Working from home has become the new normal for many of us, but how is it really affecting our mental wellbeing? This episode unpacks the complex psychological impact of remote work, revealing surprising statistics about burnout, isolation, and productivity in home-based workers.
I dive into the research showing that 41.6% of remote workers report declining mental health, while paradoxically, many others rate their happiness higher than their office-bound counterparts. The key difference? Personality type, environment, and personal habits. Introverts often flourish without the social demands of an office, while extroverts may wither without human interaction.
This episode offers practical strategies for protecting your mental health while working remotely. Whether you're struggling with remote work isolation or trying to optimize your home office setup, this episode provides the psychological useful insights. Your mental wellbeing shouldn't be sacrificed for workplace flexibility – learn how to create a remote work routine that genuinely supports your psychological health.
Learn more about booking a nutrition consultation with Fiona: https://informedhealth.com.au/
Learn more about Fiona's speaking and media services: https://fionakane.com.au/
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Credit for the music used in this podcast:
The Beat of Nature
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Fiona Kane (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Wellness Connection Podcast
with Fiona Kane.
Today I'm actually going to betalking about the effects of
working from home on your mentalhealth.
Now, we do know that obviously,for many of us over the last
few years, with the COVIDpandemic and all of the things
that ensued, many of us had towork from home.
(00:21):
Some of us still do work fromhome and some people do a bit of
a mixture, where they work fromhome sometimes and they're in
the office other times.
But it has really affected ourmental health and, look, for
some people it's been a goodthing and some people less so.
I suppose it depends on theindividual.
What we do know is I waslooking up the data here, right,
(00:49):
and they sort of said contextmatters.
So introverts might thrivewhile extroverts could struggle.
And that's true becauseextroverts rely on getting
energy from other people,whereas introverts actually get
quite drained from other people.
So they certainly, if you arean introvert, you might find
working from home a lot easier.
(01:10):
You're not spending expendingall that energy with other
people, whereas extroverts kindof would really struggle with
that because they're not gettingthat energy from other people.
But some of the other thingsI'm just going to sort of tell
you a little bit of the datahere.
So the prevalence of burnout so, according to Gallup data from
2021, fully remote workersexperienced burnout very often
(01:34):
or always, at a rate of 29%,compared to 25% for on-site
workers.
So it was more in people whowere working from home workers
sorry, so it was more in peoplewho were working from home.
The other thing was they lookedat the mental health decline
and they found that 41.6% ofremote workers reported a
(01:55):
decline in mental health, 45%felt less healthy mentally while
working from home and 50%reported disrupted sleep
patterns and poorer mentalhealth well-being.
Now, this was actually done, asurvey done during the COVID
pandemic, so obviously there'sother things that might affect
that as well.
(02:15):
There's a lot of stress goingon at that time for lots of
reasons.
So then there was another onein regards to isolation and
loneliness.
The American PsychiatricAssociation 2021 survey of 1,000
remote workers revealed thatnearly two-thirds felt isolated
or lonely at least sometimes,and 17% were all of the time.
(02:38):
67% struggled to disconnectfrom work at the end of the day.
So there's something about whenyou leave a premises that you
can disconnect a lot easier thanwhen it's sitting in your
computer Anxiety and depressionsymptoms.
They found 2023 US CensusHousehold Pulse Survey, 40% of
(02:59):
fully remote workers and 38% ofhybrid workers reported anxiety
and depression symptoms,compared to 35% of in-person
workers.
So that's sort of the negative.
Now, on the positive side, theyfound that tracking happiness
in remote workers in 2022,happiness at 7 out of 10
(03:19):
compared to 5.9 for full-timeworkers, and that was a survey
of 28,000 workers, and they feltthat 79% of remote workers
improved work-life balance.
So you know, it's a mixture ofthings, right?
So it depends on really doesdepend on the individual and on
(03:40):
the situation.
So, for example, on thesituation.
So, for example, I work fromhome, and most of the time, I
work from home.
The good thing for me, though,is my office is in a different
place in the home, so, whereas Ido know that I have a friend
that's been working from homefor a lot of years now, and
(04:00):
largely she works in her bedroom, now I think that that would be
very, very hard to do.
Work-life separation you get upand you sit in front of your
computer in your bedroom, andalso this is something even
though you can put filters andall the rest of it there's just
something too, about.
I think that when you turn theworld on into your bedroom
(04:21):
somehow, so whether it's atelevision or whether it's the
internet or whatever it is,there's something about the
world into your bedroom that isnot particularly healthy and so
energetically that I think thatwould affect your bedroom, might
affect your sleep as well.
I don't know, but when yourworkplace is your bedroom and so
a lot of these people too, whatI do know is they get up there
in their pajamas and they justsit in front of their computer
(04:42):
and then they work for 12 hours.
And you could see that, whileit's convenient to not travel,
so traveling can be quitestressful and challenging and
the hours we spend travelingcould have been spent doing
exercise, other things, butthat's not always the case of
what people do anyway.
(05:02):
So I suppose it depends on thesituation, but I feel like if
you are working from home, thereare some strategies that I
would recommend that you have tosort of help with your mental
health.
Now, if you do need other peoplearound, if you do need to talk
to other people, there's acouple of different strategies
you could use.
One could be if there is a chat, a work chat, that you can be
(05:26):
on where you can chat to people,or it might even be, if it
allows, depending on thesituation, to actually have some
phone chats with some people.
It might just be every day,even if it's just like on your
break.
On your break you sort of say,hey look, let's both have coffee
at our 11 o'clock break and canwe just have a quick chat.
(05:47):
And you might just have a quickphone chat, zoom chat whatever,
facetime whatever.
But that might really bebeneficial for you if that's a
colleague that you really getalong well with and you just
want to talk to someone and youjust want to have a bit of a
laugh with someone.
So sometimes what people mightdo is they might actually I know
(06:08):
that this is something I'vedone within the networking group
I'm in.
Sometimes they have workinggroups together where what we
will do is we will say, okay,I've got to get some stuff done.
I've really got to between 10and 12 today.
I'm going to make sure I get.
I'm going to write my blogs orI'm going to do whatever.
It is going to get stuff done.
