You're living the dream of many, aren’t you? The work-from-home setup is a luxury these days. Pajamas are your workwear, your furry companion snoozing nearby is your co-worker, and there is no commute.
But once you’re actually in it, you realize it’s not all cozy vibes and laptop-in-bed aesthetics. The reality is a little different. The lines between work and life blur. It’s no surprise that many remote workers find themselves wrestling with stress.
Fortunately, there are a lot of things that you can do to reduce stress and boost your mental well-being. Want to know? Dive in, then!
Table of Contents
1. Create and Stick to a Routine
Do you know what the antidote to the structure void is? It’s routine.
Creating a predictable rhythm for your day helps combat the work-life blur and reduces stress and burnout risk.
To build a routine that works for you, decide on your start and end times and try your absolute best to stick to them. This is ground zero for creating boundaries. Let your colleagues and housemates know your schedule.
Some find it helpful to block off non-work hours in their calendar first. If a traditional 9-to-5 doesn't fit your life, explore a split schedule like working morning and evening with a long afternoon break if your job allows.
Don't just roll out of bed and open your laptop. Ease into your workday with a pre-work routine. This creates a mental transition.
For instance, you can make your coffee or tea and eat breakfast. Get dressed, then. Changing into comfy clothes that aren't pajamas sends a psychological signal that the workday has begun. It helps you feel more productive.
Use a planner, app, or simple to-do list to manage your tasks. Consider the ‘eat the frog’ approach. Basically, you must tackle your most challenging or important task first thing, ideally during your peak energy hours.
2. Designate a Workspace
Where you work matters.
If you work from your bed, you’re confusing your brain. The beds are for rest. Laptops on beds mess with that signal. You might find it harder to sleep or focus because your brain doesn’t know which mode it’s supposed to be in.
Set up a dedicated workspace. It will create that mental separation between work mode and home mode.
If you don't have a spare room, get creative. Use a room divider, a bookshelf, or just designate a specific chair and small table as your work zone. Crucially, try to make this a chore-free zone, because out of sight is out of mind.
You don't need fancy equipment, but paying attention to basic ergonomics can save you from aches, pains, and added stress.
A chair that offers good back support is non-negotiable. If your chair doesn't have lumbar support, a small pillow or rolled-up towel can work wonders. Position the top of your screen at or slightly below eye level, so you're looking straight ahead, not craning your neck up or down.
Setting up your space ergonomically might seem like it's just about avoiding sore back or wrist pain. But think deeper—chronic physical discomfort, even if it's just low-level nagging pain, is a constant drain on your mental energy.
3. Don’t Skip the Breaks
It sounds counterintuitive, right?
You've got a deadline looming, a mountain of emails, and the last thing you think you have time for is a break.
But trying to power through hour after hour without pausing is actually one of the fastest routes to burnout and decreased productivity. Your brain and body need regular resets to stay sharp, focused, and creative.
Every 30 to 90 minutes, take microbreaks. These are short, 5-10 minute pauses. Get up, stretch, walk around your living room, or grab some water.
If social media helps you reset, scroll a bit. Maybe check a funny account or a pet video. Just don’t dive into doom scrolling. Researchers have found that browsing social media during work breaks can leave you emotionally exhausted.
You can also try Pomodoro Technique. This popular method structures your work into focused bursts. You work intensely on one task for 25 minutes, then take a mandatory 5-minute break. After four pomodoros, you take a longer break for about 15-30 minutes.
This technique is great for maintaining focus, managing distractions, and preventing mental fatigue. There are variations, too, like working for 52 minutes and breaking for 17.
Oh, and take lunch breaks as well. Don't eat lunch hunched over your keyboard. Sit somewhere else when you have lunch.
Lunch breaks aren't a waste of time at all. That pause actually makes you sharper when you get back to work.
4. Carve Out Some Time for Hobbies
Sometimes you need more than just a walk around the block to truly unwind.
After you clock out, make time for hobbies. Engaging in activities you genuinely enjoy is a fantastic way to de-stress and take your mind off work pressures.
Whether it's reading a book, listening to music, cooking, crafting, or getting lost in a creative project, hobbies provide a mental escape.
Even playing video games counts. Believe it or not, video games are now a hobby for 190 million people in America.
Video games are not just fun and entertaining; they also help relieve stress. You can dive into Counter-Strike 2 & GO, Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox, and Grand Theft Auto V. These are some of the most popular games gamers play on PC.
Just a heads up: set time limits for playing these video games. That is because these games can lead to addiction; that is what the video game lawsuit alleges. And the video game addiction lawsuit payout is huge, showing the gravity of the situation.
Yes, these popular games are at the center of a suit. One plaintiff alleges that these game companies use old-school tricks like reward systems to make sure users keep playing longer.
TruLaw adds that microtransactions, in particular, play a key role in the video game addiction model. Many argue that they are designed to make you spend money without thinking and because you feel like you'll miss out if you don't—peer pressure.
5. Keep Yourself Physically Active
Working from home means you sit more often than you would otherwise. You skip the drive, don't walk around the office, and there's no need to go to the cafeteria.
One study found that people working from home actually sit for about two extra hours a day compared to those who go into the office. Office workers only sit for about 7.3 hours, but remote workers are clocking in 9.2 hours in their chairs.
This sedentary lifestyle isn't just bad for physical health—hello, back pain, weight gain, heart risks! It also messes with your mental well-being, contributing to sluggishness, brain fog, and even anxiety or depression.
Staying active is medicine. Exercise is an effective stress reliever. It boosts your mood, ramps up your energy levels, and sharpens your focus.
Just like a meeting, block out time for exercise. Aim for the general guideline of 150-300 minutes of moderate activity per week if you can.
Can’t spare time for exercise after you log out? Little bits of movement throughout the day can really help. Set a timer to stand, stretch, or take a quick walk every 30 to 60 minutes. Do simple exercises at your desk: chair squats, calf raises, shoulder rolls, and marching in place. Regular stretching helps, too.
6. Feed Your Brain Good Stuff
You are what you eat isn’t just a cliché. Your brain needs good fuel to function properly.
Eating nutrient-rich foods helps fuel your brain. But what you consume mentally is just as important.
Social media can be a source of connection and support, especially for finding communities with shared identities or experiences, creative expression, and learning.
But excessive social media use and constant negative news can take a toll on your mental health. They can fuel comparison, FOMO (fear of missing out), anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, sleep problems, and feelings of isolation.
So, limit your intake of social media to around 30 minutes a day. That can significantly improve well-being and reduce anxiety and depression.
Can’t resist the scroll? Use app timers and try keeping your phone out of the bedroom at night.
Also, read books that inspire you, listen to podcasts that make you laugh or think, stay curious, or watch a documentary that inspires you. Basically, consume things that energize your brain, not things that wear it out. Your mind’s hungry—feed it wisely.
Phew! That’s a lot to take in.
Working from home has its perks, no doubt. But it also comes with its own unique set of stressors. You’re not powerless, however.
You can take small, intentional steps that make a huge difference. But know that you’re not going to get it all right every day.
Some days you’ll skip yoga, binge on chips, and accidentally spend two hours on TikTok. It happens. So, give yourself grace, notice, and reset. Prioritize progress over perfection, always.