Supporting Mental Health:

COVID-19 & Working from

Home
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Hello!
There have been a lot of stressful
changes we’ve had to go through in
recent weeks; such as the COVID-19
public health emergency, and having
to adjust to working from home full-
time.
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As we take measures to protect our

physical health, it’s important to
remember that our mental health is
equally important J
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It’s OKAY to feel or

experience:
• Fear/worry about your health or your
family’s health
• Disruption/change in sleeping or
eating patterns
• Difficulties sleeping & concentrating
• Increased usage of tobacco, alcohol,
etc.
• Challenges adjusting to working
within the home and juggling
parenting/caring responsibilities
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“
Here are some tips to tackle
the mental health
challenges that come with
COVID-19 J
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DEALING WITH COVID-19

o Seek only credible information. Social media is a great resource, but
there is also a lot of misinformation out there that causes more
fear/anxiety than necessary. Stick with information from official
sources like the Department of Health (click me), the WHO (click me),
and legitimate news outlets.
o Find balance. While staying informed is important, ensure that you
limit your media consumption about COVID-19 to specific times
during the day. This will help you avoid reaching unnecessary levels
of stress and panic. Remember that you don’t need to know
everything at all times J
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DEALING WITH COVID-19

o Unplug and set a quiet hour. Set aside time during the day to unplug
from technology (e.g. laptops, phones, tablets, etc.), and other media
sources.
o Be careful about the “what-ifs”. Though it is good to plan ahead,
avoid constantly thinking about questions like, “What will happen if I
get sick? How will my family cope?”. Bring yourself to the present
and follow effective and proven methods to protect yourself (e.g.
handwashing, social distancing, etc.)
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DEALING WITH COVID-19

o Seek social support. Although we are all under a strict quarantine, ensure
that you take the time to reach out to your family and friends via phone
calls, text messages, or video calls.
o Set aside time for physical exercise. Physical activity, even within the
home, will help boost your mood and your physical health.
o Eat healthily. Taking care of our physical health is paramount. It’s
important to maintain a healthy diet apart from regular physical activity.
o Avoid substance use – including smoking, caffeine and alcohol. While
using these may relieve stress temporarily, it also increases your
tolerance and requires you to use more and more over time. It may also
end up causing stress (i.e. heart palpitations, tremors, etc.) rather than
relieve it.
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DEALING WITH COVID-19

o Practice sleep hygiene. Keep your bedroom cool, avoid any light in
your room, use your bed for sleep (not reading, watching TV, using
your phone, etc.), and get out of bed if you don’t fall asleep after
half an hour.
o Be mindful about joking, catastrophizing, or oversharing about
COVID-19. “Oversharing, ‘catastrophizing,’ and even joking about
death or sickness can be traumatizing for others, especially children.
Be mindful of others’ feelings and sentiments as well as your own.
Links are at the end of this document to help parents and carers
during this time.
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WORKING FROM HOME IS ANOTHER CHANGE

THAT CAN BRING ITS OWN CHALLENGES.
• Lack of face-to-face interaction and
supervision.
• Lowered willingness to share information with
colleagues & increased risk for conflict
• Social isolation / loneliness
• A lowered sense of belongingness
• Increased distractions in the home.
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“
Human connections matter more
than ever as we move toward
online working.
Here are some tips to support your
mental health through some of
the challenges of remote working.
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KEEPING HEALTHY & PRODUCTIVE

WHILE WORKING FROM HOME
o Regular sleeping/waking patterns. Though you now have some extra
time to replace your commute, attempt to maintain regular
sleeping/waking times each day. This helps stabilize your internal clock,
and helps you maintain good concentration and energy throughout the
day.
o Establish and maintain a morning routine. Ensure that this includes
having a good breakfast, and starting work at the same time each day.
o “Getting ready” for work. While it may be tempting to jump straight to
work in your pajamas, it may be psychologically more beneficial to still
“get ready” in the mornings. This means bathing and getting dressed in
comfortable clothes that you would have no problems wearing at the
office.
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KEEPING HEALTHY & PRODUCTIVE

WHILE WORKING FROM HOME
o Setting up a workspace. Try to set up your workspace that is
away from your sleeping area, and has appropriate table space.
You may use a small table in the corner of your room, or at your
kitchen table. Avoid working on the bed or places where you
normally use to relax. For seating, ensure that your chair has
proper back support.
o Clear your workspace of clutter, and maintain a temporary “work
zone”. A clean and organized workspace will help minimize
distractions. Assigning a “work zone” will also help you shut
down better at the end of the day, and leave your work in that
specific space.
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KEEPING HEALTHY & PRODUCTIVE