But what we've done before iswe've got together on Zoom to do
(06:29):
it.
So while you might be on Zoomand you might turn off your
audio, whatever, and you mightjust all be doing your own thing
, but we're all there togetherdoing it.
So there's other people thereand, of course, because there's
other people there, you can chatif you want to or you can ask
for help.
You can sort of jump in and say, hey, I'm stuck.
You know, I'm writing this blogand I don't know what heading
should I use.
(06:49):
Whatever it is, or does someoneknow how to use this or fix
that or whatever it is?
So sometimes we will do thething where, as a group, we work
together but we're actually allworking individually.
So we're still all workingseparately at home, but we're
together as a group doing it,and there's something about that
that gives you a feeling of acamaraderie, a feeling of not
(07:09):
being completely alone, right?
So there might be differentstrategies like this that you
can use, where you still areconnecting with some other
people, or you still are talkingwith some other people or
seeing their face and having abit of a laugh with them in your
coffee break or something, soyou still feel like you're
connected of a laugh with themin your coffee break, or
something.
So you still feel like you'reconnected Like.
(07:31):
It might also mean, dependingon where you live, you might be
able to go for a drive or for awalk and go to the shops or
something, but just talking tothe lady at the cafe across the
road or at the supermarket orwhatever make a point of
actually talking to someone whenyou go out, even if it's like,
hey, the weather's nice today,or even if you're just smiling
at people when you go for yourwalk.
But there's just somethingabout just humanity seeing other
(07:51):
people talking to other peoplethat can be really really
helpful for some people.
So it sort of might be that theother thing would be to be
aware of taking breaks, even ifthe break is standing up and
sitting down.
So it might be you get, if youcan get, a desk that's like a
stand up, sit down desk.
I haven't got one of those yetbut I do plan to get one soon
(08:13):
because I wanted to try that butsort of just changing position,
because changing position isreally helpful, because if
you're sitting down for 8 to 12hours a day in one position and
you go to get up, you will findthat that's not going to be
really really helpful physicallyor mentally for you.
So the other things I suppose tolook at are things like the
(08:36):
normal things we would do to getready for the day.
So if you were going out, youwould get dressed, and I would
really recommend that you dothis.
Now you might find that onceupon a time I worked in the city
every day and I wore a suitevery day.
Now you might find that that'sover the top.
You don't want to do that, butI would still recommend you get
up and you have a shower and youget dressed.
(08:57):
So even whatever dress lookslike, but just not your pajamas
right, and even if it's a littlebit dressed, a little bit nice,
but get dressed.
There is something about ashuman beings, there's something
about these rituals thatactually make us feel better.
So when you get up and you havea shower and you get dressed
and for some people it mightmean putting some makeup on
(09:19):
whatever feels right for you,and it might be putting on some
nice clothes or even just a nicetop if you want to look nice to
your colleagues, whatever it is.
But there's just somethingabout that.
It's the kind of whole makeyour bed theory that when we
kind of get up and we get movingand we have these rituals, we
(09:39):
do feel good about ourselves.
You feel a lot better aboutyourself when you're clean and
you smell nice and your hair isclean and you've washed your
face and you've put on a niceshirt, than you do when you're
just sitting around in yourpajamas and you smell for
overnight because you've beensweating, whatever.
Okay, there's just somethingabout that that makes a
difference of how we feel aboutourselves, how we hold ourselves
(10:00):
.
You hold yourself upright, youknow.
So there's something that justpsychologically makes a big
difference when we have ritualsand we get ready for work.
And also, if you're saving timefrom not doing the driving, well
, what could you be doing inthat time?
Now, it might mean that you'regetting more sleep, because you
don't get as much sleep whenyou're doing the driving.
It might mean you're going fora walk in the morning or in the
(10:23):
afternoon or at lunchtime.
So there's different thingsthat you can do.
But what are the things thatyou can do that support your
health?
So, say, you're not doing thedriving or the catching the
train, well, what are the thingsyou can do?
And the other thing, actually,too, I used to listen.
Well, I used to read, actuallybecause it was back in the days
where you didn't have audiobooks.
(10:43):
I read so many books when I wascommuting and I actually found
them to be really beneficial,and so when I wasn't commuting
all of the time, I actuallyreally missed that.
So bring that back into yourlife.
So if you were spending an houron the train and you were able
to read a book in that time, canyou do that at home?
Or if you can't do it, can youplay an audio book while you're
(11:06):
putting the washing on or whileyou're checking emails or while
you're doing something else?
So, sort of, bring those thingsback in.
So it might be the music thatyou were listening to on the
train.
It might be the audio book orthe book you were reading, or
you might've just been listeningto a podcast or whatever it is,
but can you bring a little bitof that into your day, even
(11:26):
though you're not traveling, ifthat was beneficial to you.
Is there a way of bringing thatin right?
And it might be also dependingon what your job is.
It might be putting some nicemusic on in the background that
you can kind of dance along toor sing along to.
Whatever it is.
The other thing, too is I wouldcreate structure.
So, depending on your job, somepeople their job has a lot of
(11:48):
structure around it, but otherpeople their job doesn't so much
.
And I find that for me, whenI've got clients booked in, I've
got a lot of structure.
But when I'm doing podcastingdepends.
If I'm podcasting with otherpeople, there's a lot of
structure.
If I'm podcasting on my own,well, I could do that anytime,
right, and the problem is Icould do that anytime is we
don't put structure around it.
(12:09):
So I try and put structurearound it.
So I look at my day and I say,okay, between this time and that
time I'm going to be recordingpodcasts, between this time and
that time I'm going to beuploading podcasts or whatever
it is.
But I put structure around myday.
So I say this time is the timeI'm going to have lunch, this
(12:30):
time's the time I'm going to gofor my walk.
And the reason I do that isbecause it keeps me functional.
Because if we don't havestructure, what we do is we
perseverate or we say, oh, I'lljust hang around here for a bit
longer, I'll just stay in bed abit longer, whatever it is, and
that's not good for your mentalhealth because what happens is
you don't get things done.
And that's not good for yourmental health because what
happens is you don't get thingsdone.
