Working from home is the new normal for many people. In our efforts to make sure we all have suitable equipment to maintain a healthy desk posture and that we can all perform our job roles successfully from home, one area that often gets neglected is our mental health.
There are plenty of reasons why you might feel stressed right now- from worrying about finances and health to getting frustrated over an IT issue. Add to that the general loneliness and anxieties of being stuck at home and it’s easy to see why mental health might suffer.
We’ve put together this guide to help you look after your mental health when you’re working from home.
Workspace
Not everyone has the room to facilitate a home office, which means living space is doubling up as a working space. If this is you, it’s important to switch off your laptop at the end of the day and ideally remove work equipment and paperwork from sight to allow your mind to switch off from work too.
Keeping your body healthy can also help your mental health, so it’s important to know how to sit at your desk properly and how to maintain a good posture for home working.
Create a routine
Some people find it hard to switch off from work but equally, you might also be struggling to focus if you’re working at home. If you feel that your motivation levels just aren’t the same without your colleagues around you and the usual hustle and bustle of being in the office, it can help to establish a routine.
Creating a morning routine for yourself in the much same way as you would when you were going in to work every day can make a huge difference to your mental preparedness. Your routine doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s but it could be anything from getting up early and going for a run, treating yourself to a morning coffee or even just ditching the pyjamas and getting dressed for the day. Why not try mindfulness to kickstart your morning? Headspace has some great resources to get you started.
Exercise
We get it, going for a run might not be your thing. But chances are, physical exercise was a lot easier and higher on your priority list when you were commuting to the office every day. Stopping off at the gym on the way home is more appealing and requires less motivation than setting up the home gym equipment. That means it’s easy to neglect the physical exercise your body needs, and your mental health can suffer as a result. If you’re struggling to get off the sofa at the end of a long day working from home, try starting small. Take a short walk on your lunch break or roll out the yoga mat if that’s more your thing.
Conversations
When was the last time you had a Zoom call with a colleague that wasn’t about work? The tendency when we’re working from home is to focus all our efforts on getting the job done, and we miss out on the day to day conversations that would normally happen in an office environment. Just like it’s important to take regular breaks, taking time to catch up with your team can help if you’re feeling lonely or anxious about home working.
Debrief
Everyone has bad days. When you’re working from home, it can be harder to let go of a stressful day as you don’t have the usual commute time to destress and reflect on what happened. If this is a problem for you, try to make sure that you’re giving yourself some time to wind down after you close your laptop before you get on with the next household task.
Morley Chiropractic Clinic has over 20 years of experience treating people for various issues and we offer a range of services from our clinic in Leeds. Get in touch with us or book your appointment online.
