The coronavirus outbreak has affected the daily life and routine of people around the world including our work habits and work environment. Due to the lockdown that has been implemented in most countries, companies resulted in a “Work from Home” concept.
Government facilities in Canada and most companies, no matter the size, have implemented a work from home setting while in a lockdown. Companies that have an option for remote working are also highly favored by most people to secure the safety of their entire family.
Since work has been brought home, a lot of employees have been experiencing mental stress due to the shift of how normal work life would look and feel like. Most people find it difficult to find the motivation to work while in a home setting and resting brings guilt as work is only a few steps away from your haven which is your bed.
Mental stress in this situation also brings anxiety and depression to the workers since social interactions have become difficult.
Here are some tips to reduce mental stress in a work from home setting:
- Find and set up your workspace
Having a designated workspace helps your mind identify between your resting place and working place. Setting up your work essentials will also set up your mind to do work more.
Avoid doing your work in your bed or room to help in putting boundaries between your work life and family life.
Putting your desk beside a window where bright light and a view of nature can be seen can also help in easing your mind.
- Exercise
Since work is at home, walking and exercising are minimized. Make it a habit to have a daily walk around your house. You can bring along your dog to accompany you while going around. Daily walks help renew your mind and take you away from the screen or computer. It is also advised to have a break every 20 minutes of screen time to prevent eye strain. During this break, you can stretch and perform some walking movements to prevent becoming sore while working at your desk all day.
Jogging and exercising can also help your mental health and will relieve you from stress from work. There are a lot of fitness applications available to help you in pursuing a healthy lifestyle.
Some gyms have already begun opening to cater to people while maintaining social distancing.
- Have a daily meeting through video calls with your workmates
Checking up on your daily tasks and work will help your whole team through this remote work. Unlike being in the office, remote work affects communication between your workmates. You would not be able to see who is working, who is busy, or who has free time to help you in your work. That’s why open communication is vital in this situation. Workmates should put an extra effort into communicating with one another. Setting up daily tasks that can be seen and known to everyone will help in being updated to each one’s work. There are also a lot of applications that can be used to help workmates check and setup tasks for one another.
Talking to your work friends through video calls or texts just like what you normally do in the office will help you get through the stress. It is also important to check-up and to catch up on how each one is doing mentally, emotionally, and physically.
- Use the right equipment needed to fulfill your work
Some work requires specific equipment and technology to complete their work. Requesting proper tools and programs from your company will help in setting up your workspace.
From an internet connection to a quality computer to specific software are some of the essentials that the company needs to be provided for its employees to maintain the quality of work.
- Set up rules and timeline
If you have kids, it will be difficult to continue working while there is a constant need for you. Setting up time for work and talking to your kids and spouse about it will help you set boundaries between work time and family time.
Putting up signs at your office door or desk that you are working with also helps other people in your household to identify when you are working or not.Work from home has been difficult for many. But there are still a lot of ways to be productive and have a healthy mindset while working from home. If you are having difficultly with mental stress about your work life, fine an online doctor BC or any licensed physician in Canada. Consult your doctor when stress becomes unbearable. It is important to maintain your mental health at this time as a lot of troubling things are happening around the world.