You feel bad about yourselfbecause you didn't get things
done or you cause yourselfstress because now you're
(12:51):
overwhelmed and you've got toget all things done really
quickly in a small amount oftime.
You don't get time to eat wellor go for a walk or whatever it
is.
So if you don't have structurein your job, create structure in
your job.
Even if you are the boss, youcan create structure and you
(13:12):
will find it makes a bigdifference when you have
structure in your day.
There's an old saying that ifyou want to get something done,
give it to someone who's busy todo it.
And that's absolutely true.
Busy people get stuff done.
And I've had this conversationwith I remember having this
conversation with a client awhile ago in regards to her days
, because she had gone from likefull on busy, busy job where
(13:32):
she was just constantly on thego, and then she all suddenly
she had free time and she had nostructure and it was actually
not good for her mental health.
She was getting nothing done.
I mean nothing, she wasn't evengetting out of her pajamas,
sort of thing, health, she wasgetting nothing done.
I mean nothing, she wasn't evengetting out of her pajamas,
sort of thing.
And so I said to her and she wasin a space where she did need
to defrag and she did need torest for a while, so I wasn't
(13:54):
sort of going to go overboardwith this, because she really
did need the rest but I said,you know what?
What I want you to start doingis I want you to start planning
something that you're going tobe doing every day.
And I said, whether it beyou're going to go shopping.
But I specifically said to herI remember now, because she
(14:17):
lived near a cinema and shereally wanted to go to the
movies all the time and nevergot to go.
So she finally had time to dothis and it was only a short
time in her life where this wasgoing to be available.
So I said what I want you to dois I want you to look at the
cinema schedule and I want youto plan on Tuesdays, whatever
day it is.
Okay, that's the day I'm goingto the cinema.
Okay, what time is the movie on?
The movie is on at 11.15.
All right, so now you know themovie is on at 11.15, you've got
(14:40):
things to get done, so it meansthat you have to get the
washing done before that so youcan have it hanging out before
you go to the movies.
It also means that on the wayto the cinema, maybe there is a
place that you need to go to thepost office or you need to get
something else done, so you getsomething else done while you're
on the way to the cinema.
(15:01):
When you finish the cinema,maybe you need to pick up some
shopping before you come home.
Right, and just what it did isit kind of encouraged her to be
doing two or three things in aday, not overwhelming, not
overdoing it, but because shehad a time.
Hers was a cinema time.
It could be a time of catchingup with a friend or whatever it
(15:23):
is, but it's just.
Or it could be a meeting time.
But when you have something onyour schedule, then what you do
is you plan around it, right,and so you create some sort of
structure when you've gotnothing on your schedule.
As human, there's somethingabout that that, when we've got
nothing on our schedule, wedon't seem to be able to achieve
anything.
When we put something on ourschedule, we can.
(15:45):
So there is a lot to be saidabout rituals and schedules and
things like that.
That can make a really bigdifference.
The other thing I would say aswell is be aware of the space
that you're in and if there'sanything you can do to improve
how it looks, so it might becleaning up your space, it might
be cleaning up your papers Ifyou are working in your bedroom,
(16:07):
if that's unfortunate if that'sthe case, but if you have to do
that, make your bed.
Even if you've got a filter andno one's seeing it, you see it.
So make your bed if you're inthat room all day, because that
might be really stressful foryou.
If you have to, or if you can apainting or a picture, a
photograph, whatever put apicture somewhere in the room.
That is a nice picture,something that makes you feel
(16:30):
good.
So it might be a picture of ananimal, it might be a picture of
your children, it might be apicture of the beach.
Whatever it is is, but justsomething positive in there.
But do think of your space aswell.
Are you getting fresh air whereyou're sitting?
Is there a way to get fresh airin that room?
Do you maybe need to have a fanor something on just to kind of
(16:51):
get a bit of air flowing?
You know all of those things.
But just think about your spaceand even just like the
ergonomics right, are yousitting in a chair that supports
you, or do you need a stand updesk?
But all of the things that canreally support you physically
and mentally when you work fromhome.
So I would just encourage youthat if you are someone who's
(17:13):
working from home or want towork from home, make plans.
So if you suddenly now have morefree time because you're not
traveling, then what are yougoing to use that travel time
for?
Use it for something useful.
So it might mean to get morework done, so that your life is
easier and that you can spendmore time with the kids when
they get home.
So it might be okay.
(17:34):
Instead of that travel time,I'm going to get more work done
and that means I can spend thewhole afternoon with the kids.
Or, if I get more work done, Ican have half a day off each
week.
So it might be something likethat.
It might be.
I'm going to use that to go tothe gym or to go for a walk, or
I'm going to use that time toprepare some really healthy food
, to make sure I've got somehealthy breakfast and something
(17:56):
healthy for my dinner and for mylunch, whatever it looks like.
But use that time productively.
So say now I've got an extratwo hours, three hours, whatever
it is in my day, because I'mnot traveling actively.
Choose what to do with thattime and do something that works
for you, whatever that lookslike, actively.
Create a schedule.
(18:16):
If you don't have one, createone, because a schedule makes
all the difference with ourhuman brains.
It's just something about aschedule that works a whole lot
better for us than when we kindof go, oh yeah, I'll get it done
.
When I get it done, we get tothe end of the day and we didn't
get it done right.
The other thing, too, is anykind of rituals.
I find rituals really, reallybeneficial.
(18:37):
So it might be the ritual, likeI said, chatting to your friend
in your break or having maybedoing working in a team on a
Zoom meeting together, whereeveryone's just doing their own
thing, but you're all there, soyou kind of just feel like
you've got someone around,walking or driving to your
nearest cafe or shop orsomething, just so that you see
someone and talk to someonethroughout the day, or shop or
(18:58):
something, just so that you seesomeone and talk to someone
throughout the day.
Maybe you can even go and workat a different space one day, so
it might be at your locallibrary or at a workspace that
you pay for.
A friend of you can ask online.
A friend might have an officewhere they have a space spare
for a couple of hours, whateverit is, but you might find just
picking up your laptop and goingto that space depending on your
(19:20):
job, what that looks like, thatjust being in a different space
might make all the difference.
