Rearranging your workspace can do wonders for your mental health
For those of us who have been working from home for the last two years due to the global effect that COVID has had, it has been enjoyable. Granted we have had a lot more freedom compared to the early days of having to be stuck quarantined at home, but the pandemic is still a very active thing going on within the world. Since most of us have made the change in the early days of COVID to working from home, we have adjusted and made changes that are now more comfortable compared to our standard workspace in the office we use to have to go to every day.
Surprisingly the move to working from home has been harder on some people. The fact of the matter is that there is more isolation, less social interaction with co-workers talking about whatever fun topic comes to mind and may also just miss the basic availability of freedom from their home life that their office may provide. We can all probably imagine how someone’s mental health can be affected by being so isolated and alone. It could cause those types of people to lose mental focus, lose the ability to be productive, and in some cases make you not even want to get up in the morning to do your job.
Sure, there are some people who love being in a high social work environment. They can be bored being stuck working at home and barely seeing anyone. Even in the modern age of vastly improving technology where people can communicate and be social on a number of levels, some people can still feel alone without someone physically there to keep them company. As time goes on, someone in this mindset may even slump into a deep depression. Being dragged down into any kind of depression can be very bad for us mentally and also physically. We lose sleep, we get less patient with things, and we could even feel a loss of appetite or drive.
Mental health isn’t an easy thing to calm down. It is a constant dual personality struggle we all have to deal with internally from time to time. It is a never-ending battle that we all hope to win but sometimes we don’t. On the flip side changing office environments due to COVID, may also affect people who thrive on working from home. Working from home has been a blessing in disguise to some people. More often than not many of the people you may work with are putting on a mask to hide the internal mental struggle they are having in an average office environment.
Those who love working from home may eventually grow tired of the environment they are in. We all love a change of scenery from time to time. It is why we go on vacations, explore new places and enjoy getting outside from time to time. Sometimes even changing up something as simple as your work-from-home environment can do wonders for your mental health and self-esteem. The best thing to do first is to clear out what you already have in your workspace, but keep the essentials of course like your desk, chair, computer and etc. Basically, the essentials you need in order to do your work. You want to make sure that you also remove all clutter from your workspace. Sure, it is great to have a couple of knick-knacks or pictures, but you don’t want to overstimulate yourself or make it hard to work for a few decorations.
You will want to make a list of things you will need to organize, stay on task, and help to hyper-focus on your work. Setting up things like an on-desk organization drawer or even getting a filing cabinet for your work from home space can help you get rid of clutter and have a space for the things you may need later on. Doing this will prevent you from having pens, paper, and whatever work-related clutter you may have from your daily tasks. It is nice to of course have that stuff handy, but the mindset you will want to have is that “less is more”. In that aspect, the less you have in front of you, the more productive you will be. The organization helps your mind focus more, be more productive, and overall help with not feeling the anxiety that can cause you to be overwhelmed.
You also want to make sure you have a dedicated charging area for all the things you use. If you use a wireless mouse that can easily be recharged, you can grab some great rubber cord holders that help you keep your cords in one place. They are very inexpensive and can stick to the edge of your desk or in a far corner. Having a dedicated charging area will be helpful to keep all your charging cords out of the way. The aspect of having a dedicated area for the cords you use for your computer and whatnot in a surge protector is another great way to keep those cords from getting in the way. You can even group them together, zip tie them, and have them in an area that will make sure you don’t trip or get them caught up by your feet.
Lastly, having a separate area on your desk for any kind of entertainment such as a device to listen to a podcast, have a YouTube video playing in the background or a movie will help you to be less distracted. This is better because most people have those devices in their line of sight near their work computer and tend to focus on that more than their work. If you are able to enjoy your work and be less distracted, this is the way to go. Remember, you control your work environment when working from home and you have the power to make it a much more stress-free place to be.
