1.
Coaching · Leadership · Mentoring
rlperformance.org
Looking After Your Wellbeing During Remote Working
Tips to keep you and your team performing, motivated, and engaged

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There’s simply no precedent for the current situation we’re working in.
The Covid-19 pandemic is changing the way we work on a daily basis,
both individually and with our teams.
Working from home every day can be seen, at least initially, to have some advantages:
1. You’re not travelling for work, so there’s no wasted time on planes or long journeys to and from the
airport and offices. Plus, you and those you work with aren’t jet lagged or worn out.
2. With no travel, time is freed up in your diary to organise and accept invites to more meetings.
3. There’s less distraction; no office conversations to block out; colleagues coming up to your desk and
asking for “a couple of minutes of your time”. There’s even no stress in the endless battle to find a
spare meeting room!

3.
Taking some of those distractions away can actually be a positive thing.
Over a longer period of time however, there are a number of
disadvantages that can have a fundamental effect on your wellbeing:
1. Little or no exercise. Even just that five minutes from the bus stop or train station to or from work, going for a
walk to the coffee shop, or to the place you go to get lunch. All of those things have stopped.
2. Lack of contact with your colleagues, other than what you can see or hear on a audio or video call, which
really isn’t much.
3. A feeling that you have less reason to reject a meeting invite: you’re at home, so you should always be
available...right?
4. A sense of guilt if you step away from your computer, and a colleague who needs something messages you
at that precise moment. What excuse could you possibly have for not replying straight away?!
5. No chance to disconnect and refocus between meetings, even just the simple act of walking from one
meeting room to another because all your meetings are virtual now!

4.
Before you know it, you’re doing back-to-back meetings all day long,
perhaps only getting up over the course of a day for the bare essentials.
Pretty quickly, this is going to leave you feeling:
1. Tired and worn out
2. You need a break, but don’t want to let others down
3. At a time when companies are reducing their headcount, anxious that you might not be
perceived as doing everything possible
4. Wishing for a holiday, but not wanting to take time off if you can’t go anywhere nice to
relax and unwind!

5.
None of these feelings are going to help you feel motivated and engaged in your
job, and understandably it’s going to affect your performance.
It’s therefore of critical importance that you proactively introduce measures and
habits to protect and actually improve your wellbeing.
So, here are my tips for looking after your wellbeing during lockdown:

6.
Tips to look after your wellbeing during remote working (1/2)
q Communicate to your manager, team, and wider colleagues about any changes you want
to make to the way you work . This comes first because if you don’t explain what you’re
doing and why you want to do it, then they won’t understand.
q In the case of your manager, give examples from time you’ve been working from home
about how the relentless meetings have made you feel. Tell them about your
suggestions to improve wellbeing and ask them to support you.
q If you manage a team or are simply part of one, put “remote working wellbeing” on the
agenda for discussion and see how other people are feeling. It might just take your
comments to give others the confidence to say that they’ve been feeling the same way.

7.
Tips to look after your wellbeing during remote working (2/2)
q Block out 5-10 minutes at the end of a 1 hour meeting, or 10-15 minutes for a 2 hour meeting; go for
a walk, do some stretching, lie down for a few minutes; and try to reset your mind for a brief moment.
Where you have empty calendar space for future meetings, block 5-10 minutes out now on either side
of the hour.
q Enhance your working space. Get some fresh air and natural light. If possible, vary your workspace
over the course of the day in different rooms.
q Do something for yourself every day. Get outside go for a walk, a bike ride. Keep a brief record over
the course of 1 week to show how you’ve made time for yourself.
q Don’t feel guilty to shut down your computer early and log off! You’d do it occasionally in the office if
you needed to get away early for something, and there’s no reason you can’t do that at home too.

8.
Coaching · Leadership · Mentoring
rlperformance.org
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