Supporting Employee Mental Health.

The theme for this year’s mental health week 2022 is loneliness.

So, we thought we’d pull a few things together to help support workers out there who may be feeling lonely due to remote working.

The pandemic (covid-19) has catapulted a significant proportion of UK business operations online. Resulting in many people having to work from the comfort of their own homes.

Remote working isn’t something new, however, back in 2020, the pandemic gave rise to the largest experiment in remote working. And for many people, it has been a problematic transition, especially when it comes to mental well-being.

Many of us continue to work remotely, whether that be because of hybrid models or simply a requirement of the business. However, working remotely in isolated environments, especially without the level of human interaction we were accustomed to pre-pandemic. This can be very challenging and especially for people living by themselves.

Here, we’ve distilled some information and resources we hope will help support your mental health when working from home:

·      7 simple tips to tackle working from home - The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has meant big life changes for us all, including adjusting to new ways of working. While some of us have returned to our normal workplace, many are still working from home or going through a phased return. Working from home does have perks that some of us enjoy (bye-bye commute!), but for many among us, changes like these have been challenging too. Feeling stress, lack of motivation, anxiety and uncertainty is completely normal. Alongside this, many of us might be worried about future job prospects or the best way to juggle work with our personal and family life. These simple tips can help you feel more productive and motivated and take care of your mental health while working from home.

·      How to cope with loneliness and improve your mental health. – Remote working, in isolated environments, can create loneliness for many people and dealing with loneliness can be difficult, but there are things we can all do to cope with loneliness and prevent some of the negative feelings and mental health problems that can come with it. Here are some coping strategies that you might find useful.

·      Coronavirus and your wellbeing – Mind are the UK’s leading mental health charity that provides some invaluable resources, with practical pointers you can implement to improve your mindset.

·      3 tips to avoid WFH burnout – Employees might find themselves feeling like they need to work all the time to signal their devotion and productivity — and, as a result, may struggle to create healthy boundaries. Even more than before the pandemic, afternoons will blend with evenings, and weekdays will blend with weekend days, leaving a sense of little time off. So, how can we “leave our work at the door” if we are no longer going out the door? Research shows it will be important to 1) maintain physical and social boundaries; 2) maintain boundaries on how you use your time, and 3) focus on your most important work.

·      Support yourself and your colleagues  – communication is key and keeping regular communication with your colleagues is great for your state of mind. Mental Health at Work has produced several toolkits to help with this.