Even a different space in yourhome might make all the
difference if you've got thatopportunity With some people.
It might mean, like I know thatthe mentor I used to work with,
shandu.
She often because she worksover the phone, she often just
shifts outside.
She lives in the Blue Mountainsso she shifts outside and she's
(19:42):
sitting outside with the birdsand things and sometimes that's
ideal, right, so she's notinside all of the day.
So there might be ways ofshifting yourself to the library
, to a friend's house who's gota nice balcony that you can sit
on or a room that you can use.
It's just a different room tothe one that you're always in,
whatever it is.
But sometimes being able tojust shift yourself to a
(20:04):
different space can make adifference.
If you can't shift yourself to adifferent space, like I said,
do something in your space thatshifts your space.
So a plant, a pitcher,something like that, a fan, open
the door to get some air,whatever it looks like, but
something you can do in thatspace that makes you feel better
in that space and makes youenjoy being in that space or
(20:25):
gives you a bit of a differentperspective.
So those things can make adifference.
But do make sure you speak to ahuman at least once every day,
especially if you live alone.
So if you live alone and youare working from home, you
really do have to make sureyou're talking to other people.
Sometimes, even if you're anintrovert, it's still good for
(20:45):
you to talk to some people someof the time.
Right, and, like I said, otherthings, think about your rituals
.
So think about what you'reeating, think about whether or
not you're listening to apodcast that you enjoy or some
music that you enjoy or an audiobook that you enjoy or allowing
time to read that.
So it might be having afive-minute break or a 10-minute
(21:07):
break every so many hours andthen just sitting and reading a
novel for 10 minutes whileyou're having a cup of tea,
right?
So whatever it is, but createritual, because human beings
love ritual.
We love to have at leastsomewhat of a schedule, because
that sort of just somehow we areable to function better with a
schedule.
If we don't have one sort of,you're just going to have to
(21:28):
spend the whole day on thelounge and not get anything done
.
So think about all those thingsand, like I said, getting
dressed, having a shower,getting dressed makes a big
difference to how we feel aboutourselves.
So to just be aware that, if youare working from home, look at
all the strategies that you needto do to manage your mental
health while you're doing this,and also know you know if you've
(21:50):
got options because, say,sometimes people do have an
option in their job.
They have an option to not workfrom home if that works better
for them, and that's okay aswell, like if there's an option
to work in an office and thatworks better for you, do that.
Or if you find there's anoption to do a bit of both and
that works for you, then do that.
So you might find that, as longas you go in once a week,
(22:11):
that's really good for you.
You feel much more connected toyour team.
You really enjoy that, and butthe rest of the time you just
get a lot more done if you're athome and you get to be around
the kids or you get to exercisemore or whatever it is for you.
So please be aware that workingfrom home can be really good in
(22:31):
some ways and not so good inothers.
You do have to have structurearound it and you do have to
plan for what that's going tolook like for you.
If we're not careful, we canend up in a real rut and end up
feeling we can feel quitedepressed.
If you're sitting around inyour pajamas, you're not eating
well, you're just going througha bag of chips and not eating
(22:54):
properly, you're not takingproper breaks, then you might
find that that's really gettingyou down.
So think of all the things thatyou would do if you were in an
office.
You probably would have had ashower, you would have gotten
dressed, you would have gonesomewhere, you would have walked
somewhere or driven somewhere,so you would have had a
different perspective.
You would have had time tolisten to the radio, whatever it
(23:15):
is.
So there are things you missout on when you are not
traveling to work.
So think about that.
What are you missing out on?
And it might be well I'mmissing out on the terrible
traffic.
Well, that's great, but itmight be.
Ash, you know what?
I normally would listen to theradio and I really enjoy that.
Or I 'd normally listen to anaudio book or a podcast.
(23:37):
We'll do that at home, allright.
So just don't kind of just workfrom home and that's it.
Think about how you're doing it.
What does it look like?
What does your space look like?
What breaks are you having?
What structure do you have andhow are you ensuring that you're
still connecting with humanbeings throughout the day,
depending on how important thatis to you?
(23:57):
It's important for all humanbeings, but for some it's a
whole lot more important thanothers.
So do that however that worksfor you, but really have a think
about how it's affecting yourmental health and what sort of
structure you need, and youmight even need structure.
Look, sometimes, if you're thesort of person that can create
structure for yourself, great.
(24:18):
If you are not, you might needto talk to.
If you do have a supervisor ora boss or someone you might have
to say, look, I'm not reallygood at creating structure for
myself, can you create it for me?
And they might say, all right,well, I want you to have
completed this work by this timeand I want you to have emailed
me or sent this to me by thistime.
Then you can have your breakand then I want you working on
(24:41):
the next thing and I want you tomessage me at midday to let me
know where you're up to on thesuch and such report, whatever
it is.
So create it for yourself.
Or if you can't and you'reworking for someone else or with
someone else, maybe ask themfor some sort of support, some
sort of check-in, some sort ofaccountability.
(25:02):
So, either createaccountability for yourself or,
if you struggle with that, maybesupport from other people to do
that, if you're in a positionto do that.
But essentially, what it comesdown to is know yourself, know
how you work well, know whatmotivates you, Know how to
manage yourself and your timeand know what you need, because
(25:26):
sometimes it's just puttingthought into things.
Because often we don't putthought into things and then we
wonder why we end up in thesituations that we're in.
And so sometimes, when you lookback, you do a bit of an audit
over what's going on.
You're like, okay, what do Imiss about the office?
Since I haven't been working inthe office, I'm noticing this,
this and this.
(25:47):
What's going on?
You do a bit of an audit.
What is it that you're notdoing now that you're doing in
the office?
How can you replicate that?
Or it might actually mean thatyou need to go find a job that
allows you to go and work in anoffice somewhere or in a place
of wherever it is an office, asupermarket, a factory, wherever
(26:07):
it is for you but go and workwith other people.
So maybe you just simply arenot the sort of person that
should be working from home, andthat's okay as well, right?
So just know yourself, and whenyou know yourself, you know
what you need to be doing tosupport your own mental health.
