In the post-pandemic era, adapting to the changes and needs of the working world is essential for teams to stay united and motivated at work.
But for changes to be effective and deliver long-term results, productivity must be combined with employee well-being. That is why we have put together some mental health tips for your comfort while working from home. Keep reading to learn more.
The strain of trying to maintain the same productivity as before the pandemic can have negative effects on the body and mind, such as chronic stress, changes in sleep and digestion cycles, and anxiety taking center stage in daily life.
Proof of this is a survey conducted by LinkedIn during the pandemic, which found that 62% of people are more anxious and stressed about work than they were before remote work was introduced.
Remote work, which was already being adopted in some parts of the world even before the pandemic, brings many benefits to companies and employees, such as greater autonomy in organization, work pace, free time, savings on commuting, geographic expansion of the organization, and so on.
However, the way remote work suddenly became part of many workers' lives, with no preparation, brought problems such as a lack of technological infrastructure, social isolation, difficulty concentrating, household noise, and others.
But the truth is that your health cannot depend on your deliverables, and it should go hand in hand with self-care in eating, mental health, and physical health as permanent, essential responsibilities for ensuring a good quality of life in your daily life and at work.
The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) presents some recommendations for improving mental health while working from home, including:
- Acknowledge and accept your worries and fears, seeking out trusted people to talk to
- Invest in actions that help reduce stress levels, such as meditation, reading, and breathing exercises
- Invest in and encourage shared acts of care, such as solidarity and family and community care
- Reframe your life plans and strategies so you keep making plans
- Keep your social and emotional support network at work active, staying in touch with your colleagues, even if virtually
- Seek a health professional when the strategies you are using are not enough for your emotional stability
In addition, there are some everyday habits we can adopt to improve our relationship with remote work without letting go of well-being. See the tips below:
Start a daily well-being routine
Taking care of yourself emotionally starts right at the beginning of the day. Before getting out of bed or checking your phone, take a few deep breaths, take in your waking up calmly, and try not to think about work or the day's tasks.
If you are looking for a deeper way to do this, try a brief guided meditation in the morning with apps like Calm or Headspace. By doing so, you will create an atmosphere of tranquility even for the most stressful, activity-packed days, which will become easier to manage.
Get out of your own head
When we are anxious or depressed, our symptoms tend to occupy our minds. We examine the severity or new mental difficulties and, the more we look, the more we tend to find.
In addition, anxieties and other emotional concerns tend to amplify when they remain our only focus. Try to ease your mental worries during breaks and moments of rest with activities that give you pleasure, such as eating something you like, taking a nap, or going for a walk. Unwinding helps reduce our worries and, as a result, return to work refreshed.
Be willing to change and learn
As an emotional defense technique, we often tend to say that we know what is best for us, but we frequently keep feeding bad habits.
So set aside a few hours a week for focus and self-care, whether through therapy or practices your own company may offer that you skip because you feel you “don't have time for that.”
At Enacom, we have several incentives for breaking up the routine, including during working hours, so you can disconnect from deliverables and have quality time with your colleagues in fun, team-building meetings. We have activities such as Workplace Exercise, Talent Show, Virtual Coffee, and various celebrations such as Cine GPTW and Festeja for the month's birthdays.
You will learn a lot about how your mind works if you start, one step at a time, removing the obstacles to your well-being that you may have been clinging to for years. By taking part in team-building activities, for example, you will not only be looking after your own emotional well-being but also normalizing the breaking down of mental difficulties so that others are more inclined to do the same.
That is why, in this post, we encourage you to take an honest inventory of your own emotional well-being today. Are you taking care of yourself? Are you suffering unnecessarily? Do you take pride in being busy when you are actually exhausted? Are you hiding depression or anxiety to protect the people around you?
There is no more impactful way to contribute to your mental well-being than looking inward at how you are managing your emotions. In addition, try to take part in your company's support activities and kick-start actions for the good of your mental health.