Last winter I noticed that I hadn’t gone out for almost a week. I stayed inside working, watching movies and series, eating, and doing nothing more. By the time I noticed it, I realized I felt lazy, unmotivated, and uncreative. I decided to go out, buy some paper to paint with my watercolors, and when I came back, I even kept knitting the socks I had started before Christmas.
I’m not saying going out solved everything. The solution was me realizing how important it was to pay attention to how I was feeling. Mental health awareness is super important!
When you’re working from home it’s very easy to lose track. You get caught up on work, and, since you don’t have to go out, you just stay inside. Not good!
Paying attention to our mental health when working from home helps us be happier (and more productive!)
Since we all work remotely (not all of us from home) at KISSPatent, I asked everyone from our team how they keep their mental health in line. Everyone has different approaches and I loved all the answers.
Here are a few tips on mental health and coping with remote work!
Routines are useful for a reason
Rachel, our Strategic Relations & Outreach Manager, says that what works for her is creating a morning routine. A routine is something that can help you cope with changes or unexpected things. When you know you’ll wake up, take a shower, have breakfast, and maybe work out, things already start looking better!
Jessica, our head of partnerships, says she treats her day like a “normal” workday, having times for lunch, for breaks, and for everything else. Rachel also says she includes small scattered breaks in her routine where she can do things she enjoys to break up the monotony. This can be anything. For me, it’s knitting or painting. For others, it can be watching YouTube videos (but don’t fall into a YouTube rabbit hole) or something else. Find that something else and enjoy it!
Just relax or meditate
There’s so much going on and sometimes you lose sight of what’s important, which is, drinking tea. Our CEO, D’vorah sits on her balcony and drinks tea to feel better. There are no buildings right next to her balcony, so she can look over Eindhoven and watch the clouds. Jessica also meditates every morning.
Having time to “do nothing” is super important for your mental health when working from home. Work, social media, movies, TV, and messages are not going anywhere! Having time to really think without distractions is not just relaxing, it can boost your creativity.
Move
There’s a reason why two people in the team answered that they walk around to feel better. It’s not going out for a run or something like that, it’s just going out to walk. Meghan, our Marketing Manager, says she goes out for a bit, breathes in the fresh air and that’s enough to improve her mental health. Peter, our COO, takes at least a 1-hour long outdoor walk every day with Bubi (the cutest dog ever).
No one asked me, but, I also like walking outside (I get this from my mom, we both can walk for hours and hours just talking about chismes).
I like walking because it’s easy and I love easy. You don’t need training, equipment, or anything. It allows you to look around, notice things that you wouldn’t otherwise, and just change your panorama for a while.
Move… for real
Basically, exercise. Carlos, our CMO, makes sure to set aside time for exercising, whether that be indoors or outside, it doesn’t matter. That’s how he starts all his mornings (it’s also a routine, notice a pattern?). Peter, on the other hand, goes to yoga. D’vorah likes to go to the gym (she’s an ultramarathoner!). I, myself, go to aerial dance lessons.
I’m not saying you HAVE to exercise, but it is very much top-of-the-list for improving your mental health… and you can easily add it to your routine. Personally, I’ve noticed that going to class helps add some structure to my life, which is sometimes hard to have when you’re working from home.
Exercise also gives you a much-needed sense of accomplishment outside of work… and if it doesn’t give you that, at least you’ll release some endorphins, ha!
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Find a support group
When you’re working in an office, you’re surrounded by people all the time. Working from home can make this difficult, but finding others with similar interests can boost your mental health.
Rachel, for example, finds support groups or local communities to help her stay focused. It might be a group of friends, for example. She says it always helps her to have other friends working remotely to keep her accountable. For her, it also works to have a friend over sometimes to break the monotony and stay sane!
Hang out with loved ones
At the last place I worked, my coworkers were also my friends (I hope it was mutual) and we used to hang out after work all the time. Once I started working from home, that stopped. The first few weeks were ok but after some time, I started feeling the need for being with other people.
Listen, reader, I have no problem with being inside for some days, but at some point, I have to go out. Peter is the same. He just stays inside some days of the week but he says that at some point his mind gets ticking on “bro, you have to get out now and meet with people.” So that’s why he usually has get-togethers on Fridays.
Have a working station
Don’t work from your bed! Having a dedicated space for your work will make a difference in your daily work life. It will do wonders for your mental health.
Xavier, our Head of Trademarks, has an office at home. His commute is just a few steps but when he finishes work, he can get out of that place and “return” home. For Jessica, it works the same way. She has a dedicated workstation in her apartment and that helps her focus.
This helps increase your productivity and, if you live with somebody else, it helps set boundaries for everybody. Pets and children don’t fall under these boundaries — how can I say no to my niece if she wants to use my notebook to draw?
Talk with someone when you’re not feeling OK
Unfortunately, I’m the kind of person that bottles everything up… until I explode! I’m learning to express my feelings. Being more open about how I feel has helped tremendously.
Luckily I have great people by my side that can listen to me when I’m feeling overwhelmed, sad, or stressed. Putting your feelings into words not only helps you identify the origin of your feelings, it also helps you come up with solutions.
Go to a coworking office
As I said in the beginning, not all of us work from home. Some people in our team need the “buzz” of an office environment. Even some of us that do work from home need the experience of working in an office sometimes.
That’s why going to a Coworking space is a good idea! It’s nice because you can pay for the time you use it. That way we can go a day or two, get the office energy going, and get back to work!
We’re not this cool every day but these mental health tips help us stay happy while working from home
At KISSPatent we love working remotely because it allows us to have an amazing work-life balance — a life under our own rules, schedules, and ways of doing things. Talk about mental health!
But, as good as it sounds, it can get tricky if we don’t manage our workload wisely. These strategies have helped each of us stay happy, productive, and creative. But, just like any other human being, we also get stressed, lonely, and anxious from time to time. We’re not perfect and that’s OK.
It’s great to know that we’re part of the same team and that most of us go through the same things even if we’re on different continents. And, if everything else fails, we just take a day off and that’s it!
Contact us today or check out more information on how we do remote work.
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