Work from home has many advantages. It probably has a few disadvantages, but amongst them, the psychological effects of working from home is the biggest.
The COVID19
pandemic has affected the entire world. Most of the officers have shifted
towards the work-from-home culture. Currently, 40% of the employees all over
the globe are still working from home. The scare of the next wave is keeping
the companies from calling their employees back to the offices. There were a
few months when almost all countries went on lockdown. This duration provided
insights to the companies towards the benefits of working from home. If
employees are home, this reduces the company’s infrastructure costs, retains
productivity, reduces the HR headaches while keeping their workers safe.
During the
initial months, employees reported that they felt safer when they were working
from home. They were also cutting down on their commute time that in turn
increased their productivity time. However, once the initial few months had
passed, the real effect of working from home on mental health started to
surface.
 |
| Pin this article for later |
If you want
to stay updated about all the latest articles from Guilt Free Mind, please
subscribe to the newsletter so that I can send you notifications regarding each
and every new blog post the moment it releases.
Negative psychological
effects of working from home
Humans are
social animals. Most of us cannot live in solitude. However, work from home is
completely solitude-based. This can be a little disconcerting experience for
the employees. It is very difficult for the millennial generation who are used
to having their colleagues for company at the workplace. Their time gets
divided between doing their work and engaging with other people at work. This
keeps their stress at bay. However, there is no company or camaraderie when the
employees are working from home. This leads to extreme isolation and
loneliness.
Increases in stress levels
The sudden
absence of physical connection makes people feel that they have nowhere to go
if they are feeling anxious or stressed. This becomes increasingly challenging
as time passes due to the lack of support from co-workers and colleagues. The
office environment can be seen as a river where there are employees clustered
in small boats. Every boat has employees who are working on one specific project.
They share similar stress and concerns. However, when people are working from
home, each of them is on a single boat, alone with their own thoughts, stress,
and concerns. Here there is no sharing, camaraderie or distribution of stress.
This leads to a compounding of the stress.
Furthermore,
when people work from home, their social life gets reduced to practically
nothing. Earlier, there used to be set working hours. After a person left the
office, there was a very small chance that a call from the office would come at
home. However, nowadays in the work from home culture, the employees do not get
any time off and are accessible at all times of the day. This has further
increased, not only the workload but also the stress levels of employees.
Increased levels of
breakdowns and violence
The absence
of entertainment and social life and the increase in long work hours have
escalated issues like depression, frustration, anxiety, and stress in the
domestic environment of the workers. There has also been an increase in the
cases of emotional breakdowns of employees. There has also been a major
increase in the number of domestic violence cases since the employees do not
have a time off and cannot blow off steam.
Absence of the feeling of
belongingness
Workplaces
are a very diverse community where every employee identifies as a part of a big
group of people. There are meeting places in the workplace like a coffee
machine or the cafeteria where people exchange ideas and share general
camaraderie. This enhances the feeling of well-being and improves self-confidence
amongst employees. This sudden reduction in daily interaction amongst peers has
led to the degradation of the mental health of employees. Most often, the official
community acts as a support system for the employees and they feel the loss
when they have to work from home.
Even when
there are virtual meetings organized by the office, the only talk that takes
place in the meeting are the ones related to the work with an absolute absence
of any kind of social interaction. There are no jokes, no hello, no asking each
other what they plan to do for the weekend. The absence of these simple
pleasantries increases the feeling of desolation in the worker and makes him or
her feel caged while working from home.
Related posts:
6 types of anxiety disorders , a complete guide
Treating anxiety disorders naturally: 22 tips to follow
 |
| Effects of work from home on mental health |
Decrease in productivity
Some people
are not good at working from home. Even on Sundays, if such people have to work
they would prefer to go to the office and do their work. When such people have
to stay at home and work, they cannot get into that mental frame that is
required to boost their productivity. Some people may not have an office-like
arrangement at their home. When a person dresses up, wears shoes, travels to a
location for the purpose of work, they feel energized and productive. However,
when you are in your pajamas, in fuzzy socks, sitting on your bed, and trying
to get work done, that mental productivity zone is never reached by the worker.
Increase in cultural
isolation due to lack of geographical boundaries
Technology
has made the world a very small place. The work-from-home culture has allowed
employees from any part of the world to work together and be productive.
