5 psychological tips for working from home efficiently

Some psychological tips and recommendations to perform well when working from home.

Telecommuting is an increasingly common practice, especially after the worldwide crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But working from home entails a series of effects that not everyone experiences equally and that can have certain repercussions at various levels, including psychological. Therefore, in this article we will explore the positive and negative sides of telecommuting, as well as several psychological tips for working from home in a way that is feasible and doesn't cause burnout. and does not generate wear and tear.

Teleworking enters with force in the working world

The new technologies every time make easier to be able to telework, and this is a trend that many companies have been adopting in recent times.. The coronavirus crisis that followed the coronavirus has only accelerated this process by leaps and bounds, as many companies have been faced with the choice of either allowing their employees to work from home or suspending the company's activities until it is possible to return to the office.

Faced with this dilemma, many companies have logically opted for the first option and have provided workers with the means to perform their tasks from their own homes, a situation that in many cases has also been imposed by the need to take care of young children, as all schools are closed due to the confinement in Spain and many other countries, so that a huge number of families have had to combine their parental and work obligations.

Many people have sought psychological advice for working from home, as a result of this situation, in many cases, it has been a totally drastic change that has completely modified people's routines, and this has provoked a series of psychological problems.This has caused a series of effects on people at a psychological level. Some of them have been of a positive nature, while others have been a change for the worse. The first case does not imply any problem, but in the second case it is convenient to look for alternatives to improve.

The 5 best psychological tips for working from home

As we saw in the previous point, if teleworking has meant a disturbance for the person's life, the best thing to do is to benefit from this list of psychological tips for working from home. In them are the main keys to be able to carry out the work activity in the own domicile without this supposes a perturbation in our spirit.

1. Routines

To maintain an ideal mental stability it is very advisable to maintain a series of routines. to maintain a series of routines even though we are working from the comfort of our home.. Just as when we had to go to the office or work center of any kind, we must proceed with the same actions before starting the workday, and this includes grooming routines, breakfast (assuming that the work is in the morning shift) and clothing.

This last point is important, since many people are tempted to take off their pajamas just for the sake of comfort. On a psychological level it is important to change clothes, not necessarily to put on a suit, a shirt or an elegant dress, but to wear different clothes from the one we use to sleep, even if it is a simple tracksuit, to make a difference on a psychological level between personal and professional life, even if they are developed in the same place.

In some professions, meetings are common, which in this case will be done through video call platforms. Some workers choose to change their attire only on days when they have one of these meetings, but this is not enough to generate the routine we were talking about. Therefore, it is it is advisable to have an attire for working hours, because even if other people are not going to see us.Because even if other people are not going to see us, we are going to see ourselves, and that is the most important thing.

2. Work space

Another of the psychological tips for working from home has to do with the work space. It is clear that the personal situation of each one limits the possibilities in this sense, since there will be people who have a room enabled ex profeso as office, with all the necessary elements to be able to develop its labor activity without problem, whereas others will live in a small study and evidently they will have more complications at the time of finding the suitable space.

Therefore, we must adapt to the options available to usassuming their basic limitations. If we do not have ample space, we can always set up a small work space with a chair and a table, always avoiding the temptation to work from the sofa and much less from the bed. The question of the chair is especially important, and it is preferable that it be a swivel chair, with wheels, although sometimes we will have to settle for a conventional one.

However, we have to keep in mind that we are going to be using a swivel chair, we have to take into account that we are going to spend many hours sitting in it.Therefore, whenever possible, it is worth making a small investment to obtain a desk chair, if we do not have one, since using other seats will most likely end up leading to Muscle pain, tension and therefore psychological effects such as bad mood, or even anxious-depressive symptoms, due to prolonged discomfort over time.

3. Disconnection

Teleworking has some obvious advantages, such as the fact of avoiding any kind of displacement, so that in this new situation, the worker recovers a part of his time every day. (in some cases we are even talking about hours) that were previously lost only in transportation to and from work, in many cases crammed into public transportation or enduring endless traffic jams in private vehicles, with all the stress and mental negativity that this entailed on a psychological level.

By not having to leave home, this dynamic is completely suspended, which is positive. But, on the other hand, other issues arise that are important to take into account. That is why one of the psychological tips for working from home is to disconnect. It is not uncommon that, taking advantage of the fact that the line between home and workplace is blurring, so are the schedules of private and working life.

For this reason, and to avoid possible psychological damage (stress or anxiety, among others), We must be strict in establishing a clear work schedule and not overextend ourselves, so once the workday is over, and just as if we were in the office and went home, the work-related activity must end.Therefore, once the working day is over, and just as it would happen if we were in the office and went home, the work-related activity must end. If we enter into the dynamic of extending the working day or performing tasks at hours that do not correspond, we will be setting a dangerous precedent.

If we do not generate a disconnection once we have finished our working day, we will run the risk of diluting our work-related activity, we run the risk of blurring the boundary between work and leisure and private life in general, having the constant feeling of not leaving the workplace.If we do not generate a disconnection once we have finished our working day, we run the risk of blurring the boundary between work and leisure and private life in general, having the constant feeling of not leaving the workplace, with the corresponding mental wear and tear that this will generate. Hence the importance of strictly complying with certain schedules, except for reasons of force majeure at some point in time.

4. Distractors

One of the great dangers of teleworking is the enormous number of distractions we have at home.. From the computer itself (assuming you do not have limited access to certain connections only for work activity), cell phone applications, visits to the kitchen, etc.. Of course, if there are also other people at home, especially children, the situation becomes even more uncontrollable, so it will be important to establish certain limits.

One of the psychological tips for working from home is to be disciplined in eliminating distractions. to do this we can use simple tricks. For example, if we cannot avoid looking at the phone every few minutes to check if we have new notifications, the best thing to do is to leave it in another room so as not to be tempted. We can also establish specific times for breaks and lunch, so that we do not waste time with continuous raids on the coffee pot or the refrigerator.

5. Getting out of the house

The last of this list of psychological tips for working from home is fundamental, and often forgotten. It is, no more and no less, to leave the house at least for a while every day. And the fact is that, when we unify the place where we live with the place where we work, we run the risk of falling into extreme isolation, which can take its toll on us psychologically. that can take its toll on us psychologically.

That is why we should go outdoors, either at the end of the day or during some of the breaks we take, so that we can receive sunlight (essential to generate vitamin D), breathe fresh air, walk and also see and interact with other people. They are a series of essential elements to maintain a good physical and mental state, and we can obtain them simply by going out in the street.

Bibliographical references:

• Alonso, M.B., Cifre, E. (2002). Telework and health: a new challenge for Psychology. Papers of the psychologist.
• Gareca, M., Verdugo, R., Briones, J.L., Vera, A. (2007). Occupational health and telework. Science and work.
• Suárez-Barros, A.S. (2016). Telework: reality and well-being. Desbordes.