Most recently updated November 24th, 2022
Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes
Have you become a remote worker recently due to circumstances beyond your control? Whether you have chosen remote work, or it’s been thrust upon you, it can be a difficult transition for you and your whole family.
You can find yourself getting stressed, socially awkward, and extra fluffy 🙂
And this can add additional stress, which creates a really bad cycle that it’s best to avoid altogether.
So, that said, what’s the best way to protect your mental and physical health when you’re suddenly forced to work from your home???
People who had already chosen to work remotely before any Stay At Home mandates have probably figured this out already.
But for those who became remote workers overnight due to the COVID-19 health crisis response or other sudden life change, this could be a problem – especially if there’s no end in sight.
As an aside, I joined the workforce when there was no such thing as “remote” work, because there were no laptops, internet or cell phones.
…. I’ll pause here so you can say “Okay, Boomer” 🙂
I also remember when working remotely was the shiny new Holy Grail of work situations, and only the Cool Kids got to do it.
The rest of us had to fight family, school buses and traffic to make it into the office on time despite a blizzard or an illness that had you burning with fever.
Those days are not entirely gone, but most companies now recognize natural disasters, communicable diseases, and different time-zones within Global teams as valid reasons to work off-site.
Fortunately, with today’s technology everyone is able to work remotely as needed, if your business will allow it.
Some people work remotely 100% of the time now and some younger workers have NEVER had an office-based job.
At this point in my career, I’ve worked in all kinds of remote, half-remote, on-site only, etc etc situations, and I have to say – I really like working from home most of all!
But working remotely is not everyone’s favorite thing.
When working from home – whether it’s as someone’s else’s employee or as your own boss – there are a lot of bad habits you can fall into.
Finding the discipline to manage your time and ignore distractions, especially if you’ve also got kids at home – never mind anxiety about world events, or depression due to isolation – may be unusually difficult.
And staying focused enough to get some exercise and eat right can be almost impossible!
There are some tricks I’ve learned over the years that might help you 🙂