As the rate of Covid-19 cases has begun to decrease and the number of vaccinated individuals continues to rise, many are heading back into the office. While some may be excited to get back into the hustle and bustle of an office environment, others are quite hesitant. National Work From Home Day is on June 24th and Dr. Teralyn Sell, psychotherapist and brain health expert, touches on how working from home impacts mental health in different ways for people and ways to create the best at-home work environment.

Less time commuting means more time for yourself and with family  
The one thing that we wish we had more of is time. If you work from home and establish good work and life boundaries you can easily have more built in time to spend with your family. If you aren’t battling traffic jams you may have more time to eat a good meal or even to put your kids to bed without evening chaos. Additionally, you might be able to squeeze in some extra time for exercise. Going for a walk during the day just got easier.  

Less stress and more self-care
The amount of stress we are under due to working late, office politics and more is certainly mitigated while working from home. A less stressful work environment can create more productivity in less time. This means there is time for more self-care strategies during the work day and around the work day. Just think, you could be on a conference call while doing yoga.

Set apart your work space
It is imperative that your work space not stare at you every day and night. Even if you don’t have a dedicated office space, use a corner of your room and put a divider screen around your workspace when you are not working. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ is a workable statement here. 

Create a transition time
Though the traffic during commute times was terrible, the commute itself allowed us to transition between work and home. However, when you work from home, there isn’t much transition there. In order to shake off the work day a transition is important.  Perhaps it’s as simple as closing up your office and taking a few minutes to meditate or even just breathe. You can also take the dog or kids for a walk to transition away from work and back into your home life.