Obviously, working from homecan be really beneficial or not
(26:28):
so beneficial, depending on yourpersonality, depending on the
job, what it looks like how muchsupport you need and how much
you know if you're an introvertor extrovert.
All of those things will makethe difference.
Anyway, I hope you found thatuseful.
Now please like, subscribe,share and also review, rate and
(26:51):
review on whatever apps orwherever you're watching or
listening to this.
It really helps other peoplefind out about it.
It's really important to methat more people find out about
my podcast so I get to do moreof it.
So I hope you have a great week.
I'll talk to you next week.
Thanks, bye.
Hello and welcome to the Wellness Connection Podcast
with Fiona Kane.
Today I'm actually going to betalking about the effects of
working from home on your mentalhealth.
Now, we do know that obviously,for many of us over the last
few years, with the COVIDpandemic and all of the things
that ensued, many of us had towork from home.
(00:21):
Some of us still do work fromhome and some people do a bit of
a mixture, where they work fromhome sometimes and they're in
the office other times.
But it has really affected ourmental health and, look, for
some people it's been a goodthing and some people less so.
I suppose it depends on theindividual.
What we do know is I waslooking up the data here, right,
(00:49):
and they sort of said contextmatters.
So introverts might thrivewhile extroverts could struggle.
And that's true becauseextroverts rely on getting
energy from other people,whereas introverts actually get
quite drained from other people.
So they certainly, if you arean introvert, you might find
working from home a lot easier.
(01:10):
You're not spending expendingall that energy with other
people, whereas extroverts kindof would really struggle with
that because they're not gettingthat energy from other people.
But some of the other thingsI'm just going to sort of tell
you a little bit of the datahere.
So the prevalence of burnout so, according to Gallup data from
2021, fully remote workersexperienced burnout very often
(01:34):
or always, at a rate of 29%,compared to 25% for on-site
workers.
So it was more in people whowere working from home workers
sorry, so it was more in peoplewho were working from home.
The other thing was they lookedat the mental health decline
and they found that 41.6% ofremote workers reported a
(01:55):
decline in mental health, 45%felt less healthy mentally while
working from home and 50%reported disrupted sleep
patterns and poorer mentalhealth well-being.
Now, this was actually done, asurvey done during the COVID
pandemic, so obviously there'sother things that might affect
that as well.
(02:15):
There's a lot of stress goingon at that time for lots of
reasons.
So then there was another onein regards to isolation and
loneliness.
The American PsychiatricAssociation 2021 survey of 1,000
remote workers revealed thatnearly two-thirds felt isolated
or lonely at least sometimes,and 17% were all of the time.
(02:38):
67% struggled to disconnectfrom work at the end of the day.
So there's something about whenyou leave a premises that you
can disconnect a lot easier thanwhen it's sitting in your
computer Anxiety and depressionsymptoms.
They found 2023 US CensusHousehold Pulse Survey, 40% of
(02:59):
fully remote workers and 38% ofhybrid workers reported anxiety
and depression symptoms,compared to 35% of in-person
workers.
So that's sort of the negative.
Now, on the positive side, theyfound that tracking happiness
in remote workers in 2022,happiness at 7 out of 10
(03:19):
compared to 5.9 for full-timeworkers, and that was a survey
of 28,000 workers, and they feltthat 79% of remote workers
improved work-life balance.
So you know, it's a mixture ofthings, right?
So it depends on really doesdepend on the individual and on
(03:40):
the situation.
So, for example, on thesituation.
So, for example, I work fromhome, and most of the time, I
work from home.
The good thing for me, though,is my office is in a different
place in the home, so, whereas Ido know that I have a friend
that's been working from homefor a lot of years now, and
(04:00):
largely she works in her bedroom, now I think that that would be
very, very hard to do.
Work-life separation you get upand you sit in front of your
computer in your bedroom, andalso this is something even
though you can put filters andall the rest of it there's just
something too, about.
I think that when you turn theworld on into your bedroom
(04:21):
somehow, so whether it's atelevision or whether it's the
internet or whatever it is,there's something about the
world into your bedroom that isnot particularly healthy and so
energetically that I think thatwould affect your bedroom, might
affect your sleep as well.
I don't know, but when yourworkplace is your bedroom and so
a lot of these people too, whatI do know is they get up there
in their pajamas and they justsit in front of their computer
(04:42):
and then they work for 12 hours.
And you could see that, whileit's convenient to not travel,
so traveling can be quitestressful and challenging and
the hours we spend travelingcould have been spent doing
exercise, other things, butthat's not always the case of
what people do anyway.
(05:02):
So I suppose it depends on thesituation, but I feel like if
you are working from home, thereare some strategies that I
would recommend that you have tosort of help with your mental
health.
Now, if you do need other peoplearound, if you do need to talk
to other people, there's acouple of different strategies
you could use.
One could be if there is a chat, a work chat, that you can be
(05:26):
on where you can chat to people,or it might even be, if it
allows, depending on thesituation, to actually have some
phone chats with some people.
It might just be every day,even if it's just like on your
break.
On your break you sort of say,hey look, let's both have coffee
at our 11 o'clock break and canwe just have a quick chat.
(05:47):
And you might just have a quickphone chat, zoom chat whatever,
facetime whatever.
But that might really bebeneficial for you if that's a
colleague that you really getalong well with and you just
want to talk to someone and youjust want to have a bit of a
laugh with someone.
So sometimes what people mightdo is they might actually I know
(06:08):
that this is something I'vedone within the networking group
I'm in.
Sometimes they have workinggroups together where what we
will do is we will say, okay,I've got to get some stuff done.
I've really got to between 10and 12 today.
I'm going to make sure I get.
I'm going to write my blogs orI'm going to do whatever.
It is going to get stuff done.
But what we've done before iswe've got together on Zoom to do
(06:29):
it.
So while you might be on Zoomand you might turn off your
audio, whatever, and you mightjust all be doing your own thing
, but we're all there togetherdoing it.
So there's other people thereand, of course, because there's
other people there, you can chatif you want to or you can ask
for help.
You can sort of jump in and say, hey, I'm stuck.
You know, I'm writing this blogand I don't know what heading
should I use.
(06:49):
Whatever it is, or does someoneknow how to use this or fix
that or whatever it is?
