During the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be working from home, still heading into the office, or been placed on furlough. 

In any of the above situations, it may be difficult to look after your wellbeing and mental health. You may find yourself working longer hours, find yourself under increasing pressure, have children to look after, or be finding it tricky to cope with very limited socialising. 

Suppose you have an existing mental health problem. In that case, it’s essential to talk to your manager about how you’re feeling or the hiring party if you’re a contractor or freelancer. They may be in a position to offer you additional support. 

There are some simple tasks you can do to assist you and your wellbeing:

• stay in regular contact with friends or colleagues and be open and honest about how you’re feeling
• keep a routine so that you can plan out your day as best as possible
• stay active by taking a daily walk or by exercising
• take time out for activities you enjoy

Working from home

Stepping out of your usual work environment can be challenging for anybody, particularly as you could have to adjust to this new way of working. 

It will be beneficial to keep regular contact with other staff in the same position as you. You could introduce virtual coffee breaks with your colleagues to catch up and check in on one another or by doing online social activities as a team. 

Talk to your manager

It would help if you stayed in regular contact with your manager to talk about the situation and how you’re coping with it. They can help you work through problems, such as working around childcare responsibilities and by assisting you in managing your workload. 

You and your line manager could also discuss changing your working pattern to help with any personal situation occurring outside of work. For example, your manager could look at your start and finish time. Let them know whether it’s more beneficial for you to have these conversations via phone, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom.

If you’re going to work outside of your home

If there are any concerns about how your workplace is looking after the health and safety of staff who are having to travel to work, raise them as soon as possible with the relevant staff member.

Support available through work 

It will be worth checking with your employer what support there is available to you through your company. All employers have a ‘duty of care.’ This means they should do everything in their power to support your health, safety, and wellbeing.

If you have any questions about the points raised in this post, please give Unique Payroll a call on 01473 461 028, visit https://uniquepayroll.co.uk/ or email us contactus@uniquepayroll.co.uk.