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5 Ways to Look After Your Wellbeing When Working from Home

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​Whilst, for some, working from home offers the perfect chance to build your own routine and increase productivity, for others it can be difficult to adjust to working outside of the office.

Here are our top five tips on how to balance your work and home life to help you maintain positive wellbeing when working from home.

1. Set up a dedicated workspace

When your home is also your office it can be difficult to know when to switch off. With your resources at hand 24/7 it can be tempting to answer that late-night email or continue working into the evening.

Setting up a designated workspace to work from each day will help you to separate work time and chill time, build a routine into your day and make it easier for you to switch off at the end of the day. Your workspace doesn’t need to be an office, anywhere where you can set up a laptop/resources, such as a kitchen table, will do the trick.

2. Stay connected

If you’re used to working from a busy office environment, working from home can take a lot of getting used to, especially if it’s for long periods of time.

Human interaction is vital for positive mental wellbeing so it’s important to keep connected with your colleagues both for work and social purposes. Take advantage of video calling apps such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom to stay in contact with your co-workers and even hold virtual catch ups or lunch break sessions to keep up to date and feel connected.

3. Create a routine

Although one of the main benefits of working from home is the level of flexibility it brings, it can be easy to lose your sense of routine. Small things such as waking up, showering and having breakfast at the same time each day, as you would when normally going to work, can provide some structure to your day and make a big difference to your productivity.

It’s important to remember though that it might not always be possible to create a structured day, especially if you have children or other priorities, so create a routine that works for you. The great thing about working from home is that, in many cases you can adapt your working hours to suit you. Talk to your manager about your situation and see if any adjustments can be made.

4. Take screen breaks

A common pressure felt by many working from home is feeling the need to ‘prove’ that you’re working. This may mean quickly responding to messages and emails to show you’re online and active all day.

Whilst this leads to many people feeling that working from home makes them more productive, it’s important to take regular short screen breaks to give your eyes a rest and refresh your mind.

If you think about your normal working day in the office, its unlikely that you spend the whole day glued to your screen and will get up for coffee breaks etc. so remember to factor this into your day at home.

5. Exercise!

The endorphins released during exercise can have a great impact on your mood and help you feel positive throughout the day.

Perhaps start your day with a quick jog (keeping a safe distance from others of course) or if you’re indoors take 10 minutes out to do a home workout, there are plenty of home workout videos on Youtube so you can pick one that suits you.

Even better, why not ask your friends or colleagues if they’d like to take part in a virtual  group workout over video call to keep you all motivated?

For more tips on maintaining your mental wellbeing visit the Mental Health First Aid England website.

We’ll be regularly sharing health and wellbeing tips and advice over the next few months so keep up to date by following our blog and social media pages.