8 Hacks to Make Working From Home and Mental Health Go Hand-In-Hand
WE’VE BEEN WORKING FROM HOME FOREVER. IF YOU’RE NEW TO IT, HERE’S WHAT WORKS BEST FOR US.
If you’re working from home for the foreseeable future, you’ve probably had a few weeks to really familiarize yourself with what that actually looks like. Maybe you’re celebrating the fact that you don’t have to get out of your sweatpants in the morning, or maybe you’re worried about productivity and finding it hard to get off the couch and get anything done. Either way, there are a lot of struggles that come up when you work from home that can easily weigh on your mental health.
The IDONTMIND team has all been working from home since we started. It was definitely an adjustment from office life, and it took some trial-and-error for us to get used to it. But the good news is, we now consider ourselves experts. So here we are, sharing all of the things we learned (the hard way) so that you can ease into your work from home routine in the best way possible (the easy way). All while being kind to your mind.
1.Take a shower and get dressed
Okay, don’t roll your eyes at this one. The beauty of working from home is that you never have to change out of your comfy clothes. But taking regular showers and getting dressed in a new outfit — yes it can be from one pair of sweatpants to another — feels like you’re really starting the day. Otherwise, it just permanently feels like the weekend.
2. Have a designated workspace
We know this one is definitely a luxury, depending on where you live. Right now, if you have other family members or roommates in your home, having a full space dedicated to work can be tough. Even if it’s just a corner in your room where you can sit up straight or a makeshift desk out of an Amazon box, just have a place to work — outside of your bed.
3. Get up and move around
If you think of what a day at work looks like outside of Coronavirus, you probably move away from your desk every now and then. The same goes for working from home. Set yourself up so that you have to get up and move your body every now and then: play a record so that you have to get up and flip it over, boil some water for tea that you can go back to after a few minutes, or set your phone in another room so you have to get up when you need it.
4. Avoid the TV
Let’s say you have 15-minutes left in an episode of Tiger King or The Office that you decide to finish at the start of your workday. And before you know it, you’ve watched the entire season. We definitely believed in the beginning that multitasking is an option with work and TV, but we’re here to tell you IT’S NOT.
5. Make a routine
Open your calendar and set specific hours for yourself — when you’ll start working, what time your lunch break is — and try to stick to it. It can be helpful to make rules for yourself to simulate being at your place of work so that you can be productive and not get distracted, like turning your phone on silent or shutting the door to your workspace (literally or figuratively). Having boundaries can help you do your best work. But it’s equally important to allow a little flexibility to your day, just as you would have if you were actually in the office. You can’t plan everything!
6. Take a lunch break
One of the most important things we’ve learned from working at home is the importance of actually taking a lunch break. You better believe we’ve eaten a whole lot of lunches bent over a laptop, but you have to take some time for yourself — even if no one’s there to remind you. Lunch is the perfect mid-day break that we’ve all earned and all need to embrace.
7. End your workday
Something about working from home makes it feel like work never ends. But you have to find a way to “clock out” at the end of each day. Consciously close your laptop, log out of your work email, whatever it is. Once you’ve worked your full day, walk away. You still have tomorrow to come back to it.
8. Be patient and check-in
Now, this is one specific to our current situation, and what we’re all facing with Coronavirus. Even as seasoned work-from-homers, we’re struggling to work at our normal capacity — and that’s ok. We’re all facing new challenges and new anxieties, and focusing on work is tough. Just checking-in with your coworkers and talking through your struggles will help a lot. But if you need to take a mental health day to just feel what you’re feeling, know that’s ok. Just be patient with yourself and your new situation.