WHILE WORKING FROM HOME
o Incorporate physical movement into your routine. Taking short
walks outside (if possible) or around your house. This can help
you maintain your energy and concentration.
o Adapting your working style. To mitigate feeling isolated, try
employing more “active” forms of communication. Rather than
sending an email, try phone calls. Use text messaging with your
team or work friends to check-in at the start and end of the day.
Set aside time to reach out to your colleagues and ask how they
are, or to share your concerns.
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KEEPING HEALTHY & PRODUCTIVE

WHILE WORKING FROM HOME
o Maintain open & timely communication. Conflicts are more likely to
arise when you’re in an online workspace, so it’s important to address
misunderstandings calmly and rationally. Communicate openly about
your struggles, and seek the support to solve these challenges.
Address things as they arise rather than waiting for them to reach a
breaking point.
o Social sessions & sharing your space J Take a picture of your
workspace and share it with your team, or photo-updates of activities
you would normally do together (i.e. coffee, lunch, etc.). The human
connection is part of what makes work fulfilling, and so it’s important
that teams make the time to still share the same “space” J
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KEEPING HEALTHY & PRODUCTIVE

WHILE WORKING FROM HOME
o Shut off at the end of the workday. When working from home, it
can be tempting to continue working until after the usual working
hours. While it might make you feel more productive, this
becomes unsustainable in the long run and can increase stress
levels, or the risk of burnout. Learning the healthy habit of
shutting of your laptop and “leaving work” is particularly
important to maintain your health and well-being.
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YOUR STRESS CONTAINER

Identifying the factors
that are currently causing
you stress, and figuring
out how best to manage
these, is essential to
maintaining your mental
health.
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The “stress container” exercise is a useful way
to think about your stress.
When your stress container
Stress goes into your container “overflows”, this is when problems
can begin to occur. These include
feeling burnt out, anxiety,
depressed moods, insomnia, etc.

Finances

Poor Health You then need to make sure you

Etc.
have a healthy “tap” to empty out
Family your stress container and stop it
problems from overflowing. The “tap”
represents healthy coping
Relationships mechanisms. A series of
questions on the next slide will
help you identify how to
manage your stress.
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After you identify what is in your stress container,

ask yourself the following questions to prevent your
container from overflowing :

q What can I change or manage differently?

q What can’t I change and what do I need to accept?
q What requires my urgent attention?
q Can anyone help me?
q What are some of my “unhelpful” ways of coping with stress?
q What are some of the useful ways that I use to cope with stress?
What else could I do?
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Based on your answers, you can now find ways to

open the “tap” in your stress container. Here are
some tips:
ü Invest your energy in focusing on what you can change, and
accepting what you can’t.
ü Focus on prioritizing rather than doing everything all at once. Try
to determine what the most urgent priority is at this moment,
and invest energy in that first.
ü Learn to ask for help from those around you.
ü When you find a coping mechanism that’s healthy for you, set
aside time in your day to do those things.
ü Do weekly mental health self-checks J
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Examples of healthy coping:

o Nurturing the physical and mental health connection. Physical
and mental health are highly connected, so eating well and
exercising is key to having fun and staying healthy J
o Setting aside time to treat yourself to something fun during the
day helps you build up a buffer against stress!
o Learning a new skill/engaging your brain
o Sharing how you feel & seeking social support
o Switching off from distractions – among the biggest distractions
are social media, TV/Netflix, and our gadgets J
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We hope this helps! Here are some additional links to

help you:
Ø WHO Advice for the public: https://www.who.int/philippines/news/feature-
stories/detail/pitong-simpleng-hakbang-upang-maprotektahan-ang-sarili-at-
ang-iba-laban-sa-covid-19
Ø Mindfulness and mediation: https://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-how-to-do-it/
Ø In response to COVID-19, subscription service Scribd is giving free access to its
library of over one million ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more for 30 days.
Access through this link: https://www.scribd.com/readfree?utm_source=readfree
Ø For parents, here are some resources to keep your kids engaged and informed
during the quarantine period:
Ø https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-kids-activities.html
Ø https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-kids-guide.html
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Keep healthy &

safe! !