The COVID emergency pushed a huge share of the workforce to work from home. With lockdowns forcing everyone to stay home, many companies allowed their employees to work remotely to keep things running.
There’s no playbook for returning to work after a global pandemic — this is the first time for all of us. Still, there are science-based ways to manage your anxiety, communicate more effectively with others, and stay productive during this unusual time.
Many of you reading this have been working this way for weeks now. We’re fortunate to be able to do this, but the current situation also brings a lot of stress.
Choose a Calming Activity:
Your commute is a part of the day that can be a source of stress or a chance to reset. If you’re using public transportation, listen to a favorite playlist.
When you step outside, focus on your breathing or take a moment to look around and take in the sights and sounds.
Communicate to Boost Motivation:
Each of us faced unique challenges during the pandemic that will shape our experience as we return to the workplace.
Practicing empathy can ease symptoms of depression and improve emotional wellbeing, and even benefit our physical health.
When we find ways to support our coworkers, we feel more connected and motivated each day.
We may be grieving the loss of loved ones, unexpectedly facing financial hardship, navigating canceled life events, coping with fear as caregivers, or managing the fear of catching the virus as the country reopens.
Plan Your Day and Build a Routine:
For many who suddenly had to work from home, their usual routine was thrown off. Build a routine for your new remote work setup and stick with it. Get up, eat, exercise, and go to bed around the same time each day.
This gives you the structure, space, and stability you need to stay balanced. Where they used to get up at six, go for a run, walk the dog, eat, and drive to work, they’re now stuck with a different routine.
Still, routine matters when it comes to keeping your mood stable and reducing stress and anxiety. It gives your day structure to anchor itself to.
Consider Whether It’s a Deeper Issue:
For some people who experience anxiety while working remotely, the tips here will be enough to ease or reduce that stress. Over time, they figure out how to manage this new way of working.
Propranolol, for instance, is an effective anxiety treatment that has been shown to help chronic patients manage their condition, and propranolol tablets from a licensed pharmacy are available following a private assessment by a qualified clinician.
Medication should only be considered if you have a genuine mental health concern and other options have been exhausted. When in doubt, always talk to your doctor.
For others, though, this anxiety may be a sign of something deeper — an underlying mental health condition rather than a passing mood.
Exercise:
Exercise remains one of the most effective things you can do to reduce stress and anxiety, whether you’re working remotely or not. A good workout session releases chemicals known as endorphins into the body.
It’s still entirely possible to get a solid, intense workout at home. If you’re not used to exercising regularly, it’s important to start small.
Get moving and boost your energy through exercise. Get comfortable with the routine and movements, and build from there.
This gives you a practical framework with a long-term stress-reducing effect. These chemicals change the way you perceive pain and improve your mood, similar to how morphine works in the body.
Redefine Productivity:
One silver lining of the pandemic is that it’s forced us to recognize the need to look after our wellbeing in order to reach our full potential. Thrive Sciences found that 89% of employees struggled with work-life balance.
We’ve also seen what sustained high stress can do to our physical health and immune systems.
We now have a unique opportunity to make maintaining our physical and mental wellbeing a non-negotiable part of productivity and success. During times of crisis, we experience heightened stress because of endless work and constant distractions.
Maintain Contact With Your Loved Ones:
It’s easy to lose our usual social routines during lockdowns. Without the connection to friends, coworkers, and family that comes from leaving the house, we often let our regular social networks slip without realizing it.
Because of this, it’s important to find ways to talk with friends, family, or colleagues. This shouldn’t feel forced, but it’s essential to stay connected with the rest of the world as much as reasonably possible.
We could unintentionally go days or even weeks without talking to anyone and not even notice. But this mainly serves to increase our levels of stress and anxiety.
