Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts

Thursday, 13 May 2021

The reality of working from home

Over a year ago the thought of working from home was a dream.  Maybe an unrealistic dream but a dream. No rush hour traffic.  Sleeping in an extra half hour. That second cup of coffee and oh I'll just put a load of wash on. 

The dream has become a reality for a lot of people. Some of us are fairing better than others. We also think it is job related. For people used to being in an office alone or whose job was more desk orientated to begin with maybe they are fairing better.  More social people are having a hard time.  It appears to be working, working from home that is, as businesses are not falling apart.  Even hospitals have departments i.e. human resources, payroll working from home.

So in the long run how do you think this will effect us?  Some of us will thrive - the ones with good time management and at least somewhat introverted.  Others are struggling. The ones whose work was so much part of their social sphere. That they defined themselves by work and peers.  Also people who struggle with time management - deadline anyone? 

Making your day as close to what you did at work also helps. For those with kids it has been great but again managing time and expectations. What do you do with a three year old all day? Where is your focus?  Emails are coming in that need answers regardless of potty time. If daycares open that helps as at least that routine is the same. 

We have been at this over a year.  Some colleagues I have seen a handful of times in the past year.  You have your core group still at the office, hospital or wherever so check in is possible. Turn my computer back on anyone? 

We feel this is still being worked out long-term.  Who might stay working from home? Who might work X many days from home? Can we scale down office space? What about mental health and productivity?  It will be interesting to see the fall out when things get back to normal.  And also what the new normal will be. Maybe it is work from home.

Let us know your thoughts.  

Thursday, 14 June 2018

Where is your mental happy place?

Life can rough. Family, friends, work, health, finances - need we say more. There are a lot of demands on our time and energy. How do you catch your breath? How do we get a break? Or is that even possible in our fast path world?

If you can't escape physically, what about mentally? What can you do to re-energize? Here are a few things we do to just get that break at least mentally.

  • Breath. Sounds too simple. But we are not talking about that shallow breathing we do. Sit or stand and take deep breaths. Feel your belly expanding. 
  • Stretch. If you can do the Sun Salutation great. If you can't even simple head and shoulder rolls are good.
  • Visualize. Picture yourself at the beach. Hiking. Sitting in the forest. Visualize some place that will put a smile on your face.
  • Write.  Start a gratitude journal. Be specific don't write I had a good day. Write exactly what happened to make it a good day.
  • Read.  There are great quotes out there or find an inspirational book. Keep it in your pursue.
  • Music.  Just listening to music can change your mood. Make up a happy playlist. 
  • Walk.  If you can get outside do it. Even if you just walk around the block do it.
Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Do what you have to do to keep emotional, physical and spiritually happy.  This is your life.