Millions of people experience anxiety and/or depression in their lifetime. Due to the spread of COVID-19, we have been physically isolated from others. This has caused a spike in mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. In addition to these increasing symptoms of anxiety and depression, you are expected to work your full-time job from home (if you are lucky enough that your job allows you to make this transition). It has become difficult to manage your mental health along with this major adjustment of working from home. Below I will go through realistic tips on how you can manage working from home if you are also experiencing any level of anxiety and/or depression.
Anchor Therapy is a counseling center in Hoboken, NJ with psychotherapists specialized in helping children, teens, adults, and couples with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, trauma, and life transitions. Anchor Therapy is accepting new clients and is now providing telehealth (video/phone) sessions to residents of New Jersey and New York.
There are a lot of daily schedules being shared around online that indicate waking up early in the morning and being productive all day can benefit you and your work day. However, this seems like a far stretch for someone who is experiencing anxiety and/or depression. What we want to stick to now are small tasks and small, obtainable goals that you can actually achieve. You don’t want to set yourself up for major goals during a global Pandemic. It is not the time for that. It is the time to survive.
By surviving I mean you need food, water, shelter, and safety. If you have those boxes checked, then you will recognize that you need your income from your job so that you can sustain your shelter and food purchases. Now is not the time to go above and beyond to be your best self. Now is the time to survive and get through. You ideally want to keep your job and your sanity. Below are some tips that can help you do just that.
Comfortable clothing:
I know it has been said that getting dressed for your work day can help you feel normal and get you into work mode. I do agree with that to some degree. I think you should still dress as comfortably as possible. This means that you are not wearing tight pants or something that is digging into you. You want to feel comfortable in your clothes.
I recommend changing from your pajamas into “work clothes” that consist of sweatpants, leggings, different pajama pants, along with a comfortable top that is different than what you slept in. If you do video calls with your work, then I recommend getting more dressed up on your top half, but keep your bottom half as comfortable as can be. Now is the time to take advantage that others are not seeing the full you and you have the luxury of catering to your mental health by wearing more comfortable clothes than you would have the ability to wear if you were traveling outside and into the workplace.
Make a weekly to-do list:
Instead of making a daily to-do lists or a list of goals each day, it could be more helpful to create a weekly goals list. This could be for your job and/or your personal tasks. A personal example would be that you want to exercise daily. If this is not happening for you, then I would change your goal to exercising three times a week. This goal will give you wiggle room to skip days as needed. Some days you may experience a lower mood than other days so take this flexibility to cater to that. When it comes to your job, you should work on prioritizing tasks so that you know what has to be done the day-of. You can categorize tasks by what is emergent versus what you can add as a goal to get done by the end of the week. This will help you feel less overwhelmed and you can space out the use of your time better.
Keep your goals small:
When it comes to prioritizing your to-do list or your goal list, you want to keep them as small and specific as possible. For example, you should write down “Respond to boss by end of day about this specific question” rather than “respond to emails”. Another example would be to, “work on the outline of this presentation and have the outline finalized by Friday so that I can send it to my partner to review before moving forward.” You want to keep tasks specific, small, to the point, and with a clear deadline. This will help you stay organized and focused. If someone is feeling anxious or depressed, their mind is usually all over the place. So staying organized like this with your tasks will help you when your mind doesn’t seem to be working at its full potential.
Be gentle with yourself!
This experience of self-isolation comes with waves of emotions. One day you may feel energetic and hopeful while the next day you may feel down, hopeless, and unmotivated. This is very normal for anyone to feel these ups and downs. You have to be easy on yourself and spend extra time practicing self-care on days that are harder for you. If you are feeling better one day then that may be a day to work more hours, if possible, to get your work done. Then if you feel down the next day, you have the time and space to take longer breaks and go slow with your work tasks.
Plan something to look forward to each evening.
This can be very simple. Some examples include a TV show, reading, knitting, doing a puzzle, talking to family/friends, cooking or baking. You want something to look forward to that has nothing to do with work.
Work in a spot in your home that feels the best.
By this point, a lot of people have created some sort of home office space they can work at. This usually includes a desk space. But it does not have to. If you find that working in your backyard, at your kitchen table, on the couch, etc. feels best for you then do it. You just don’t want to be too comfortable in which you may fall asleep while trying to do work. Find a space in your home that makes you feel good to be at and do work throughout the day.
Play some music in the background.
You may be someone who does not enjoy working in silence. Or maybe you have noisy neighbors who are also at home all day. You may want to find a playlist that keeps you relaxed and brings you joy. Some people find that watching a TV show they have seen before can also help fill the silence. As long as you can do your work at the same time then I think it could be a good idea to have something to listen to in the background to help you stay in a good environment to get your work done.
Take a shower or bath regularly.
This seems like a simple and obvious one. But when our normal routine is thrown out the window, our hygiene can be an easy one to forget. A nice shower or bath can also help you feel more relaxed and clear your mind. Take extra time to use this calming self-care time for yourself. You can also use this time to transition into your work day or out of it.
Light a good smelling candle.
This can really work wonders. You want to cater to all of your senses when you are feeling stressed, anxious, or depressed. You don’t need guests over to light your good smelling candles. Treat yourself to good smells by lighting it after a long day of work or even better- in the middle of your work day! This can really lighten your mood.
Get 8-11 hours of sleep.
If you can, now is the time to sleep more than you did before. You most likely have a commute time into the office that is gone. So take that extra time to sleep in. Try not setting an alarm on days that you can make that happen. If you are feeling depressed, just be careful not to sleep too much. You should not be sleeping more than 11 hours regularly.
Take breaks!
This is the biggest thing I discuss with most of my clients. We don’t realize it, but when we are in an office environment, we are taking a lot of breaks. We get up to stretch our legs, go talk to a colleague for a few minutes, go to the bathroom, take a lunch break, take a walk, go out to get coffee, etc. When you work from home, there are less reasons to get up from your work space.
It is very important that you schedule in breaks. I highly recommend scheduling a lunch break for yourself daily and treating it as a lunch break. That means stepping away from your desk/work space and focusing your thoughts on non-work related things. Take this time to make yourself lunch, eat your lunch, and practice some form of self-care. You can watch funny videos, talk to a friend, or do whatever you want to do that feels like a break from work. I would also suggest taking several 10-minute breaks throughout the day. This is extremely important to physically get up and move around a bit, but also to mentally take a break from the work you are doing all day. Especially since your work and interactions are on screens more. You will start to realize that you physically need a break from the screen time.
Remind yourself that this is not the time to be your most productive. This is the time to survive. You are doing a great job if you are meeting your needs of survival that include having a roof over your head, food, water, and safety. It is likely that your job is helping you maintain these needs. Make sure to take care of yourself so that you can do enough work to keep your job, but also keep your anxiety and/or depression at a manageable level.
If you find that you are really struggling doing your job because your anxiety and/or depression levels have increased due to this time of self-isolation, then I highly recommend reaching out to a mental health professional so that you can survive this pandemic.
Courtney Glashow, LCSW
is a licensed psychotherapist practicing in Hoboken, New Jersey. She specializes in helping teens and adults with anxiety, depression, and life transitions through counseling. Courtney can help NY or NJ residents through telehealth (video/phone) therapy sessions as well.
