Maintaining Your Mental Health While (Still) Working from Home

Right now, many people are working from home for the first time ever. They are confronted with juggling their work and family duties, and trying to keep a brave face while confronting a new era of uncertainty for businesses and their employees around the world.

Container Solutions have an internal team of psychologists. They came up with a set of guidelines for maintaining mental health during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidelines can continue to help you as you continue to work separately from your organisation, whether your remote-work situation is part time, full time, temporary—or permanent.

These guidelines include: 

• Understanding anxiety. Focus on what you can control. This can range from what you eat, when you sleep and how much television you watch. At the same time, it's important to acknowledge your feelings and not chase them away.

• Empathetic responding. It's normal to fall victim to wishful thinking or to excessively seek support. However, for both the individual and the community, the most effective strategy is empathic responding. Questions like, 'How can we help?' or 'What can I do to support you?' are powerful. These guidelines show you how best to create empathetic responses.

• Daily life. Because no one knows when the COVID crisis will end, it's essential we don't give up on our daily routines. The excessive use of alcohol or drugs will not help, but going to bed and getting exercise will. 

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About the author

Helen Bartimote, lead psychologist at Container Solutions, has worked as a  Chartered Occupational Psychologist for more than 20 years. She supports individuals, groups and organisations to help create diverse, inclusive and authentic work cultures. She has worked extensively with London’s emergency services. She is a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society, Registered Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council and Associate Fellow with the British Psychological Society.