Working from home?
It's been a strange and uncertain time and life has changed for most of us in profound ways. The disruptions that we have faced have touched all areas of life including work.
It's been a strange and uncertain time all around the world recently as we deal with COVID-19, and life has changed for most of us in profound ways. The disruptions that we have faced have touched all areas of life from shopping and entertainment, to childcare and work. Because we know that all types of transitions are difficult even in the most mundane circumstances, it stands to reason that many of us will struggle with the major changes we have had to endure during this period. So, where can you look for advice and information?
In your journey to find answers on how to best manage new pressures from work or family, feelings of isolation or loneliness, or even health issues you may have come across the huge and growing number of online guides for self-care when working from home during quarantine. But are these actually helpful as well as evidence-based, and do they offer good wellness information? Do we really need 6, 10, or 101 tips to keep us happy and healthy at home?
I took a look at a range of self-care information that is freely available online, and what I found is that when you boil down the key points there are two core things being said (1) keep a regular schedule, and (2) remain connected with others. All of the other tips can be subsumed by these higher order issues, and the truth is that both of them are important. But, you need to view these with your own personal circumstances in mind rather than treating them as fixed things for you to do. So how do you do that?
Firstly, what does it mean to keep a regular schedule? In many ways this means adjusting to the new normal that you now face and figuring out how you can work effectively in it. Keeping to a schedule helps you feel more in control, which has important productively and mental health benefits. But this doesn’t mean that you have to do things like you used to; maybe you previous woke up at 7am, were at work by 9am, and clocked out at 5pm. Without this enforced routine, you may have to carve up time during the days and weeks differently. So plan the week ahead working in blocks of time around your other commitments, and breaking these blocks down daily into priority areas of work. In times of uncertainty, planning for flexibility is the most helpful thing you can do for yourself.
Secondly, remaining connected is key as social isolation has been found to have profound negative impacts on mental health. But it is very important to recognise that not all people need the same amount of connection, and quantity of connection is not the same as quality. So, if you find yourself participating in more and more workplace virtual catchups that are taking your time away from other things that you need to do, or offline personal life (downtime with partners, children, family, and pets), this can be to your detriment. The key here is to aim for comfortable, quality types of connection that help you achieve a balance and allow you to bounce ideas and opinions off of others. The process of externalising thoughts and feelings at work is incredibly helpful for problem solving, working efficiency, and increasing performance, but this can easily be overlooked as it is common-place in face to face interactions, but needs to be explicit in online interactions.
It’s important to remember that this is a unique and potentially stressful time that we are all facing, so don’t get overloaded with information and try to stick to the basics. On that note, I will leave you with a final thought on how to best do self-care during quarantine, although these also apply at any time during your life. Aim for balance and flexibility.
- Jaimee