Tips for Working From Home, One Year On
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Last March, the Wavo team gathered together in the lobby of our Montreal headquarters (in hindsight, far too close together) to discuss the logistics of working from home for “a short while.”
Little did we know, we would all still be working from our home offices, one whole year later.
At the end of the first WFH month, we asked employees for their input on the benefits and challenges of working from home. Some of their feedback included:
✅ Benefits: No commute, mid-day yoga breaks, pets-as-coworkers, and getting to personalize workspaces.
😞 Challenges: Feeling disconnected from the team, separating work time from leisure, and minimizing distractions.
To better understand Wavo employees' current experience—one year out from the start of the pandemic—we will send out a similar survey.
Until then, here’s what we’ve learned about WFH so far:
Tip #1: Turn off Work Thoughts
Ruminating—replaying the same thoughts and worries about work—significantly disrupts our ability to recover and recharge in our “off hours.” It also can damage our emotional well-being.
Psychologist Guy Winch experienced these consequences firsthand and his TED talk includes some key tips on how to turn off work thoughts once the workday is over.
Tip #2: Define Boundaries
A paper from The Academy of Management Review described how people separate the boundaries between work and home with “boundary-crossing activities,” like putting on work clothes and commuting, which are “physical and social indicators that something has changed.”
While working from home, Harvard Business Review researchers Laura Giurge and Vanessa Bohns suggest replacing your old “boundary-crossing activities” with new ones that help you separate your professional and personal lives.
“In the short-term, it may be a welcome change not to have to catch an early train to work, or to be able to spend all day in your pajamas—but both of those things are boundary-crossing activities that can do you good, so don’t abandon them altogether. Put on your work clothes every morning—casual Friday is fine, of course, but get yourself ready nonetheless. And consider replacing your morning commute with a walk to a nearby park, or even just around your apartment, before sitting down to work.”
Tip #3 Connect with Others
We know it is healthy to set clear boundaries for when your workday is over. But when you’re not in the office, there is also a need to connect with teammates in a timely manner. This need for connection is further by complicated COVID-related health restrictions that prevent meet-ups outside of work with colleagues and friends. And all this can be pretty lonely.
On the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, host Dr. Joy Harden Bradford and Dr. Marisa G. Franco discussed the different types of loneliness we experience, how loneliness manifests, and most importantly, tips to overcome loneliness:
“From the research, the number one reason why friendships end is not because there was any sort of malice or resentment or a big fight or conflict, it was just that we fell out of touch. So now we have more of that time to be intentional about reaching out to, and being in touch with other people and setting aside time to rekindle things.”
Additional Resources
Work Responsibility: A collection of resources for a health and balanced approach to work.
Shine Text: Mental Health App that sends daily catered motivational messages with research-backed strategies to help you reduce stress, boost your confidence, work smarter, and more. Includes a coronavirus anxiety toolkit.