Maintaining your wellbeing whilst working from home

We’ve been working from home for over three months now and whether you’re loving or loathing it, there’s a fair chance you might’ve developed some unhealthy habits during this time. 

This is natural and not something to beat yourself up about. However, because we’ve been in this routine for a while, perhaps now’s a good time to review and assess the ways in which we’ve managed our wellbeing thus far. There’s always scope to make positive changes and there’s no time like the present! 

Here are some helpful reminders of ways to make your working from home experience better: 

Looking after your physical wellbeing 

Taking time to look after your physical health is important at the moment, and can have a significant positive impact on your overall wellbeing. 

• Stick to normal mealtimes and watch your diet; keep a supply of healthy snacks, and moderate your caffeine and alcohol intake.   

• Drink lots of water throughout the day as well, as dehydration can impact on your concentration and mood.   

• Spend short periods outdoors, and add some physical activity into your daily routine.   

• Take the opportunity to cut down on smoking and watch out for increased smoking due to boredom or lack of constraints.   

Try some desk yoga 

Managing your stress and time 

It’s important to be disciplined about time management when working from home. It can be hard to switch off and relax at the end of the day due to the lack of physical distancing from the work environment. Therefore, sticking to a structure can help improve your overall sense of accomplishment and stress levels. 

• Establish a clear morning routine.  

• Be clear about your working hours, communicate these with those you live with, and stick to them.   

• You could set boundaries with work colleagues, for explaining you will not respond to emails after 5:30pm.  

• Avoid working late or at the weekends, and limit e-mail checking outside of your working day, so that you have some designated time to “switch off”.  

• Schedule regular breaks. Taking regular breaks will help maintain your focus and increase your productivity.   

• If you have children in the home, set rules about when they can disturb you, or set up a quiet work space for them in the same room.   

• Don’t forget to book in time for a relaxing activity at the end of each day. 

Read some time management tips from the NHS. 

Creating your designated workspace 

Creating a defined work station can help maintain boundaries and create a separation between work and leisure space. 

• Avoid working in the bedroom, as this can impact on quality of sleep.   

• If possible, work at a designated desk, and sit on the most supportive chair you have access to, in order to minimise the risk of back pain or other problems.   

• Choose an area with natural light, away from distractions, with a view of outdoor space or greenery if you can.   

• Ideally use a desktop monitor, a mouse and a keyboard, but a quick-fix is to raise the height of a laptop to eye level using a stand or even a pile of books.  

• Clear away your work things at the end of the day so they are out of sight, to signal work time has ended. 

View more home office ideas on Pinterest if you’re feeling adventurous. 

Working as a team 

It is common to feel isolated when working from home, but this can be improved by maintaining good communication with your whole team.   

• Don’t be afraid to reach out to your team to ask for help when you need it, as you normally would in an office.  

• Check in with colleagues who you think may need extra support, for example if they have pre-existing health conditions, you see a decline in their mental wellbeing, they live alone or are self-isolating.   

• Create space for the team to socialise, such as using time at the start or end of a virtual meeting to have informal catch-ups. Additionally you could organise a virtual team lunch or hold virtual social events outside of work hours.   

Mind have put together some handy tips on supporting your team and colleagues during this time. 

Staying focused 

One of the biggest challenges when working from home is to remain focused, as there are often distractions around, and there are no colleagues to check up on you!  

• Write a daily to-do list and share deadlines with a supervisor.

• Keep your phone away from your workstation, keep activities such as checking the news to break time, or use a website blocker to avoid social media.   

• Consider assigning time for chores, either before or after the work day. 

How to make a good to do list.