How to look after your mental health while working from home

As the government announces social distancing measures, what can we do to look after our own mental health? We will continue to update this article as the situation changes with the most up-to-date advice.

On March 16^th the UK government announced social distancing measures for everybody, not just those who are experiencing symptoms of coronavirus and other illnesses. We don’t know how long this will last. This is unlike anything most of us have experienced before, and it can feel strange, confusing and overwhelming.

A lot of us will be working from home which prevents us from having our usual daily interactions. This is bound to have an impact on our mental health. So what can we do to help ourselves and look after others during this time? We’ve put together some tips and ideas.

Checking the news and social media about covid-19

The frequent news updates and stories on social media are making it near impossible to avoid news about coronavirus. If this is making you feel anxious, turn off notifications and delete apps if you can’t help but check them throughout the day. You can also use apps like Offtime, which allow you to block certain apps for certain periods of time. Try to only check the news once in the morning and once in the evening – this is enough to keep you up to date, and safe. Any advice you read should come from reliable sources. Check the UK Government website or the NHS website for the most up-to-date advice when it comes to your physical health, travel and work.

Don’t believe everything you see on social media! Be careful whose accounts you’re getting information from. Avoid clicking on coronavirus hashtags or reading comments on news articles if you find the information triggering to scroll through. You can also mute Twitter accounts and WhatsApp groups – the people on the other end won’t be able to tell.

Looking after your mental health while working from home

As many of us are now working from home, we’ve got to navigate this new way of working together. Try to treat your working day like any other, get up in good time before you start work, shower, get dressed, take regular breaks throughout the day and eat properly. Keep your workspace clear and clutter-free (as much as possible).

If you live in a shared house, discuss your boundaries with your housemates so that you all know when it’s time to work vs play. Obviously, this is more difficult if you have children!

Organising teamwork while working from home long-term may be new territory for some businesses. Try to keep in regular contact with people in your team. Have regular video calls and phone calls to try to keep social interactions happening. You even organise a 15-minute virtual coffee break as a team. If you haven’t heard from someone in your team for a while, check-in with them to see if there’s anything they need, or if they fancy a chat.

If you manage a team, make sure that your team has lots of opportunities to tell you if this new way of working is going ok. Take all concerns seriously. Big changes to how we work can feel very stressful for people, and it’s important your staff know that they can tell you if things aren’t working for them and you can work through the problem together. If you are working on reduced staff numbers, think about making sure that the staff you do have at work have a manageable workload.

Outside of work hours, make time to do all the things you usually enjoy doing. Watch a funny film, call your friends and play games.

If you’re not self-isolating, try and get outside during the day. Walking for 20 minutes can do wonders for your mental health.

Maintaining good mental health throughout this time may be difficult. Keep in contact with friends and family to keep up social interaction and to make sure the other person is coping. Offer to be an arm of support to those who need it. If you’ve got a lot of anxious thoughts, try writing them down in a journal. Sometimes getting it out on paper can help to clear your mind.

Keep in contact with friends and family to keep up social interaction and to make sure the other person is coping. Offer to be an arm of support to those who need it.

– Laura Peters, Head of Advice and Information at Mental Health UK

Keeping active at home during self-isolation

Our physical and mental health and undeniably linked, so it’s important to stay active, even if we don’t feel like it! When you’re working from home it can be easy to sit on the sofa all day where it’s comfortable, eat unbalanced meals and snack. However, it’s important to keep a balanced lifestyle. For healthy meal ideas Google is a hugely useful resource!

If running outdoors isn’t your thing, there are lots of ways you can stay active from the comfort of your own home. YouTube has plenty of yoga sessions and workout videos you can follow along to. Be sure to leave enough space for yourself to avoid injury!

Samaritans: Free emotional support line open 24/7, on 116 123

Rethink Mental Illness: Contact them 9:30am to 4pm Monday to Friday via webchat, email ([email protected]), or phone 0300 5000 972.

Sane: Emotional support line 0300 304 7000 4.30pm – 10.30pm daily

Support in Mind Scotland: Call their National Information Service on 0300 323 1545 Monday to Friday 9am-3.30pm or email [email protected].

For the latest mental health news, key mental health contacts and information on legislation and rights, visit: Mental Health Wales

Clic is a free, moderated online community which gives people in Wales the space to connect with others, talk about their mental health and build friendships.

Adferiad Recovery is the leading charity in Wales delivering a flexible and coordinated response to the exceptional circumstances faced by people with co-occurring mental health and substance misuse conditions and related issues.

Adferiad Recovery harnesses the talents and experience of long-established and leading Welsh charities CAIS, Hafal and WCADA with combined expertise in the fields of substance misuse, mental health, housing, criminal justice and employment support enables Adferiad Recovery to meet the needs of our most vulnerable with a single, unified and comprehensive approach.

Visit Adferiad Recovery for more information on their services across Wales, plus their latest news and campaigns.

Here2Help is a Northern Ireland focused app that uses information from MindingYourHead. It contains a huge range of support services to contact if you need help or are supporting someone else. Download it on Google Play Store and the Apple iTunes App Store.

Aware hold online support groups for people who are affected by depression or bipolar disorder on a Tuesday afternoon from 2.30pm – 3.30pm. Find out more: https://www.aware-ni.org/how-we-can-help-you/aware-ni-online-support-groups

Extern: during this difficult time Extern offer over the phone support for those impacted by mental health, drugs, alcohol and have thoughts of suicide. Their crisis intervention helpline number is: 0800 085 4808 you can also email [email protected] or call 07442533165