Winter, cosy nights in with the fire burning, hot chocolate on tap, the Late Late Toy show on in the background and nonstop Christmas, parties all these lovely images that could almost be a Hallmark card but this winter will be very different!
Like so many others, mental health issues has been a huge part of my life and they are now slowly becoming a normal talking point of our everyday conversations. With working from home becoming the “new normal”, one thing covid has taught us in the past few months is how important social interactions with one another really are. So how do we look after our mental health I hear you ask? Well, I’m going to give you a few tips on what I’ve been doing and what I hope might help you too!
Keep a routine – Trying to find the right balance between work and personal time is very important when working from home and this helps when you have a routine. Try follow your normal routine as if you are getting up for work, Try get up at the same time, eat breakfast and even try change out of those pjs (even if it’s just into some tracksuit bottoms and a new pair of fluffy socks). Most importantly when the work day ends, stop working. Click out of your working environment and into your home life!
Talk to others – Even a 5-10 minute quick video chat with a colleague can be so important to people. Whether it’s to get help with a project or just to have some interaction to break up your day. Human contact has never been so important and you never know how important that call could be to the other person. As much as I contest sometimes myself, even switching on the camera every now and again isn’t all that bad!
Activity and exercise – I know, I know it’s winter and it’s cold and sometimes miserable out there but getting some physical activity is so important. We spend sometimes 8+ hours sitting down over a laptop, we have to get out and do something to stretch those muscles. Whether it be a quick walk or bike around the block (don’t forget to keep within your 5km), a home work out or baking your ninth banana bread! Keeping you and your brain active are so important.
Rest and recovery – Good quality rest can really impact on your physical health as well as your mental. One thing I’m trying to do is a “digital detox”, after spending all day on your laptop I’m trying not to strolling through Facebook, Instagram and my new personal favourite TikTok for hours.
Me time – The most important thing you can do for your mental health is to be kind to yourself. Acknowledge you can’t always control everything that is happening around you and you are trying your best and that is good enough!!
Protecting your mental health while working from home is so important so, I hope my little tips help you out in some way or another and fingers crossed we will all be back to “normal” soon.
Author: Ciara Murphy, Technical Recruiter, Aspira
