Overcoming The Negative Effects Of Working From Home
How to embrace change and stay true to yourself.
We were forced to adjust as a result of the pandemic. For most, it was wearing a mask and being socially distant, and for many, it was learning to work from home comfortably. It was a major adjustment for me, and I’m someone who has partially worked from home off and on for the past 5 years. The day the office sent me home I thought, “This is great, it’ll be just like old times and now I won’t have to drive in the snow at all — I’m sure I’ll be back in the office soon though.” Little did I know, I’d be working from home permanently. Don’t get me wrong, working from home is great! I can work in comfy clothes, I save money on gas, and I completely bypass driving in inclement weather. I no longer have to sit in traffic on the way to and from work, and no more eating on the go; I can eat comfortable meals at home, it’s been a blessing!
With every change, however, does come sacrifice; for me, the biggest adjustment was daily, in-person engagement. I’m sure most will agree when I say that interacting with your spouse at home all day is certainly not the same as interacting with your peers at work, or even with the barista on our morning coffee run, or the cashier at Target. It’s amazing how not being able to converse with another human being face-to-face can have such a major negative effect when it comes to our overall confidence and sanity.
After a few months of working from home and being socially distant, I was used to my new routine and thought nothing of it, this was my new life for now and I was sure things would go back to normal. As we all know they didn’t, well not right away at least.
By spring, I was told that I would be working from home permanently but I wasn’t worried; I was fully vaccinated and so were my friends and family, things were starting to open back up, and summer was right around the corner, what could go wrong?! In theory nothing, as long as I followed the rules, but in actuality a lot of things were wrong and unfortunately they were all with me.
When I started participating in social gatherings with my friends and family and going out in public to somewhat mimic what my old routine used to look like, I started to notice that something wasn’t right with me. I was nervous all the time, I had this overwhelming feeling that something bad was going to happen, and I would suddenly start feeling uneasy for no good reason. What was wrong with me? I was being safe and so was everyone I chose to associate with, and I wasn’t abusing our newfound freedom so what could be the problem? Well, while I was basking in the delight of working from home and staying in my comfort zone, I failed to do two of the most important things, continue regular physical and mental stimulation.
I went from working out, being social, working from home occasionally, and running around all day, every day, to being at home 24hrs a day and 7 days a week because that was all I could do. Although partially true, I could have at least continued to follow my fitness routine from home and stepped outside for some fresh air and a daily walk or run but I didn’t do any of it, for almost a full year. It may seem like common sense but with everything else that was going on I never thought about how not engaging in any physical activity could be so harmful. Regular physical activity is proven to promote several overall health benefits including but not limited to mental and emotional health.
After realizing that my feelings of anxiousness and panic were due to lack of movement, I did what I always do when I realize that a change needs to be made, I started making moves fast and in this case quite literally.
Walking around my neighborhood every day (1 mile), and tracking my activity on my Apple Watch became my go-to workout.
Meditating was also something that I incorporated into my daily routine; and while walking helped me with physical activity, meditating helped me exercise my mind and manage my anxiety and stress levels.
As I became more concerned with my physical and mental health, I also worked on improving my nutritional health by joining Weight Watchers.
I also discovered that Apple Fitness+ is a great tool to do your workouts at home; I’ll have an article about my experience with that service coming soon.
In addition to being mindful of my physical activity, I also made it a point to start leaving the house more frequently even if it was just to run to my local grocery store to pick something up, or hop in my car and take a ride for a change of scenery.
As simple as these changes were, they played a major role in improving my overall well-being and mental state. I can confidently say that I am feeling much better than I did when I was staying at home in my comfort zone. When attempting to establish any new routine or habit, we must remain focused and consistent if we want to see lasting results; if you put your mind to it you can truly overcome any obstacle.
If you’d like more in-depth information regarding my journey with Meditation and Weight Watchers, please refer to my previous articles entitled:
