A guide to stress-free Work from home in 2021

Researchers and managers have historically considered work from home to be a positive step to ensure work-life balance empowering working mothers, adults taking care of ailing parents or the physically disabled. Employees all over the world considered work from home to be an employee-friendly policy. Here, we shall discuss some tips for stress-free Work from home.

On the other hand, there are contradictory pieces of evidence too. A study on 3962 respondents, conducted by Livemint, reported that working from home was associated with unpleasant feelings and lower subjective wellbeing. Steve Jobs hated work from home. He said the following.

There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that ideas can be developed by email and iChat. That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions. You run into someone, you ask what they’re doing, you say ‘wow,’ and soon you’re cooking up all sorts of ideas.

– Steve Jobs

COVID-19 has made it mandatory for most employees to work from home. Many people have self-quarantined themselves as a precautionary measure against the disease. This poses both challenges and opportunities. The most evident and obvious advantage of work from home during Covid-19 is #stayhomestay safe. So take this time to sit back and actively pursue a stress-free work from home.

5 advantages of working from home:

1. Get adequate sleep. Most of us would agree that a typical working day does not allow us to get adequate sleep (7-9 hours). Staying at home gives us some additional hours which we can utilize to sleep well. In addition, you can choose to work at night if you are a night owl or work in the morning if you are an early riser.
2. Home food: Many of us rely on canteen food for lunch and snacks despite knowing that such food might not be best for our health. Working from home gives the opportunity to have nutritious home-made food.
3. Save commute time: Most of us spend at least an hour commuting to and from office. This quarantine during COVID-19 not only saves that time but also decreases stress and fatigue associated with travel. You also do not have to engage in legwork.
4. Time with family: Working from home allows us to be near our family all day. You do not have to worry about your children being alone or your parents feeling lonely. In addition, you have the option of engaging in fun activities with your family.
5. Pursue hobbies: We can spend some time pursuing our childhood hobbies that got lost due to our adult responsibilities.

Check out 10 cool things to do during self-quarantine

5 disadvantages of working from home:

1. Cognitive clutter: Dealing with both home and work responsibilities at the same time can blur work non-work boundaries. This can easily overwhelm people who are working from home for the first time and for a prolonged duration of time. Dealing with both sets of responsibilities at the same time can be challenging and might leave you exhausted.
2. Lack of private space: If you live in a large house with separate rooms for all members, you are lucky. However, many people share rooms with siblings, spouse and sometimes children. Your children might think you are on vacation when they see you ate home and might demand your time and attention. Elders at home might want to have a conversation. All this might make you miss your little office space. Being at home all day for a prolonged time might lead to more domestic conflicts. You might unknowingly encroach the space of your spouse or your children might try some naughty tricks.
3. Loss of co-worker support: Some of our colleagues become our dear friends with whom we share your thoughts and feelings. Co-workers are often able to provide solutions to our problems as they are likely to deal with similar issues in their life. Loss of co-worker support might create a void in our lives and increase our stress levels. Therefore, stay in touch and help one another to make your work from home stress-free.
4. Time management: Many of us are not very good time managers. You may use goal setting techniques to manage your time. When work becomes unstructured, we lose track of time. As a result, we either overwork or do not complete our work. One powerful tip for work from home would be to balance it out.
5. Lack of technical infrastructure: The workplace provides resources like conference rooms, high-speed internet and a lot more to employees. Such resources are not present at home. Interactions and discussions happen online which might lead to lapses in communication. Industry 4.0 enables new ways to connect with your workplace.

How to deal with the challenges of WFH?

Some people are enjoying working from home during COVID-19. However, for others being locked at home for days together may be very challenging. Those in despair might try the following suggestions to overcome the challenges and spend a peaceful time with their family.

1. Prioritize your family: When the demand to deal with both work and family responsibilities overwhelms you, take a step back from your work. If your children demand your attention consider spending some time with them. If your mother has something to tell you, listen to her. Of course, if you are in an online meeting, you can request them to come back later. However, if you are finishing your assignment, it is better to interact with your family if they wish to do so. Remember, your parents are already anxious about the new disease and your child is probably too small to understand the situation. Be there to emotionally support your family.
2. Never respond when you are angry: Do not react to your family or co-workers when you are experiencing intense anger. Your angry words might make your surroundings even worse. At times, you need to be assertive. Mind your tone. Politely request your family to give you some time alone. You may also consider working on your emotional intelligence because people with high emotional intelligence are better able to remain calm during emotionally-provoking situations. Please read our article on enhancing emotional intelligence in order to find ways to enhance your emotional intelligence.
3. Create your spot and schedule: Many people cannot focus when someone is staring at them or someone is sitting too close to them. If you have a big house, shift to the other room. Otherwise, build a small workplace. If you share your room with someone, consider working in the dining room. Use a bed table if someone else is using the study desk. Consider sitting in a position where you cannot see your family members’ faces directly. If there are children in the house plan some activities for them during your working hours. Also, work in small slots of 1-1.5 hours and let your family members know your working slots.
4. Use social media to connect with friends: You can easily seek social support from peer groups on the phone or WhatsApp. When you miss your peers too much remind yourself that work from home is a temporary arrangement and you will soon be working in your usual office. Also, allow your children to do the same. Lockdowns and separation from school and playgroups can be very stressful for them. Let them talk to their friends on the phone.
5. Acceptance of the situation: All of us need to accept the fact that we have to make some adjustments to reduce the risk of suffering from Covid-19. Your child will demand your attention and the internet will be slower in your home as compared to your office. Be patient. If the problem is acute and you are not able to connect online for work, take a break. Get your chores done, spend time with your family, watch a funny video, have some tea and then come back again. This will help you increase productivity during work from home during COVID-19. Therefore, a stress-free work from home is totally achievable.

A final word on stress-free work from home

If you follow these simple tips, you can lead content and stress-free life. Also regularly visit this page to take note of what are the areas that you can improve your life.

Also, read our second article of the work from home during Covid-19 series to know about activities to reduce stress. I hope that these tips will help you in maintaining a stress-free Work from home. You can also download the free worksheets for the same here or click on the link below:

FREE worksheet to reduce WFH stress

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