Since 2021 is reaching its glorious end in a couple of days, now it’s the perfect time for a wrap-up. Almost two years in, COVID-19 continues to affect how we work, live, and play. Lots of people around the globe are following strict social distancing rules or even are under lockdown, while many are still experiencing pandemic fatigue. As a society, we continue to challenge the modern workplace and come together to create healthier and safer social environments.
For some people, working from home during the pandemic has been a dream come true. For others, not so much. According to Cigna, 61 percent of Americans reported feeling lonely in early 2020. Mental health experts believe that the number has increased significantly ever since due to prolonged social distancing and repeated lockdown. In time, people started losing their sense of community and became less engaged to their company’s life.
The weather isn’t the only thing that changes with the season. Your mental health and mood also fluctuate in response to this cycle. As the warmth of summer fades into the chill of autumn, you might start to notice an uptick in stress levels. It’s not your imagination, it’s autumn anxiety. After all, this is a hectic, fast-paced time of year.
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed millions of people to work from home in the past year and a half. Besides the danger of catching the virus, we are also facing several other perils to our health. Beyond the usual domestic accidents, working from home usually means isolation and a sedentary lifestyle. In time, these are taking a toll on everyone’s physical and mental health. So how can you stay healthy in such challenging times?
Seasonal mood changes are often associated with the bleak, cold months of winter. But what happens when you start feeling more anxious than usual at the end of the summer? Many people experience irritability, agitation, loss of appetite, insomnia, general stress and other anxious behaviors. In some cases, this anxiety can even be intense enough to meet the criteria for seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
When was the last time, you wrote something by hand rather than typing it on a keyboard or mobile device? In our fast-paced, digital work culture, it can feel like handwriting has become a lost art. Writing by hand is often seen as tedious and inefficient compared to the ease and convenience of typing. Yet, there are many cognitive benefits associated with putting an actual pen to paper.
When those initial stay-at-home orders went into effect back in March 2020, the mass shift to remote work seemed to boost productivity. But as this pandemic keeps bugging us even a year later, that productivity surge is now on the decline. While some organizations have seen a 5 to 8 percent increase in productivity within these last 12 months, most have suffered a 3 to 6 percent decrease in 2020 overall, according to Harvard Business Review.
Whether you’re battling the mid-day slump or can’t resist the pile of sweets in the kitchen, you may find yourself reaching for that stash of chocolate. Little did you know that eating chocolate actually provides a variety of physical and mental health benefits that can help elevate work performance too.
The pandemic changed how teams operate on a massive scale in 2020. It has influenced the way we work and where we work. Without any doubts, working from home without the daily commute to the office has multiple implications over our lives. And not only in the summer, when it’s all green and sunny, but especially during the gloomy, cold winter season.
Whether you’re working from home or are back in an office, there’s a critical productivity element you may be overlooking: the lighting. In prior installments of this series, I talked about how exposure to lifestyle or environmental factors such as mental health resources, music, indoor plants, exercise, and natural caffeine can elevate your performance.
