The Impact of Working From Home on Mental Health: Is It Necessarily a Problem?
Many employees have been surprised at how stressful the sudden shift to remote working has been. As a result of the pandemic, anxiety and depression in the workplace have increased significantly. Three ways working from home can negatively affect our mental health. People are more likely to feel alone when they lack the support they need. Work from home can also increase the workload because of the need to adapt. Thirdly, virtual meetings back to back are becoming a new trend that is not possible in a physical office.
The Impact of Remote Working on Mental Health
However, employees are also becoming more open about their mental health problems. Hence the rise of Remote Employee Programs. The main objective of these programs is to combat and reduce the stigma around mental health problems by improving the discussion and disclosure of these issues. Moreover, people are starting to understand that the solution does not lie in creating policies that exclude remote workers, but rather in finding the right balance between work and personal life. Work-from-home programs have been shown to be extremely effective in the workplace. Employees who choose to work from home are more satisfied and engaged than those who work in offices. The research shows that this lack of face-to-face contact might actually improve work performance.
The Impact of Workplace Stress
Working from home has recently been described as modern-day cancer. With employers putting more emphasis on the productivity of their teams, taking employees away from office environments has become the norm. These working patterns can cause changes in your body and how you respond to stress. Working from home can cause less fatigue, as your blood pressure doesn’t spike, leaving you able to focus better. It can also improve the amount of sleep you are able to have as your circadian rhythm becomes aligned. In a workplace that is stressful, your working habits change as a result of having to concentrate harder in what are less able environments. While you are doing your tasks, you might feel more energized and awake than usual, making you think you can push harder for your company.
The Impact of Workload
The workload is increasing in the most inopportune moments such as deadlines, events, and other work issues that we have to cope with. During busy moments, employees are also expected to listen to daily updates from managers who are busy with important events. When our workload is so great, we tend to feel overwhelmed. This could lead to burnout and mental exhaustion. Workplace Stresses, Medication, and Health Issues Work overload is very bad for our health. Many studies have found links between work overload and high blood pressure, heart disease, and some cancers. Work overload is especially problematic for women and younger people as they tend to have higher stress levels than men.
Conclusion
In order to combat the negative effects of working from home, it is important to understand the key causes that can lead to this life change. In doing so, it is possible to plan ahead for the change and incorporate measures to avoid the negative outcomes of working from home.
