How To Maintain Your Wellbeing While Working From Home
Working from home has become the new norm in today's digital age. In fact, a community survey reveals that 19% of individuals work from home in metro areas. This is because of benefits like flexible hours, heightened productivity, and reduced work-related expenses. But while WFH has its many perks, it can still be a taxing setup. For many workers, the lines between professional and personal blur, which can cause burnout. Over time, this can result in decreased performance and an overall lack of motivation. This also affects physical and emotional health, as mental exhaustion can impact your lifestyle if not handled as soon as the signs show up. Fortunately, there are ways to prioritize and maintain your well-being, no matter your WFH setup.
Take Care of Your Mental Health
Because of the remote nature of working from home, many workers observe that their mental health suffers. For instance, a report on the psychological challenges of remote workers found that 23% feel lonely. Over time, this can result in a drop in engagement as workers feel isolated and bored. In their personal lives, this loneliness can also manifest as social withdrawal. With this in mind, care for your mental health by taking the necessary steps to right your course.
You can start by talking to your family about how you feel. Alternatively, message your co-workers and open up if you can. Be assured that your family and friends can encourage you to focus on positive thoughts and inclinations. As an exercise, try reminding yourself daily of things to be grateful for. Try your best to be specific when you write them down so you have concrete inspirations to anchor on. Don't give up on finding the best solution that works for you, and please don't hesitate to seek professional help if the negative feelings persist.
Optimize Your Work Setting
Your environment heavily influences your mood, so it's important that your home office is set up accordingly. One of the easiest ways to do this is to arm yourself with protective accessories. Firstly, since you're in front of a computer screen emitting harmful blue-violet light that can affect your vision, sleep hygiene, and concentration, invest in the right eyewear. Specifically, blue light glasses can filter out blue-violet light and preserve visual comfort. However, it’s important to take note that not all types of blue light will be filtered out. In fact, beneficial turquoise blue light is able to pass through. Blue turquoise light enhances visual acuity and color vision and helps regulate the circadian rhythm. Among other things, this means your sleep cycle remains intact, which is paramount when working from home.
Secondly, consider ergonomic products to optimize your environment. Imagine working through poor-quality chairs, desks, and accessories. Non-ergonomic equipment is a hassle that saps enthusiasm and efficiency when working from home. The ergonomic product market has plenty of options. Take, for instance, sit-stand desks that can help with blood flow and posture. When you upgrade your setup with these products, your work environment will be enhanced, and so will your productivity and efficiency.
Process Your Emotions
Work burnout is a feeling of emotional, physical, and psychological exhaustion which is caused by excessive stress. To prevent this, you need to listen to your emotions and check in with yourself to see what feels manageable. Try somatic and mindfulness practices that allow you to connect more deeply with your internal body. This will increase your stress awareness so you can act to relieve it. Remember, working from home does not mean working through it alone. Talk to somebody.
Pay Attention to Your Bodily Needs
While focused on work, it can be easy to forget that your body needs attention. For example, if you feel the need to use the bathroom, don't hold it off, thinking it can wait. Aside from this, don't forget to stay hydrated and eat your meals on time. If you can, make an effort to join your family during mealtimes and engage in subjects outside of work. If your work stretches long hours, try to get out of your workspace every so often and do home exercises. You can even get some fresh air outside and walk your dog—anything that will keep you active. Far too often, your body's needs take a backseat while working from home. Instead, your bodily needs should take similar importance given that it's a nuanced machine you need to maintain.
Therapy Services at Repose
At Repose, our goal is to provide the best HOLISTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY services among other evidence-based therapy services to you. We enjoy working with college students, mothers, parents, couples, and individuals who are seeking better mental wellness in their life. If you’re struggling or trying to find a way to move forward, then our DIVERSE TEAM OF THERAPISTS would be thrilled to work with you. If grief counseling isn’t the service you’re seeking, no worries. We offer other services at our ONLINE THERAPY OFFICE IN NEW YORK, CONNECTICUT, AND NEW JERSEY. Other services include EMDR THERAPY, ANXIETY TREATMENT, PTSD TREATMENT, AND TRAUMA THERAPY, THERAPY FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS, MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH, MARRIAGE COUNSELING AND COUPLES THERAPY, THERAPY FOR TEENS, LGBTQIA+ THERAPY, ART THERAPY, DANCE MOVEMENT THERAPY.