So sometimes we will do thething where, as a group, we work
together but we're actually allworking individually.
So we're still all workingseparately at home, but we're
together as a group doing it,and there's something about that
that gives you a feeling of acamaraderie, a feeling of not
(07:09):
being completely alone, right?
So there might be differentstrategies like this that you
can use, where you still areconnecting with some other
people, or you still are talkingwith some other people or
seeing their face and having abit of a laugh with them in your
coffee break or something, soyou still feel like you're
connected of a laugh with themin your coffee break, or
something.
So you still feel like you'reconnected Like.
(07:31):
It might also mean, dependingon where you live, you might be
able to go for a drive or for awalk and go to the shops or
something, but just talking tothe lady at the cafe across the
road or at the supermarket orwhatever make a point of
actually talking to someone whenyou go out, even if it's like,
hey, the weather's nice today,or even if you're just smiling
at people when you go for yourwalk.
But there's just somethingabout just humanity seeing other
(07:51):
people talking to other peoplethat can be really really
helpful for some people.
So it sort of might be that theother thing would be to be
aware of taking breaks, even ifthe break is standing up and
sitting down.
So it might be you get, if youcan get, a desk that's like a
stand up, sit down desk.
I haven't got one of those yetbut I do plan to get one soon
(08:13):
because I wanted to try that butsort of just changing position,
because changing position isreally helpful, because if
you're sitting down for 8 to 12hours a day in one position and
you go to get up, you will findthat that's not going to be
really really helpful physicallyor mentally for you.
So the other things I suppose tolook at are things like the
(08:36):
normal things we would do to getready for the day.
So if you were going out, youwould get dressed, and I would
really recommend that you dothis.
Now you might find that onceupon a time I worked in the city
every day and I wore a suitevery day.
Now you might find that that'sover the top.
You don't want to do that, butI would still recommend you get
up and you have a shower and youget dressed.
(08:57):
So even whatever dress lookslike, but just not your pajamas
right, and even if it's a littlebit dressed, a little bit nice,
but get dressed.
There is something about ashuman beings, there's something
about these rituals thatactually make us feel better.
So when you get up and you havea shower and you get dressed
and for some people it mightmean putting some makeup on
(09:19):
whatever feels right for you,and it might be putting on some
nice clothes or even just a nicetop if you want to look nice to
your colleagues, whatever it is.
But there's just somethingabout that.
It's the kind of whole makeyour bed theory that when we
kind of get up and we get movingand we have these rituals, we
(09:39):
do feel good about ourselves.
You feel a lot better aboutyourself when you're clean and
you smell nice and your hair isclean and you've washed your
face and you've put on a niceshirt, than you do when you're
just sitting around in yourpajamas and you smell for
overnight because you've beensweating, whatever.
Okay, there's just somethingabout that that makes a
difference of how we feel aboutourselves, how we hold ourselves
(10:00):
.
You hold yourself upright, youknow.
So there's something that justpsychologically makes a big
difference when we have ritualsand we get ready for work.
And also, if you're saving timefrom not doing the driving, well
, what could you be doing inthat time?
Now, it might mean that you'regetting more sleep, because you
don't get as much sleep whenyou're doing the driving.
It might mean you're going fora walk in the morning or in the
(10:23):
afternoon or at lunchtime.
So there's different thingsthat you can do.
But what are the things thatyou can do that support your
health?
So, say, you're not doing thedriving or the catching the
train, well, what are the thingsyou can do?
And the other thing, actually,too, I used to listen.
Well, I used to read, actuallybecause it was back in the days
where you didn't have audiobooks.
(10:43):
I read so many books when I wascommuting and I actually found
them to be really beneficial,and so when I wasn't commuting
all of the time, I actuallyreally missed that.
So bring that back into yourlife.
So if you were spending an houron the train and you were able
to read a book in that time, canyou do that at home?
Or if you can't do it, can youplay an audio book while you're
(11:06):
putting the washing on or whileyou're checking emails or while
you're doing something else?
So, sort of, bring those thingsback in.
So it might be the music thatyou were listening to on the
train.
It might be the audio book orthe book you were reading, or
you might've just been listeningto a podcast or whatever it is,
but can you bring a little bitof that into your day, even
(11:26):
though you're not traveling, ifthat was beneficial to you.
Is there a way of bringing thatin right?
And it might be also dependingon what your job is.
It might be putting some nicemusic on in the background that
you can kind of dance along toor sing along to.
Whatever it is.
The other thing, too is I wouldcreate structure.
So, depending on your job, somepeople their job has a lot of
(11:48):
structure around it, but otherpeople their job doesn't so much
.
And I find that for me, whenI've got clients booked in, I've
got a lot of structure.
But when I'm doing podcastingdepends.
If I'm podcasting with otherpeople, there's a lot of
structure.
If I'm podcasting on my own,well, I could do that anytime,
right, and the problem is Icould do that anytime is we
don't put structure around it.
(12:09):
So I try and put structurearound it.
So I look at my day and I say,okay, between this time and that
time I'm going to be recordingpodcasts, between this time and
that time I'm going to beuploading podcasts or whatever
it is.
But I put structure around myday.
So I say this time is the timeI'm going to have lunch, this
(12:30):
time's the time I'm going to gofor my walk.
And the reason I do that isbecause it keeps me functional.
Because if we don't havestructure, what we do is we
perseverate or we say, oh, I'lljust hang around here for a bit
longer, I'll just stay in bed abit longer, whatever it is, and
that's not good for your mentalhealth because what happens is
you don't get things done.
And that's not good for yourmental health because what
happens is you don't get thingsdone.
You feel bad about yourselfbecause you didn't get things
done or you cause yourselfstress because now you're
(12:51):
overwhelmed and you've got toget all things done really
quickly in a small amount oftime.
You don't get time to eat wellor go for a walk or whatever it
is.
So if you don't have structurein your job, create structure in
your job.
Even if you are the boss, youcan create structure and you
(13:12):
will find it makes a bigdifference when you have
structure in your day.
There's an old saying that ifyou want to get something done,
give it to someone who's busy todo it.
And that's absolutely true.
