Staying mentally healthy while working from home

This week I had one of those days. My phone kept buzzing and pinging, everyone had a simultaneous internet outage and I just couldn't get to my own work. And oh yes, working from home suddenly also sucked. A little mental dip, as I like to call it, that was over a day later. But what if you're not such a fan of working from home as I am or if you're quietly going crazy at the kitchen table? I called Mascha Mooy from Bye Bye Burnout for tips.

Mascha, first things first: what are the signs that you're heading for a burnout?
‘Headaches, mood swings, being sick for a day now and then and not having the resilience to get back to it the next day. With men a craving for sweets, with women more desire for wine, generally just drinking a bit more than usual and crying spells.’

And what is the moment when you absolutely need to do something about it?
‘Prevention is of course better than solving it later, but when the first person in your environment asks if you're okay, then you need to take action immediately. I also cried a bit in the car on the way home and when I got inside, I said my day had been very good. In hindsight, you're already well on your way to burnout.’

The millennial age seems to be the recipe for a burnout, why?
‘It's the time of development. You've just graduated and are confronted with a different kind of environment. You have to look for work, which can be fun or take a long time. People enter stable relationships or it breaks up. A lot is expected of you. Your life is changing, you're getting new responsibilities. Maybe you still want to go backpacking, but then you miss that promotion, causing some dreams to remain unfulfilled. Maybe you go along with the mold and meanwhile think: do I really want this? While you're working at the big 5 in the Zuidas and find yourself the idiot who is complaining. And then there's your environment, which is of course going really well. You have to perform for yourself, but also for your environment. It's a difficult bubble to step out of. The Netherlands is a leader in burnouts, along with London and Belgium.’

What should you do?
‘Listen to me, haha. But there is so much free knowledge, for example on Instagram, that you can use. You can get through it, it's not a problem you have to struggle with for years. Rest, routine, cleanliness, and a boring life, that's what you need to do. That one party is just as fun without you. You don't have to like everything or be everywhere. No is a complete sentence. Just go to bed before eleven. Watch Netflix during the day, that's the handy thing about Netflix. Go for at least half an hour walk alone every day. Alone, without a dog, without calling, without multitasking. Walking is stress prevention. Try to live healthily, stick to the outer edges of the supermarket and walk past the artificial pick-me-ups. If you're healthy, you're kinder to yourself. Your resilience grows if you live a bit more moderately. Keep it to two wines or two beers, instead of the whole bottle. Just be a little boring. You don't have to go to that birthday and if that friend doesn't understand it, then she's a stupid friend.’

What should you especially not do?
‘A bit of mindfulness, taste sensations or suddenly doing yoga nidra is not the solution. A burnout can lead to serious suicidal thoughts. All those things together can be a small intervention, but you need to clean, purify, and seal off the thing called burnout, that's what I'm for. Don't ignore it. If you see someone going off the rails but can't steer back, call us. It sometimes seems like you're not cool if you haven't had a burnout, burnout is not a cool phenomenon. It's not fun to wake up crying and fall asleep, to not be able to read a book because the letters are dancing, to feel stupid and be insecure. Take it seriously, you can prevent it.’

What is dangerous about this working from home time?
‘That you work too much, spend too much time behind that stupid Zoom; I also think Zoombies is a good term. You often work too long, it's good to do something else after 90 minutes. Go outside, never have lunch at the place where you work, roll your shoulders, squeeze stress balls, and keep taking care of yourself. Just put on a clean pair of pants or a sweater. People stay way too much on that square meter. Ultimately, isolation leads to loneliness and can even affect your sex drive. Keep going to a hairdresser and beautician, as if you're going to the office. You normally wouldn't do that in pajama pants.’

Do you have tips?
‘Keep exercising, drink enough water and make sure you're not sitting behind a screen all the time. You go from Zoom to a TV and during lunch you're on your mobile. Ultimately, you're only busy with screens. It's good to ignore your mobile a bit. Nothing is so urgent that you have to drop everything immediately, it always turns out to be okay. And you need to recharge to perform again. Many people suddenly take plants; it's nice to be busy with quaint things. It's a tough time we live in, you can think about that and pamper yourself.’

Finally...
‘It's the time to stay mentally and physically fit. Take a power nap every now and then. Lie on the couch, put a plate next to you on the floor and hold a bunch of keys in your hand. Let this arm hang above the plate. The moment you fall into a deep sleep, the keys will clatter on the plate and you'll wake up. This is the perfect length of a power nap. And remember: no is a complete sentence.’