With more of us working from home, working remotely or changing our usual routines, we have put together some tips to help you look after your wellbeing.
If you have your own tips and tricks, things that have helped you or your teams, that you would like to share please email talktous@surreychoices.com.
Sticking to a familiar routine helps – it’s still a workday. Keep your alarm set to its usual time and get showered and dressed by the time you’d usually be leaving the house to commute to work and only start work once you’re ready for the day. If you can, use the time you would normally spend travelling to work to get outside and go for a walk, this helps to avoid the ‘straight from bed to desk trap’.
Setting up a regular Microsoft Teams call with your team can be helpful to feel connected, it provides an opportunity to share concerns, workloads and offer help and support to each other. Keep communication positive and it is also important to make connections with your colleagues, ask them about their weekends, how their families are doing or share funny stories. It can feel uncomfortable to begin with but allowing video on your calls helps you to see familiar faces, create a better connection and it will help you not feel so isolated by not working face to face. A WhatsApp group can also help, it can feel like interacting on more of a personal level and also can be faster when an emergency response is appropriate.
Don’t be ‘on’ all the time. Be aware that if you were in the office you would make a coffee, pop to the shop, catch up with a colleague. Try not to fixate on or worry about being chained to the laptop. Put the kettle on, load the washing machine, go for a lunchtime stroll but ensure that you identify non-working time in your calendar and keep an eye on your hours.
For example, in relation to heightened feelings of anxiety. We can all benefit from a wealth of resources. To see more or contact the support line please visit www.perkbox.com and search ‘Health Assured’ or find out who your mental health first aider is here:
https://www.surreychoices.com/surrey-choices/surrey- choices-mental-health-first-aiders/
Like your new morning ‘commute’, develop a ritual to end the working day. If you can, put your computer away, tidy your working area, go for a half-hour stroll or try an indoor workout. Find a way to naturally signal the end of your workday and establish some boundaries.
We all know that stress and uncertainty can change our sleeping patterns, so try to be mindful of this. Just like waking, keep to your regular bedtime and add in some relaxation before you try to sleep. Keep phones and scrolling far away from the bedroom!
Eat right, eat at regular hours of the day. Eating right can minimise your risks of getting ill and fuel your body, for more tips on eating well please see www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/ Keep on top of usual household chores so your working environment is clean and uncluttered. Look after yourself. If you feel like you aren’t doing enough exercise, Perkbox offers home exercises classes and you can find lots on YouTube, go for a walk on your lunch break to stretch your legs or at the end of the day.
Where possible, try to find another room you can work in so you aren’t confined to one place of your home. This will help you to switch off from work at the end of the day, and begin the next day with a clear head. Remember to follow health and safety advice on setting up a safe workstation, and best practice working with display screen equipment. More advice on how to do this can be found at https://www.hse.gov.uk.