However, the utilization of the different time zones is good on the part of a
growing business but it can negatively affect the individual employees. The
employees who are remotely working from home may come from a different culture,
may speak a different language, and may have different communication styles.
This can lead to major communication problems between peers and colleagues who
are stationed in another location. In certain countries, managers are treated
like bosses, they are referred to as sirs and the relationship is very formal.
While in case of other countries, managers may be seen as peers and a more
informal relationship may be encouraged. If there are very few employees from remote
locations, they may feel left out and alienated.
Communicated
and cultural isolation has been observed to increase the levels of depression
and lead to low productivity. Every employee needs a boost and a pep talk every
now and then. One of the primary psychological effects of work from home on
mental health is a reduction in engagement, reduction in job satisfaction,
reduction in productivity, and increase in isolation and depression amongst the
employees.
Increased workloads
Since in the
case of work from home, there are no specific office hours, the workloads have
become unimaginable, the pressure to meet the performance standards and keep up
with all of the assigned tasks has become very difficult for the employees.
This has led to employees feeling constantly stressed and anxious. Those who have kids engaging in online schooling
have to also play the role of educators for their kids. This has led to
increased burnout amongst employees because they are unable to switch
themselves off from their work mentally. There is no quality time left to be
spent with their family members or unwind.
Depression
Another of the psychological effects of working from home has been depression as well as other
mental illnesses. People are not receiving social support and are experiencing
increased levels of loneliness. Spending long hours in a sedentary lifestyle
has also caused an increase in joint and back pain in people. Pain is known to
further deteriorate the mental well-being of a person. Those who are suffering
from depression have observed an increase in the intensity of their physical
pain. This in turn leads to the beginning of a negative loop of pain and
depression which feeds one another.
 |
| Psychological effects of work from home |
Positive psychological
effects of working from home
For those
who prefer to stay at home, the work-from-home culture has been very
beneficial. This way, they are able to spend more time with their family
members as well as learn new skills which enhances their self-confidence and
emotional well-being.
Improvement
in lifestyle and emotional well-being
Those
employees and students who had to travel a lot were able to save up on their
finances, energy, and time. The work-from-home culture has enabled such
individuals to get simple but important benefits like better sleep, more time
with kids and spouses, time to engage in hobbies, preparing healthy meals
instead of dining out, exercising more, etc. There are a lot of people who have
found benefits in staying at home and working instead of commuting to the
office and wasting one to two hours of their daily life in traveling.
Flexibility and agility
Employees are allowed to work during their own
hours. This has been especially beneficial for those who have to juggle their
work and take care of kids. In this matter, even if the employee is sick, the
employee can take half a day to relax and then work the rest of the half of the
day without having to take leave from the office. For students, they can view pre-recorded
classes at their convenience.
Usually,
the work from home was viewed as having a huge negative impact on employee’s
and students mental health and physical well-being. However, off late, it has
been observed that there are positives to working from home as well. The
different organizations and workplaces are also taking mental health seriously
and striving towards making difference. As the world is starting to move
towards a more virtual and digital platform, companies are also working from
their side to help their employees access mental health services via digitized
platforms. The employees are encouraged to meet up with counselors and
psychologists in online sessions. Regular counselling can help employees and
students battle the effects of working from home and reap the positive benefits.
There are a few things that you can do for yourself to keep your mental health stable
- Keep a set routine for yourself to follow
- Engage in informal conversations with team members and co-workers
- Take breaks to exercise and chat with your family members
- Engage in a hobby
Conclusion
Work from
home culture comes with its own pros and cons. The psychological impact of work
from home can be viewed as either being negative or positive depending on one’s
personal experiences. However, these negative experiences can be turned into positive
experiences by undertaking certain measures by the employees and students.
In my next
blog post, I will be discussing how you can maintain your mental health while
engaging in a work-from-home schedule. So, stay tuned and subscribe to the blog
if you haven’t already done so. If you subscribe, I can send you regular
updates pertaining to all the new blog posts directly to your inbox. You will
never miss out on a notification. If you have any queries pertaining to this
blog post or any other coffee free to reach out to me on any of my social media
channels. Alternatively, you can also reach out to me by writing in the comment
section below. I will be happy to help.
See you in my next blog post
Shruti
Pin this article for later:
 |
| Pin it for later |
