Work from is the new normal. Interestingly, remote work has been becoming a trend for the last few years. Many full-time employees especially women wanted to work from home for a part of their career benefits for several reasons. While a good percentage of employees wanted to continue as remote workers for the rest of their careers. However, when COVID19 forced most of the people to work from home it raised a big question – is working from home affecting employees’ mental health badly? Every other day you may have observed articles on mental health disorders like stress due to work from home enforced by COVID19.
So, keeping aside the COVID19 scenario, in this blog, we will assess what are the effects of work from home culture on an employee and how to maintain mental health while working from home.
Related post – Why a consistent sleep schedule is important?
What are the psychological challenges that you can suffer while working from home?
Apparently looking easier, work from home jobs is challenging. It can challenge your mental health because at home in most cases you are not 100% dedicated to your work. You are attached to other household responsibilities too which can make you distracted easily. As a result, a normally productive and optimistic worker can become demotivated and overburdened easily. He turns into a tired and irritable toad. To avoid such extreme mental conditions, spot the signs of your declining mental health so you can take proper action. So, what are those signs and symptoms?
- Feeling lonely and isolated
This especially happens with the people who live alone. When you have the scope to work at office you usually chat with co-workers, takes short breaks with them, shares ideas in problem as and when required. Overall you felt socially attached. But at home, there is no such scope. Though for the sake of remotely working software now you can easily chat with others that also have some restrictions. Furthermore, most of the time you are confined at home. So, this feeling of dysconnectivity from the rest of the world gives a sense of isolation and loneliness which is associate with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and sometimes different body pains.
- Mental stress and pressure that invites depression
Working from home is not a 9 to 5 job in most cases. Hence, there is a high possibility of getting squeezed by work at any time of the day. This type of feeling over pressured always create anxiety and stress for the employees. It’s like the boundary between work and home gets blurred for the people who work at the same place they sleep. At the same time, being at home asks you for some additional commitments. So, efficient time management becomes crucial for you. You need to switch between many hats in a single day.
As a result, in some cases many people become depressed and many symptoms are seen as a side effects like:
- Irritability, angry outbursts, or frustration over small matters
- Either insomnia or sleeping too much
- Increased cravings for food
- Lack of sex drive or hobbies
- Tiredness and lack of energy
- Anxiety, restlessnessand agitation
- Lack of concentration
- Bodily pain like headache, back ache
- Introverts
So, what are the possible remedies?
How to manage your mental health while working from home?
Any mental problem has its own solution. Not everybody of us is in the same condition or surroundings; hence, the same solution may not be applicable for all. However, here are some of the productive ways which you can try out to maintain your mental health while working from home.
- Create a routine
If you want to work from home peacefully and productively, then the first thing you have to do is to be extremely disciplined. You must have to remember that when you are at home and if you have a younger and elder person at home you may have a loss of predictability. There may be circumstances that may be beyond your control. So, routinize your day first. Make a wake-up schedule and maintain your work time like normal office hours and moreover strictly. Get yourself dressed up, take food on time. But don’t get too rigid to yourself. Take breaks in-between like you used to do at the office.
This kind of routine will make you much relaxed and help you to manage your time efficiently.
- Set your home office wisely
For some office environment matters a lot as a motivation. And if you are someone working at home for long for them also having a dedicated workspace is essential to be productive. So, first set up a workspace, design it as per your need, buy an ergonomic chair to support your back, get a wireless mouse and keyboard to enjoy teether free work life. And most importantly have a high-speed internet connection to do uninterrupted work online. As you may need continuous or occasional communication over the internet buy a headphone and good webcam option either on phone or laptop/desktop.
- Keep your joints moving
Don’t always sit and work. This will push you towards a sedentary lifestyle. Get up in-between and move around. Do some free-hand movement while sitting or moving. Blink your eyes in regular intervals to avoid dry eye problems. A short break during work also makes you productive and gives your brain some fresh oxygen to think wisely and avoiding hangovers.
- Keep your energy level high
Even if you are not doing hard physical activity, your brain activity also burns calories. If you become tired it will create irritability. So, always have some nutritious snacks hands-in. Much while you are hungry. Take a tea/coffee break at regular intervals. Always have a water bottle at your table and drink plenty of water. When your body gets proper calories, it keeps your energy level high and makes you productive.
- Start saying NO
While working from home there is a chance that in few cases people get exploited by employers. They force them to work more than stipulated hours. If you see this has become a regular routine start saying NO. Don’t allow this to be habitual. Otherwise, you will lose all motivation for your work.
Final Verdict:
We should remember that everything has its flip sides. Working from home has many benefits like you can control your day, spend more time with family members, can avoid the daily hassle of commuting to the office, and many more. Also, we have discussed the negative sides of it and possible solutions. If you still find working from home problematic for you take the help of friends and family or a psychology counselor to find the best possible solution for you.