Is remote work bad for your health?

Here are the warning signs

Sounds crazy to me at first.

Remote work possibly damaging your mental health?

I’m such a remote work advocate.

The perks and benefits you get from working from home are bountiful like the ability to wear what you want in most cases, no commute to work, saving money on gas and eating out, spending more time at home and being around your family and pets, working in a work environment that you can make to be as cozy and comfortable as you please, and more.

It’s not all roses though.

When I was working my 9–to-5 job many years ago and got put on a remote pilot, I did remote work for about a month and I really hated it.

The line between work and home was crossed often which interfered with my work/life balance, the remote work option was new so there were a lot of kinks and many technical problems, and at first, it felt more stressful than working at my workplace because I felt like I was under a microscope.

These are all valid issues but can it cause havoc to your mental health?

How remote work messes with your mental health

I don’t think this is the case every time of course, but, this PBS Voices video from YouTube I watched really shined light on the issues many remote workers are experiencing…

The pandemic is a stressful enough event happening globally and it caused many organizations to uproot their practices and create a work-from-home program for their employees from scratch.

Some workers experienced double or triple the workload as normal, crazy deadlines, and an ask to adapt to this new way of working without consideration for how it may impact them, their work and home life.

What a lot of companies realized is that remote work can happen and as we move forward, more and more are now opening up a remote work option or becoming remote work first organizations.

What is a remote-first company?

It’s a company that treats remote work as the standard for work. It’s not an alternative.

Remote-friendly vs Remote-first

Remote-friendly companies give an option for their workers to work from home part of the time.

They see remote work as more of a benefit or perk whereas remote first companies have remote work available by default. It’s the only option available for work and it’s treated as the norm, not a privilege.

A remote-first culture, on the other hand, treats working remotely as a default way of working — the equal to office-based arrangements. This means companies build remote working into the very DNA of their business; it’s not tagged on to make the company seem progressive, appease employees, or as a benefit. — Memory.AI

The struggles of working with roommates

My work-from-home experience was different than many workers today. While I had a roommate, I was the only one working at home at the time.

I had the entire apartment to myself and I was working in a quiet environment which was needed for me to work with customers and peers in my line of work.

Now, many people are remote working so if you share your home with one or more roommates, limited space can become an issue. Privacy can become an issue and work/life balance can turn complicated.

Over 15 million people have moved during the pandemic.

Many pursued moving due to constraints at home with remote work and living with roommates is one of the challenges.

When faced with working from home, you might encounter issues like:

• Small workspace
• Expensive housing or pricey area
• Working in a confined space with roommates isn’t doable

These are just a handful of the possible problems that could result from remote work with others in your home.

Warning signs of burnout from remote work

You can start to become irritable, feel stressed out or overwhelmed, become sleep-deprived, start to become depressed and lack joy in everyday life or everyday things you used to like.

Mayo Clinic says you can spot burnout with some of these visible signs and symptoms:

• Lack of control
• Unclear job expectations
• Lack of social support

These can lead to health issues like high blood pressure, insomnia, fatigue, excessive stress, and more.

If you’re starting to feel the effects of burnout, take action:

• Evaluate your current situation
• Add more sleep to your regiment
• Try to reduce stress
• Be mindful
• Seek support

Bottom line

Remote work can cause stress. It can lead to mental health challenges and ultimately be bad for health for some.

This battle will continue, as least for the near future as it seems that remote work is here to stay for the near future.

What do you think about remote work and mental health?

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