How to deal with stress when you are working remotely

The Coronavirus pandemic has definitely affected our daily life by bringing loads of changes. We are finding ourselves in the “new normal”, one of the aspects of new normal is remote work.

It has been mainly experienced by almost every white-collar worker out there (at least the ones who were lucky enough to retain their jobs through the pandemic). We of course all benefited from avoiding time consuming commutes, the work from home setting could be a little stressful in certain aspects of our lives.

Probably the most and first difficult part or obstacle when working from home is the ability to separate work and your personal life. You could feel that working hours easily spread out and taking away some of your personal space. Literally you are working in the same place you has been living in so your brain cannot tell a difference (at first at least), people were forced to work from their living spaces for a major part of the Covid-19 pandemic, and evidently this could create an impression of living at your work.

There is always a suggestion to separate your workspace, create additional room or even isolate the office part by bringing temporary walls or decorative part walls to help identify your work setting, this must be said, it isn’t something which is doable for every person, especially if they are limited to a small living space or shared accommodation.

There are also other problems, like clear communications with the colleagues, meet-ups, hangouts and other small mental breaks associated with office work.
Many are missing small talks when eating lunch or drinking tea/coffee on a dedicated breaks. The lack of social aspects could lead to the stress, anxiety or even depression, left alone can lead to all three at the same time.

Introverts will be able to adopt to a new setting much easier and they will usually be more productive, their stress levels may reduce greatly, although when contact will be re-established in the future this can be compounded with a fear and more stress due to not practising the social meet-ups anymore. Extroverts on the other hand will have massive stress problems and it is recommended that they use internet or phone to actually call their friends or coworkers to stay connected and entertained.

Remember that your health is most important here, if you see any signs of stress, anxiety or depression I will suggest to speak with the doctor who can examine the cause of the problem as sometimes just reading material available on the internet might not be enough to treat your individual problem, at the end of the day everyone is different so we really need a customised approach. You can of course add things like meditation, physical work outs and breaks from work to ensure you are doing everything to support your body and brain, while doing so do not forget about healthy, optimal diet as it is also a key benefactor to your happy and productive life.

I would be very keen to learn how are you dealing with stress? Or maybe you are already happy and stress free and would like to share your gold recipe for this? Please do let me know in the comments section below. I will be thrilled to hear your opinion down there.

All the best,
Lucas