How Employees Can Manage Their Mental Health While Working Remote
When COVID-19 was first declared a pandemic in March 2020, it quickly changed many aspects of our day-to-day lives. Employees who used to go to a physical office five days a week have now spent 12+ months working from home—all the while worrying about the future and unable to socialize in the ways we did before.
Even with the hope that normalcy may be returning soon, the pandemic has taken a toll on all of us, especially in regard to our mental health. Fortunately, there are steps that employees can take to help look after and improve their mental health while working from home.
Acknowledge that it’s OK to still be struggling
In many ways, the pandemic might not feel as scary as it used to. We know a lot more about the virus than we did a year ago—the symptoms, how it spreads, the steps we can take to keep ourselves healthy. With vaccines rolling out and new case numbers dropping in many parts of the world, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
But know that it is perfectly normal for the pandemic to still be negatively affecting your mental health. While some aspects of the pandemic are starting to look up, the effects it has had on us over the course of the past year are far-reaching. A survey completed by the National Center for Health Statistics estimates that one in three Americans regularly experience symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorders, as of February 2021. Psychologists have also reported an increase of patients seeking treatment for anxiety, depression, and trauma- and stress-related disorders since the start of the pandemic.
After a year of living and working through a pandemic, now is a great time to check in with yourself and take stock of your mental health. In what areas are you struggling, and what can you do to ensure that you are taking care of yourself?
For many of us, solutions may be found in adjusting our routines, focusing on work-life balance, and having a support system in place where we can turn for help.
Switch up your routine
Chances are you are more than used to working from home by now. Working conditions that felt strange at the beginning of the pandemic—like waking up and simply walking down the hall to your home office—have become commonplace. But if you’re having trouble staying focused and motivated throughout the day, it may be time to start switching things up.
Remember to take breaks
One way to prevent yourself from becoming stressed and worn out over the course of the day is to take breaks throughout the day.
Oftentimes, taking a short break from the workday might look like grabbing your phone and scrolling on social media for a few minutes for a hit of dopamine. But spending too much time on social media can lead to negative mental health effects. While you might think that staying on top of the latest news will make you feel better, excessive consumption of news and social media posts related to COVID-19 can actually increase feelings of fear, anxiety and stress.
Instead, take advantage of the breaks in your day and use them to focus on something completely unrelated to the news:
- Get up from your desk and go sit outside for a few minutes
- Read or play a mobile game
- Go downstairs and make yourself a snack
However you choose to fill your time, these short breaks will help keep you engaged and take your mind off pandemic-related worries.
Stay active
Exercise is not only a great way to keep yourself in shape while hunkering down at home—it’s also a useful tool for managing your mental health. The chemicals your brain releases during physical activity can improve your mood and help you cope with feelings of stress. As such, exercise is often recommended to individuals with anxiety and depression disorders as a way to elevate mood and offer relief from symptoms.
Even short workouts can help relieve stress, so try to pencil in some time for exercise each week. There’s no need to push yourself here, so start off slow and increase the frequency of your workouts over time. You don’t need a gym membership, either. There are a multitude of free at-home workout videos online, or you can partake in a socially-distanced outdoor activity like walking and hiking.
As an added benefit, the sense of accomplishment you’ll gain by simply creating and sticking to an exercise routine can also have a positive effect on your mood.
Make time for self-care
It’s possible that some self-care habits you picked up earlier in quarantine have fallen to the wayside by now, but it’s never too late to start fresh.
If you’re struggling with your mental health, taking some time to yourself everyday can make a huge difference. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy—it can be as simple as taking ten minutes to meditate or do yoga before bed. Others may find comfort in indulging a creative outlet, like journaling, writing or creating art.
The goal here is not to master whatever activity you use as self-care—it’s just to make sure you are taking time out of your day to focus on something that brings you happiness and distracts you from sources of stress and anxiety.
Focus on work-life balance
According to a survey completed by FlexJobs, roughly 40% of employees have experienced burnout during the pandemic. In addition, respondents reported working longer hours since the pandemic started and having increased mental health struggles.
For many employees, maintaining a healthy work-life balance while working from home is a difficult task. It’s easy to let your work bleed into personal time, with little separation between the two.
Over time, this can lead to increased feelings of stress, negatively affecting your productivity and your overall wellness.
Set boundaries
Without a daily commute to help you ease in and out of the workday, you may end up feeling like you’re never able to truly unwind and “check-out” from work. To help combat this, consider setting up rules for yourself regarding when to start work, when to take breaks, and when to sign off for the day.
For example, instead of waking up and immediately checking your work email, you can set a “start” time for yourself. Don’t allow yourself to check your email or do any work until 30 minutes after you’ve woken up. That gives you time to relax, eat breakfast, and get ready for the day before jumping into work.
It also may be helpful to set physical boundaries, if possible. During the week, try to only use your desk for work—that way, when the day is over, you can leave the room, physically separating your work hours from personal time.
Turn off or reduce notifications
When working from home, you may feel an increased need to respond quickly to work communications, since communication with coworkers is done through chat instead of simply popping over to someone’s desk to ask a question. While being open and available is usually a good thing, it can become a problem when you feel the need to respond to work messages after working hours.
Adjusting the notification settings on your phone can help you achieve a better work-life balance and reduce the risk of burnout. Depending on the nature of your work, you may not be able to turn off all work notifications. One compromise may be turning off email notifications, since emails are usually not as time sensitive as chat messages.
When you’re taking a day off of work due to PTO or a holiday, make it clear to your coworkers that you are unavailable for the day unless an emergency comes up. This will reduce the likelihood that you’ll get pulled back into work during your time off.
Know where to get help
While implementing new routines and keeping yourself from getting overworked might help reduce levels of stress and anxiety for employees, it’s important to know where to turn to for additional help. This includes professional services like counseling as well as leveraging resources that may exist within your organization.
Explore therapy options
Telehealth has taken off since the start of the pandemic, and there are numerous virtual counseling and therapy services to pick from if you want to talk to a professional about your mental health challenges. Even after the pandemic is over, virtual therapy services are expected to remain popular. They are simply more accessible and often less expensive than traditional services.
If you’re interested in teletherapy, here are some organizations to consider:
Open up to your manager
If your mental health is getting in the way of your performance at work, don’t be afraid to tell your manager about what you’re going through. While you definitely don’t need to share more details than you’re comfortable with, being honest and open with your manager can go a long way. They may be able to work with you on adjusting deadlines and finding a more flexible working schedule, which can help reduce stress.
In addition, your manager can help put you in touch with HR, who may be able to recommend mental health and counseling services that are covered by the company’s benefits and insurance plans.
At Investis Digital, we are committed to the wellbeing of our employees and pride ourselves on offering flexible working schedules that promote a healthy work-life balance. These are just some suggestions that may help remote employees care for their mental health during the ongoing pandemic. If you’d like to share additional recommendations with us, feel free to get in touch.