Busy people get stuff done.
And I've had this conversationwith I remember having this
conversation with a client awhile ago in regards to her days
, because she had gone from likefull on busy, busy job where
(13:32):
she was just constantly on thego, and then she all suddenly
she had free time and she had nostructure and it was actually
not good for her mental health.
She was getting nothing done.
I mean nothing, she wasn't evengetting out of her pajamas,
sort of thing, health, she wasgetting nothing done.
I mean nothing, she wasn't evengetting out of her pajamas,
sort of thing.
And so I said to her and she wasin a space where she did need
to defrag and she did need torest for a while, so I wasn't
(13:54):
sort of going to go overboardwith this, because she really
did need the rest but I said,you know what?
What I want you to start doingis I want you to start planning
something that you're going tobe doing every day.
And I said, whether it beyou're going to go shopping.
But I specifically said to herI remember now, because she
(14:17):
lived near a cinema and shereally wanted to go to the
movies all the time and nevergot to go.
So she finally had time to dothis and it was only a short
time in her life where this wasgoing to be available.
So I said what I want you to dois I want you to look at the
cinema schedule and I want youto plan on Tuesdays, whatever
day it is.
Okay, that's the day I'm goingto the cinema.
Okay, what time is the movie on?
The movie is on at 11.15.
All right, so now you know themovie is on at 11.15, you've got
(14:40):
things to get done, so it meansthat you have to get the
washing done before that so youcan have it hanging out before
you go to the movies.
It also means that on the wayto the cinema, maybe there is a
place that you need to go to thepost office or you need to get
something else done, so you getsomething else done while you're
on the way to the cinema.
(15:01):
When you finish the cinema,maybe you need to pick up some
shopping before you come home.
Right, and just what it did isit kind of encouraged her to be
doing two or three things in aday, not overwhelming, not
overdoing it, but because shehad a time.
Hers was a cinema time.
It could be a time of catchingup with a friend or whatever it
(15:23):
is, but it's just.
Or it could be a meeting time.
But when you have something onyour schedule, then what you do
is you plan around it, right,and so you create some sort of
structure when you've gotnothing on your schedule.
As human, there's somethingabout that that, when we've got
nothing on our schedule, wedon't seem to be able to achieve
anything.
When we put something on ourschedule, we can.
(15:45):
So there is a lot to be saidabout rituals and schedules and
things like that.
That can make a really bigdifference.
The other thing I would say aswell is be aware of the space
that you're in and if there'sanything you can do to improve
how it looks, so it might becleaning up your space, it might
be cleaning up your papers Ifyou are working in your bedroom,
(16:07):
if that's unfortunate if that'sthe case, but if you have to do
that, make your bed.
Even if you've got a filter andno one's seeing it, you see it.
So make your bed if you're inthat room all day, because that
might be really stressful foryou.
If you have to, or if you can apainting or a picture, a
photograph, whatever put apicture somewhere in the room.
That is a nice picture,something that makes you feel
(16:30):
good.
So it might be a picture of ananimal, it might be a picture of
your children, it might be apicture of the beach.
Whatever it is is, but justsomething positive in there.
But do think of your space aswell.
Are you getting fresh air whereyou're sitting?
Is there a way to get fresh airin that room?
Do you maybe need to have a fanor something on just to kind of
(16:51):
get a bit of air flowing?
You know all of those things.
But just think about your spaceand even just like the
ergonomics right, are yousitting in a chair that supports
you, or do you need a stand updesk?
But all of the things that canreally support you physically
and mentally when you work fromhome.
So I would just encourage youthat if you are someone who's
(17:13):
working from home or want towork from home, make plans.
So if you suddenly now have morefree time because you're not
traveling, then what are yougoing to use that travel time
for?
Use it for something useful.
So it might mean to get morework done, so that your life is
easier and that you can spendmore time with the kids when
they get home.
So it might be okay.
(17:34):
Instead of that travel time,I'm going to get more work done
and that means I can spend thewhole afternoon with the kids.
Or, if I get more work done, Ican have half a day off each
week.
So it might be something likethat.
It might be.
I'm going to use that to go tothe gym or to go for a walk, or
I'm going to use that time toprepare some really healthy food
, to make sure I've got somehealthy breakfast and something
(17:56):
healthy for my dinner and for mylunch, whatever it looks like.
But use that time productively.
So say now I've got an extratwo hours, three hours, whatever
it is in my day, because I'mnot traveling actively.
Choose what to do with thattime and do something that works
for you, whatever that lookslike, actively.
Create a schedule.
(18:16):
If you don't have one, createone, because a schedule makes
all the difference with ourhuman brains.
It's just something about aschedule that works a whole lot
better for us than when we kindof go, oh yeah, I'll get it done
.
When I get it done, we get tothe end of the day and we didn't
get it done right.
The other thing, too, is anykind of rituals.
I find rituals really, reallybeneficial.
(18:37):
So it might be the ritual, likeI said, chatting to your friend
in your break or having maybedoing working in a team on a
Zoom meeting together, whereeveryone's just doing their own
thing, but you're all there, soyou kind of just feel like
you've got someone around,walking or driving to your
nearest cafe or shop orsomething, just so that you see
someone and talk to someonethroughout the day, or shop or
(18:58):
something, just so that you seesomeone and talk to someone
throughout the day.
Maybe you can even go and workat a different space one day, so
it might be at your locallibrary or at a workspace that
you pay for.
A friend of you can ask online.
A friend might have an officewhere they have a space spare
for a couple of hours, whateverit is, but you might find just
picking up your laptop and goingto that space depending on your
(19:20):
job, what that looks like, thatjust being in a different space
might make all the difference.
Even a different space in yourhome might make all the
difference if you've got thatopportunity With some people.
It might mean, like I know thatthe mentor I used to work with,
shandu.
She often because she worksover the phone, she often just
shifts outside.
She lives in the Blue Mountainsso she shifts outside and she's
(19:42):
sitting outside with the birdsand things and sometimes that's
ideal, right, so she's notinside all of the day.
So there might be ways ofshifting yourself to the library
, to a friend's house who's gota nice balcony that you can sit
on or a room that you can use.
