Over several month now increasing numbers of organisations have announced a permanent or semi-permanent move to home working; shifting from a temporary inconvenience to a new norm. Although this is something many have been doing since the start of ‘lockdown’, the news it will become a permanent feature of their lives will hit some hard.
There’s been a lot of focus on how to alter our homes to accommodate a working space but, here at Mind & Mission we want to focus on how to draw on our mental foundations of resourcefulness to adapt to such a change.
There are many areas to consider, here are just a few:
Time spent working
Developing a work/life mindset at home is difficult, there is no doubt. It takes self-discipline and determination to ensure that work and life are kept as separate as possible both physically and mentally. Physically issues such as a far from ideal office set up can impact us mentally but by far the biggest issue we see is the time spent attached to our home office. Many of us are using what would have been our commute time to work and then wonder when Thursday rolls around, why exhaustion has set in.
Achieving the right mindset takes time, practice and is essentially trial and error.
Take some time to think about how you worked when you were in the office; what went well what didn’t? What aspects can be duplicated at home and where do you have to be creative?
Think about setting a timer to remind yourself to take breaks, that means standing up and moving away from your working area. This is not just beneficial for you physically but mentally; this is no different to when you were in the office.
Try to start work before your normal time if at all possible. This gives you the ‘commute time’ you once had to do household chores or take exercise or just have a nice leisurely breakfast and catch up with family. This provides a sense of achievement before you even start work and will set you up mentally far better than rushing to your desk at 7am and getting on with the to do list.
Finish at your normal time. Shut down and put away all working tools to mentally signify the end of your working day. It might feel easier to leave the laptop out but that mental connection to work should be severed (similar to being able to walk out of the office) and you will be less likely to go back to it in the evening. It may be that you need to get busy at home until this becomes a habit, find something else to do so that the temptation to keep working is not there.
General difficulties being at home
It’s inevitable we will pick up bad habits, because we can, we’re at home! Between bad health habits, sitting at your desk in your pjs and doing washing, ironing, or cooking, we are setting ourselves up for taking on habits that all mentally attach us to home rather than work. Other issues at home such as distractions and interruptions and that inevitable difficulty switching off at the end of the day can leave us mentally disorientated.
We have all seen the pictures and laughed but clearly going to work in your pjs is not a good habit to start, it doesn’t allow that mental break between home (bed even) and work.
It is most definitely beneficial whilst at home to be able to get household chores done but try not to focus on this during your working day. If you must then schedule them into your day, instead of taking up your mental resources when you should be working.
Being so close to the fridge can feel like being taunted every day. If you set up your home office to be ‘separate’ and stick to the same timing you would in the office, it will be easier to avoid those tempting trips to the fridge.
What a treat to have a beer, glass of wine or other treat at your desk on a Friday evening; a real benefit of being at home but don’t allow this to turn into a regular daily habit, not only does it increase your alcohol and calorie intake rapidly for the week but will leave you feeling dehydrated and not at your mental best.
If you are working at home with others around, different interruptions will be a part of coping with the change. Think about how to tell family members when you need quiet to get particular tasks completed or if you’re on a call – it might be a sign on the door or simply a quick chat in the morning to clarify.
Many are struggling with guilt of “I’m at home so I need to be doing more to prove I’m actually working”. Think about where that is coming from. Is anyone thinking you are not working hard or are you creating that perception yourself simply because no one can see what you are doing?
Switching off is not easy. That time when you finish is followed immediately by stepping into home life. Break it up by going out for a 10-minute walk or longer, whatever might have been your commute. Don’t feel guilty about having to decompress after a working day. If this is what you need then you need to do it.
Dealing with uncertainty
is no doubt redundancy is high on the list of worries for many. Generally, dealing with uncertainty can and will impact our ability to perform as it triggers the stress response putting us in reactive mode. It can also trigger a ‘what’s the point’ mindset draining our motivation.
The perception that maybe doing more, working longer hours will improve chances of staying in a job should redundancies be considered. It may well do but in the longer term this will not help your physical or mental wellbeing.
Making friends with uncertainty is tough because of that out of control feeling. Learning to accept that things are out of your control is the first step to focussing on what you can control.
Writing out all the things in your life and work that you can control will improve your confidence, help you focus and motivate you in a positive way.
Comparing to and supporting others
We generally paint a nicer picture of ourselves to the outside world, especially on social media and at work. It is therefore natural to look at others and believe everyone is doing it better than you.; it is highly unlikely to be the case.
Admitting that home working is not working for you is a positive step forward; you should never have to pretend everything is great if it’s not.
Any organisation worth their salt should be fostering open and honest communication around the effects of home working, where this is a major change for employees.
While there should be support from your organisation if you are struggling with it, equally its within your gift to support others you see struggling, or perhaps just aren’t appearing to be working the same way they normally do.
Video conferencing fatigue
According to computerweekly.com use of zoom has increased 677%. With over 200m daily participants. High-intensity videoconferencing is taking its toll but there are alternatives and ways to make sure we don’t suffer from ‘video-conferencing fatigue’.
it or not, we don’t have to use Zoom, Skype, Facetime, WhatsApp or Teams for every interaction whilst working from home.
While this seems to have become the norm, we can still just pick up the phone, weird right? just talking on the phone like we did before the Coronavirus.
We can of course now meet up face to face, providing social distances rules are adhered to. Why not schedule a walking meeting with a colleague? Face to face interaction and walking together are excellent for the mind.
Don’t schedule back-to-back meetings, give your brain the opportunity to relax, in fact take regular screen breaks regardless for your brain to disconnect.
Focus on taking notes instead of feeling you need to ‘be’ in the room, it increases attention span and retention of information.
Disconnect with office
Another difficulty being out of the office environment is that easy way of collaborating and involving others; swinging round on your chair and asking a simple question is no longer possible. Networking internally is also more difficult, as it must be planned rather than organic and natural. That feeling of isolation not just by being alone at home, but of not having the same way of collaborating carries real risk to getting the job done effectively. Feeling out of the loop if there’s been a conversation you haven’t been involved in is worse, it can reduce motivation and creativity especially for those who are more extraverted and thrive from being with others.
We can’t be expected to figure it all out individually.
Communication is essential and perhaps a brainstorming session to create new ‘team norms’ is necessary; taking stock of what is difficult and where benefits are being found.
also need to make use of the array of on-line tools now available to facilitate collaboration, but not too much as we’ve already highlighted.
Remember again, we can meet people indoors and outdoors so perhaps meeting up with team members who live locally would help break up the day to share what you are experiencing.
There are plenty of free on-line networking events around in which you can meet new people and engage on work matters but in a different way and context.
There are many aspects threatening to cause decline in our mental fitness while we adjust to a longer period of home working than anyone could have anticipated. It is not a weakness to be struggling with it or to simply dislike the negatives that come with the change. It takes a degree self-discipline and self-motivation to be successfully working and living in the same physical space.
Employers out there need to pay attention not just to physical set up and ensuring BAU whereas individuals must take some responsibility to provide honest and constructive feedback to their employer on the reality of the new norm.
