s high time to stop beating yourself over the length of your to-do list.

For many people working from home has caused their mental health dived deep throughout the time. To combat this alarming trend, we need to give ourselves grace.

Remember that just because you have access to work constantly doesn’t mean that you have to work constantly. You can’t compare your effectiveness to pre-pandemic levels or pre- economic recession levels with the current life struggles.

It’s a different ball game now; the remote environment allows for certain flexibility but also causes other types of issues. You likely have less positive feedback than you would in-office. There are no chances for water-cooler conversations or supervisors popping by your desk for quick congrats.

This all means, you need to be your own advocate. Be open and realize you do not have to be perfect.

At the end of the workday, simply focus on what you accomplished, not what you didn’t. Celebrate your own tiny victories—”Tiny” I repeat; even the small things matter! Try to stop guilting yourself— this will trail you to a greater satisfaction.

#4 – Focus on Facts not on Fiction

Sometimes Working From Home regularly may cause mental illnesses that must be treated through a psychiatrist. This harmful type of thinking is a serious problem for individuals’ mental health and researchers have noticed that this is specifically common among women.

Imposter syndrome in the workplace ­— not feeling deserving of your role or responsibilities. For example, you may feel like a fraud and that you’ll be “found out.”

In an isolated WFH settings, imposter syndrome can run rife due to lack of in-person communication and reassurance from colleagues and managers.

Facts versus Fiction — you need to have a crystal-clear idea on what is real and what is self-imaginative to prevent imposter syndrome. For example, just because you feel like you’re not good enough doesn’t mean that’s the case. Additionally, getting caught up on social media highlight reels (even on professional platforms like LinkedIn) can make you feel like everyone’s thriving while you’re failing.

To combat imposter syndrome; you must stop any type of comparison — either between your co-workers or others in similar roles. Make sure your life cherishes on what you have achieved so far: be proud on your qualifications and past experiences.

Seek out positive reinforcement on your projects and contributions. When you finish a task, instead of simply submitting it, ask the manager for candid feedback; even “Thank You, will refer and get back to you” may matters.

Important fact is to avoid correlating mistakes with failure. See them as learning opportunities.

Your healthy attitude towards work will go a long way to defeat imposter syndrome. You must feel more fulfilled in your job and take better care of your wellbeing; both mentally, physically.

#5 – Streamline your Information intake

While it is wise to stay informed about the latest news updates, it’s also important to protect yourself from the bombardment of information — and misinformation. This misinformation will make you more stressed and depressed.

You can protect your mental health by reading relevant news from a few trusted sources; better to ditch and ignore all others. Going through the constant stream of negative news from all over the time damages your mental health — this elevates anxiety and stress, affect your outlook and work performance.

One of the most proactive ways to overcome this is staying connected to the workmates who are also working from home. Through group chats, videoconferences, and one-on-one phone conversations, you can check in on co-workers and enjoy remote working without being tired.

If you feel you really want to stay informed; simple tip is to, just think that what is happening around is beyond your control or you can instead replace checking the news with a positive mindset and force your mind to stay controlled with its negative feelings. This will help you in controlling your information intake.

Final Thought

Lastly, understand that any type of change takes time.

Just as the causes of mental health decline can be subtle and happen slowly, even improving your wellness doesn’t happen overnight.

There isn’t a single solution, but many small actions may build better habits for improved remote working experience. Fix your daily workflow and practice to match your lifestyle and stay the course. Prioritize your mental health and keep chipping away the negativity. When you’re aware of the cause, it’s much easier to address and fix the issues impacting your happiness in the remote role.

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