It's just a different room tothe one that you're always in,
whatever it is.
But sometimes being able tojust shift yourself to a
(20:04):
different space can make adifference.
If you can't shift yourself to adifferent space, like I said,
do something in your space thatshifts your space.
So a plant, a pitcher,something like that, a fan, open
the door to get some air,whatever it looks like, but
something you can do in thatspace that makes you feel better
in that space and makes youenjoy being in that space or
(20:25):
gives you a bit of a differentperspective.
So those things can make adifference.
But do make sure you speak to ahuman at least once every day,
especially if you live alone.
So if you live alone and youare working from home, you
really do have to make sureyou're talking to other people.
Sometimes, even if you're anintrovert, it's still good for
(20:45):
you to talk to some people someof the time.
Right, and, like I said, otherthings, think about your rituals
.
So think about what you'reeating, think about whether or
not you're listening to apodcast that you enjoy or some
music that you enjoy or an audiobook that you enjoy or allowing
time to read that.
So it might be having afive-minute break or a 10-minute
(21:07):
break every so many hours andthen just sitting and reading a
novel for 10 minutes whileyou're having a cup of tea,
right?
So whatever it is, but createritual, because human beings
love ritual.
We love to have at leastsomewhat of a schedule, because
that sort of just somehow we areable to function better with a
schedule.
If we don't have one sort of,you're just going to have to
(21:28):
spend the whole day on thelounge and not get anything done
.
So think about all those thingsand, like I said, getting
dressed, having a shower,getting dressed makes a big
difference to how we feel aboutourselves.
So to just be aware that, if youare working from home, look at
all the strategies that you needto do to manage your mental
health while you're doing this,and also know you know if you've
(21:50):
got options because, say,sometimes people do have an
option in their job.
They have an option to not workfrom home if that works better
for them, and that's okay aswell, like if there's an option
to work in an office and thatworks better for you, do that.
Or if you find there's anoption to do a bit of both and
that works for you, then do that.
So you might find that, as longas you go in once a week,
(22:11):
that's really good for you.
You feel much more connected toyour team.
You really enjoy that, and butthe rest of the time you just
get a lot more done if you're athome and you get to be around
the kids or you get to exercisemore or whatever it is for you.
So please be aware that workingfrom home can be really good in
(22:31):
some ways and not so good inothers.
You do have to have structurearound it and you do have to
plan for what that's going tolook like for you.
If we're not careful, we canend up in a real rut and end up
feeling we can feel quitedepressed.
If you're sitting around inyour pajamas, you're not eating
well, you're just going througha bag of chips and not eating
(22:54):
properly, you're not takingproper breaks, then you might
find that that's really gettingyou down.
So think of all the things thatyou would do if you were in an
office.
You probably would have had ashower, you would have gotten
dressed, you would have gonesomewhere, you would have walked
somewhere or driven somewhere,so you would have had a
different perspective.
You would have had time tolisten to the radio, whatever it
(23:15):
is.
So there are things you missout on when you are not
traveling to work.
So think about that.
What are you missing out on?
And it might be well I'mmissing out on the terrible
traffic.
Well, that's great, but itmight be.
Ash, you know what?
I normally would listen to theradio and I really enjoy that.
Or I 'd normally listen to anaudio book or a podcast.
(23:37):
We'll do that at home, allright.
So just don't kind of just workfrom home and that's it.
Think about how you're doing it.
What does it look like?
What does your space look like?
What breaks are you having?
What structure do you have andhow are you ensuring that you're
still connecting with humanbeings throughout the day,
depending on how important thatis to you?
(23:57):
It's important for all humanbeings, but for some it's a
whole lot more important thanothers.
So do that however that worksfor you, but really have a think
about how it's affecting yourmental health and what sort of
structure you need, and youmight even need structure.
Look, sometimes, if you're thesort of person that can create
structure for yourself, great.
(24:18):
If you are not, you might needto talk to.
If you do have a supervisor ora boss or someone you might have
to say, look, I'm not reallygood at creating structure for
myself, can you create it for me?
And they might say, all right,well, I want you to have
completed this work by this timeand I want you to have emailed
me or sent this to me by thistime.
Then you can have your breakand then I want you working on
(24:41):
the next thing and I want you tomessage me at midday to let me
know where you're up to on thesuch and such report, whatever
it is.
So create it for yourself.
Or if you can't and you'reworking for someone else or with
someone else, maybe ask themfor some sort of support, some
sort of check-in, some sort ofaccountability.
(25:02):
So, either createaccountability for yourself or,
if you struggle with that, maybesupport from other people to do
that, if you're in a positionto do that.
But essentially, what it comesdown to is know yourself, know
how you work well, know whatmotivates you, Know how to
manage yourself and your timeand know what you need, because
(25:26):
sometimes it's just puttingthought into things.
Because often we don't putthought into things and then we
wonder why we end up in thesituations that we're in.
And so sometimes, when you lookback, you do a bit of an audit
over what's going on.
You're like, okay, what do Imiss about the office?
Since I haven't been working inthe office, I'm noticing this,
this and this.
(25:47):
What's going on?
You do a bit of an audit.
What is it that you're notdoing now that you're doing in
the office?
How can you replicate that?
Or it might actually mean thatyou need to go find a job that
allows you to go and work in anoffice somewhere or in a place
of wherever it is an office, asupermarket, a factory, wherever
(26:07):
it is for you but go and workwith other people.
So maybe you just simply arenot the sort of person that
should be working from home, andthat's okay as well, right?
So just know yourself, and whenyou know yourself, you know
what you need to be doing tosupport your own mental health.
Obviously, working from homecan be really beneficial or not
(26:28):
so beneficial, depending on yourpersonality, depending on the
job, what it looks like how muchsupport you need and how much
you know if you're an introvertor extrovert.
All of those things will makethe difference.
Anyway, I hope you found thatuseful.
Now please like, subscribe,share and also review, rate and
(26:51):
review on whatever apps orwherever you're watching or
listening to this.
It really helps other peoplefind out about it.
It's really important to methat more people find out about
my podcast so I get to do moreof it.
So I hope you have a great week.
I'll talk to you next week.
Thanks, bye.
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