A reduction in stress, an improved work-life balance, healthier eating and an overall boost to wellness are all associated with home working, but there are also a number of potential negative effects that are often overlooked. For example, employees on the autism spectrum or people with mental conditions like OCD, benefit from more time working from home as loud noises, distractions, and … According to their findings, an overwhelming 80% of Brits feel that working from home has … RTÉ.ie is the website of Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's National Public Service Media. [Start Exercising] Fight the urge to stay sedentary and schedule active time to … By Maébh Coleman, Marian Jennings and Rowena Hennigan, TU Dublin. To help combat this, here are some tips to protect your mental health when working from home. Here are some tips on how to enhance mental health and well-being when working from home: Set up a dedicated workspace, which should be as free from distractions as possible. By Hope King. Working from home can alleviate some of the stress associated with the typical workday. Many are teleworking full-time for the first time, isolated from co-workers, friends and family. Find out more about how we use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. With personal experience, here are my tips for protecting your mental health when working from home. Marian Jennings is a law lecturer at the School of Business at TU Dublin. Learn about the pros and cons of part-time work, working from home and more. Share using Email . You can take breaks at any moment, feel no rush to hang up on your family members when they call, and eat lunch at any weird time you want. The report identifies that remote working can provide employees with the flexibility to juggle work and home life demands, making it key to attracting and retaining talent. Moreover, the overarching message is that if an individual worker is struggling they need to be able to speak up and ask for help. As with all aspects of health matters, prevention is key. The Psychological Society of Ireland defines isolation as "the objective size of one’s social network and the frequency of contact with the same.’ Loneliness, however, ‘occurs where a gap is perceived between the social relations one has and what is desired, in relation to quantity or quality." Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's Ryan Tubridy Show, clinical psychologist Dr Keith Gaynor described himself as "well...but anxious". In the 2019 State of Remote Work -- a survey by the fully-remote social media startup Buffer -- 49 percent of remote workers claimed that their greatest challenge is … Work, home and schooling responsibilities are all thrown together, often in the same small physical space, all competing for attention. However, as the months have passed, many workers have learned by doing and are now comfortable and established in their home working set-up. Approximately 75 … It may have started as a bit of a novelty, but working from home for long periods of time can start to affect our mental health. At times your work may be affected by your mental health problem. If you have been affected by issues raised in this article, support information is available online. It’s not uncommon to feel additional stress – despite the removal of known stressors, like a commute to work. Although there is a growing awareness of the importance of workplace mental health, one area that can be overlooked is those who work away from the office. In Irish law, employers have a duty of care to provide employees with a safe place of work and safe systems of work which includes psychological safety during remote working. People seek a greater flexibility than is usually possible in more traditional.... 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