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Minding your Mental Health while Working from Home

While COVID-19 has taken the decision on whether or not to work from home out of people’s hands, we must still find time to take care of ourselves - that decision still rests with us, writes Sarah McKenna Barry .

0ver the last ten years, remote working options have grown in popularity . Many employees view the ability to work from anywhere as a highly attractive perk, and, as a result, the work from home option has found itself nestled among an array of benefits on many job specs . In fact, in recent times, economic forecasters predicted the takeover of remote work, with the office becoming much less of a mainstay of corporate life . However, few could have anticipated just how suddenly the world would adapt to working from home from March of 2020 .

In just a short couple of weeks, businesses made health a priority and the office-exodus began . At the time, we didn’t know just how long we would be working from our dining rooms and kitchen tables . Many of us hoped it would pass quickly, however, as COVID-19 cases rocketed around the world, a speedy return to office life was not on the cards . While we cannot predict when life will return to ‘normal’, one thing remains very clear - working from home is here to stay .

Just last month, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar announced that employees will have the legal right to request home working . We are in it for the long haul . But if our homes become our workplaces, how can we achieve a work-life balance? What steps can we take to safe-guard our mental health throughout restrictions and beyond? I caught up with Insight Matters’ co-founder Dil Wickremasinghe to determine how we can mind our mental health while we are out of office .

One of the key elements many people struggle with when they start working from home is setting boundaries . Dil elaborates on this: “Before, there was a natural structure . You get up in the morning, get dressed, have breakfast, leave the house . There were these very definite markers that helped you set up boundaries around work . Sometimes these boundaries would get a bit blurred, with emails being checked late at night, but at least you were physically not at work .”

Now, however, with this physical distance gone, workers need to establish boundaries of their own . Dil advises: “Ask yourself the question, ‘Are you working from home, or living at work?’ Use that as your marker . Depending on where you fall on that spectrum, you’ll know what you need to do to correct that balance . Structure is really important in that regard . ”

Physical boundaries can also help ensure a stronger work-life balance, as Dil explains . “A lot of people will be working in their bedrooms, and that’s really hard . It’s important to be able to put your workspace away, or block it all off from your vision so that when you’re off, you’re fully off .

“This could be something as simple as getting a screen from Ikea and partitioning your desk from the rest of the room . Anything that will stop that space from looking like your office will be helpful .”

Creating those work boundaries also play a role in maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships, as Dil explains, “In many ways, this is a really good time for people to go on that inward journey and look at how they’re relating with others and how they’re relating with themselves . It’s a great time to create healthier ways of relating .”

Dil acknowledges how this is particularly relevant for workplace relationships: “It’s important to manage your communication and be able to express yourself and your needs in a way that is respectful but firm . Being assertive is actually an indication of having good mental health . ” When it comes to assessing relationships while working for home, Dil uses the analogy of radiators and drains as a guiding principle: “Who are the radiators in your life, and who are the drains? Who are the people who are taking energy from you, and who are the people who are giving you energy? Be mindful, and limit the time you spend with individuals who you know are going to impact negatively on you . Spend more time with people who give you support, who make you feel refreshed and restored when you speak to them . ”

In order to strengthen your mental health while working from home, resilience is required . “This is not a race,” Dill says, “This is a marathon . Our health is so important . What are we doing on a day-to-day basis to preserve our health? We need to take a very proactive, sustainable approach . Take a step back and look at how you are living your life at the moment . What are the things that are helping you that you could do more of? What are the things that are not helping you?”

Dill emphasises the importance of good general health: “Physical and mental health both impact each other . Take a look at how you sit - your desk height, your chair - because it all adds up .” Movement is necessary, particularly for those who spend most of their working day sitting . Self-care, Dill notes, also plays an essential role: “Have a self-care practice . A person working from home needs to draw up a schedule for themselves . Have a timetable that has self-care sprinkled around it . Self-care has to be a daily routine . ”

Dill acknowledges that one person’s selfcare practice will differ from another’s, so it’s important to incorporate a method that will work for you: “Walking works for some people, but not for others . Whether your practice is to have a bath, meditate, or call a friend, make sure it’s implemented into your routine . ”

Have a timetable that has self-care sprinkled around it. Self-care has to be a daily routine.

Lastly, for those who are finding it particularly difficult to look after their mental health while working for home, Dil recommends professional help . “It doesn’t matter how many walks you go on, or how many baths you have, or how many meditations you do, if you’re really struggling you need to reach out . Talking to a therapist can really help you figure it all out .”

Dil appreciates that modern life is complicated, and whether you are seeking help with relationships, with work, with finding your purpose, a therapist can offer guidance: “All of these big questions - they’re a lot for one person to figure out on their own . It’s also a lot to ask your friends and your relatives because, right now, everyone is struggling . There is only so much support your loved ones can give you because they are just managing to support themselves . When you go to see a therapist, you don’t have to worry about how that therapist is doing . You don’t have to ask them, ‘How are you doing this week?’ or ‘Are you okay?’ because that doesn’t even come into the equation . Those 50 minutes are all about you . It’s for you to figure out how you are feeling, and if there is anything you can change .”

For more information on the topics discussed above, visit www.mentalhealthireland.ie/ resources

ABOUT INSIGHT MATTERS

First established by Dil Wickremasinghe and Anne Marie Toole in 2011, Insight Matters is a counselling and psychotherapy service based in Dublin’s city centre . With a team of 50 therapists, the practice provides essential mental health support to over 400 clients per week . Insight Matters was founded to address the lack of inclusive mental health services in Ireland .

“Diverse sexualities, gender identities, ethnicities, cultures and life experiences are rarely accommodated in a therapeutic space, mainly because of lack of awareness,” Dil says . “Our services reflect our new diverse Ireland and our practitioners are skilled to welcome and work with all the rich diversity of human behaviours .”

For more information visit www.insightmatters.ie