By Carli Uys (MCom Industrial Psychology and MCom Communication studies)

For the majority of us, the Covid-19 pandemic has made us remote workers. It was not easy for all of us to transition from working at the office to working at home. It had its own challenges that we all had to overcome, such as work-life balance and our well-being.

This blog will focus on our well-being while working from home and how we should show ourselves some love during this time.

Self-care during this time is not a luxury, it is an essential part for you to be able to adjust to the new (now) normal. It can be easy for you to increase your stress levels while working from home as you may feel that you don’t have enough time for everything that you want to do. You might be experiencing what most of us are, that there are no boundaries in place when it comes to working from home. You start earlier and you end later. Your boss calls or sends a message at any time of the day assuming that you are available because you are working from home. This can put a lot of strain on your well-being and you need start putting your well-being first.

Let’s first look at what well-being means. Well-being is the experience of health, happiness and prosperity. It includes mental health, a sense of meaning and purpose, the ability to manage stress, and the feeling of being well. People in general want to experience well-being, as it includes so many positive things, such as happiness, feeling healthy, having social connections and feeling that you have a purpose in life.

There are different types of well-being that is important:

Can you actually increase/improve your well-being?

The answer is yes!! Increasing your personal well-being is simple, but it is not always easy. Why am I saying this? There are many skills you can use to improve your well-being, but it is at times difficult to figure out which part of your well-being is most important to you and that you must focus on. Figuring out how to build well-being skills are at times difficult.

To be able to positively impact your well-being while working from home, consider the following tips to establish healthy habits that will assist you to maximise your efforts to be able to cope with working from home and to support your mental, emotional and physical well-being.

1. If you have the space in your house, create a dedicated workspace for yourself to only use for work. This can help you to associate that area as your workplace and limit the rest of your house to be connected to work. This can allow you to still view your house as your home and not your work environment.
2. Get dressed as if you were going to go to work. This can create a mindset that you have a purpose and if there is an unexpected video call you won’t be caught off guard. This will also give the other person a good impression of you and create a positive view that you are ready for anything that might come your way. It is important to always be professional and it can help you to feel confident while taking a video call and completing your work.
3. Determine what your objectives are for the day and the week ahead and write it all down. This can help you to plan out your day and week to know what has to be done and prioritise your tasks. By writing it down it allows you to scratch out the tasks that you have completed which can give you an idea of how you are progressing and show you that you are actually achieving your objectives.
4. It is important to take regular, mindful breaks. This can help you to reset and refocus your mind and energy to what has to be done. Do so for only a few minutes at a time, on a regular basis during the day. This will help to reduce your stress and give you clarity on what must still be done, and it can help increase your productivity.
5. Remember to eat real food and stop snacking on junk food the entire day. If you do not focus on making yourself a proper meal, then you will continuously snack on junk food and this can cause a decline in your energy levels and an increase in your weight levels. If you want to snack rather than eat full proper meals a day, think about healthy snacks and rather leave the junk at the store.
6. Not all of us like to work out and most of us do not have space or equipment to be able to work out from home. Put that thought out of your mind that you can only work out at a gym. You can do various activities that can get your blood flowing and help you to reset your mind and body and to feel refreshed. Take a walk around your house, or in your complex or go for a walk around the block. It doesn’t have to be long, just to get your heart racing a bit faster than usual. This can help to boost your immune function and it can help you to approach your work from a fresh perspective.
7. Most important thing you should do in a day, is have a clock-out time every day. This will help you avoid overworking yourself and allow you to spend time with your loved ones or do something you love to do to relax after a hard day’s work. Let your boss and colleagues know that you will always implement a clock-out time as it is important for your well-being and that they should do the same.
8. By making an appointment for “you time”, you will allow yourself to set new priorities, stay connected with your loved ones and to create structure in your life. This will give you the control of being able to face whatever comes your way and ways to make work more meaningful.

There are various benefits you get from taking care of your well-being:

Remember that self-care is not selfish, it is a must! Take care of yourself and the rest will follow.