%201.webp)
After 8 months of teleworking, best practices for preserving your mental health
2020-12-16
3 minutes
Nicolas Chevrier
WORK PSYCHOLOGY
NICOLAS CHEVRIER
WORK PSYCHOLOGY
Since March 2020, telework has taken a prominent place in our lives. Several surveys have highlighted the importance of this phenomenon. In general, it is noted that nearly 60% of Quebecers now work from home. These are significant figures and also a little scary when you consider that for many, the transition to telework took place in the covid chaos that we know.
(
You may also like
)
Chronic
WORKERS IN A TELEWORKING CONTEXT: RISKS AND SOLUTIONS
The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has forced a massive recourse to teleworking. If some...
MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nicolas Chevrier
ABOUT
Dr. Nicolas Chevrier, psychologist, holds a master's degree in clinical psychology and a doctorate in work and organizational psychology in which he focused on the impacts of organizational factors on the development of burnout among workers.
So, nine months later, I looked into the question of the impact of teleworking on our psychological health. The exercise gave birth to a book, initiated by Nicolas Duvernois, which provides advice from professionals (tax specialists, human resources specialists, lawyers, recruiters, etc.) to make your teleworking experience a success.
So here are the main points of my findings as a psychologist specializing in psychological health at work. After this great experience across Quebec, what are the aspects to remember? What changes should be implemented starting in January if your year 2020 was marked by the burden that teleworking is taking on for you.
1. First, make sure to determine a clear physical boundary . This is a specific place in the house that will make you feel like you are at the office. This place will send a clear signal to your brain; “When we are here, we work!” If you do not have a closed room, identify a place in the house that will always be your workstation.
2. Next, set a clear time boundary . I can't work all the time. There has to be a clear cutoff beyond which I only deal with emergencies, emergencies being tasks that can't wait until tomorrow; there's a fire in the warehouse, my client is in jail, the document for tomorrow's presentation has been lost at 8 a.m. In other words, these are events that only happen once a year. Similarly, it is important to set a fixed work schedule. Outside of this schedule or within this schedule, no personal or family-related tasks. We keep the boundary clear.
3. And finally, communicate with your team. Communication is essential to productive telework. As soon as you have difficulties, you get stuck on a pitfall, asking for help becomes very important. Numerous and daily communications with the team are necessary to maintain productivity.
I conclude by emphasizing the importance of proactive management of work-life balance . Don't let yourself be overwhelmed by the conflicts that will develop in your relationship, take the bull by the horns and use problem solving. The success of your telework depends on these discussions.
To continue thinking about the subject, I invite you to read Succeeding in teleworking ! Enjoy reading and, above all, enjoy teleworking!
Succeed in teleworkingTranscontinental EditionsNovember 2020