Working From Home
Working from home means that all the chaos of your home (pets, family members, kids, and kitchen noises) is part of your entire workday.
Self-Discipline, concentration and work ethic are needed to successfully navigate this process.
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It is common advice to get up, shower and dress for work, in your work clothes. This too creates a form of mental transition for you.
If on some days you feel you are better off in your nightclothes, working in a relaxed manner, then, by all means, do that. It is better to do what works best for you.
The schedule that makes you start early, and mimic the office hours works best, as you end up being free earlier too. However, night owls may find working at night to be more productive or comfortable for them.
Maintaining a schedule in a routine, while incorporating regular exercise with it, works best.
WFH (Work From Home) eventually means you are working from coffee shops, parking lots, from your car while driving, and almost anywhere you can log in to your laptop or communicate on your phone.
No one knows where you are and what you are doing, and that can be an advantage, but also can be misused.
Your family and your friends will not understand why you would need to prioritize work, or at what time. They can ask you for the (never-ending) tasks around the house, or come for lunch.
You will need to repeat to them that your work priorities and say 'no' quite often.
Set pre-determined completion targets and time constraints to finish up your work, otherwise, you will get distracted and the time it takes to complete your work will start to inflate.
Clear communication is the life-line of remote working.
Physically, a WFH employee or a freelancer is not part of the office team, so the daily emails, chat or phone calls are the ways to represent oneself. Use these tools in the best possible manner.
Devote a space solely dedicated to work, maybe a desk or a room converted into an office.
This will train your brain to stay on your assignment when you start to work, creating a physical boundary.
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Environmental associations are cues from your working environment that tell your brain "I'm in the office, so it must be time to work." Most of them are assimilated subconsciously (for example, your office space, the draft you always feel coming from the air duct next to your desk, and the view as you look out your office building's window.)
But when you work from home many of these associations are gone and your brain receives a confusing mix of "work time" and "relax time" cues.
Extroverts thrive in an energetic and frenetic work environment filled with people. Peace, quietness and solitude, while being an introvert’s dream, can drive an extrovert into distraction.
There are many ways for extroverts to enjoy and thrive on the new reality of remote working.
- Loneliness and isolation. And loneliness is associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms like random pain.
- Anxiety and pressure. The boundary between work and home life is not very clear. And switching between different roles and skills during the day will wear you out.
- Depression. Besides the anxiety and loneliness that may lead to depression, sometimes work from home can make you feel stuck, like you are not achieving as much as the others.
We Work Remotely | How To Keep Your Mental Health in Check When You Work From Home
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