Work From Home – Stay Well At Home

You get up in the morning, do a little stretching and head for the showers. After tending to what needs attention at home, you sit down with your well-deserved morning cuppa and turn on the laptop. A deluge of work emails and reminders pops up on the screen, but you’re ready. After all, it’s like a typical day in the office. However, you are working from home and that makes a world of difference in terms of comfort and stress levels!

But does it really?

 

Your “new” colleagues

Being so comfortable often lulls one into complacency and bad habits. As you engage in work and because you’re in a relaxed environment, you can lose track of time. You forget to take much-needed breaks, proper posture simply doesn’t exist anymore, and as the days go by, health issues pop up. Backaches and headaches become regular companions – like irritating and unwelcomed colleagues.

The difference is, they don’t leave after you clock out.

 

Work(over)load

Working from home does help in some ways to get more things done, as you’re not pressured by the clock. But therein lies another issue. The work seems to pile up endlessly because there is no “set time”, the work that you sometimes had to take home to complete is now part of your daily routine. It could be that you are indeed given more tasks to complete, but it also could be due to lack of proper time management on your end. You get so lost in your work that by the time you take a break, the moon has taken over the day’s shift.

 

Home stressed learning

Being at home can also bring about the stress that you’ve never had to face before. The neighbour, for some reason, decides to engage in DIY home renovation work. There’s a car horn going off incessantly, and the doorbell is always ringing!  For parents, it can be even more challenging. Actually, these were all there before, just that you did not experience it as you were working in the office.

Suddenly, your eating habits are in shambles because there is no proper lunch hour, and your post-work gym time has ceased to exist. There is always some home matter to tend to. You’re lucky to even have time to catch a breath! The clock on your wall is your new nemesis because all these distractions are eating into what could’ve been your productive work time.

The next thing you know – you’re drowning in stress.

 

Time is of the essence

The clock is perceived to be the enemy because you’re always short on time, but you can turn it into a friend.

Draw up a timetable but more importantly, stick to it! Granted things don’t always go as planned so should some urgent matter, be it work or home matter, rear their head – do not panic and seek assistance if need be. Practice breathing techniques, maintain a healthy diet and exercise routine because all of these will help you deal with stress and challenges.

Do not be shy or afraid to seek help, be it about workload or home issues and especially in wellbeing and health matters.

These are challenging times for everyone, but yet, there is always help should you need one. Take control of your stress levels, emotions and habits, and do not let them dictate your everyday life. Stay home, stay safe and stay informed.