ICAS ICAS logo

Quicklinks

  1. About Us

    Find out about who we are and what we do here at ICAS.

  2. Find a CA

    Search our directory of individual CAs and Member organisations by name, location and professional criteria.

  3. CA Magazine

    View the latest issues of the dedicated magazine for ICAS Chartered Accountants.

  4. Contact Us

    Get in touch with ICAS by phone, email or post, with dedicated contacts for Members, Students and firms.

Login
  • Annual renewal
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Find a CA
  1. About us
    1. Governance
  2. Members
    1. Become a member
    2. Newly qualified
    3. Manage my membership
    4. Benefits of membership
    5. Careers support
    6. Mentoring
    7. CA Wellbeing
    8. More for Members
    9. Area networks
    10. International communities
    11. Get involved
    12. Top Young CAs
    13. Career breaks
    14. ICAS podcast
    15. Newly admitted members 2022
    16. Newly admitted members 2023
  3. CA Students
    1. Student information
    2. Student resources
    3. Learning requirements
    4. Learning updates
    5. Learning blog
    6. Totum Pro | Student discount card
    7. CA Student wellbeing
  4. Become a CA
    1. How to become a CA
    2. Routes to becoming a CA
    3. CA Stories
    4. Find a training agreement
    5. Why become a CA
    6. Qualification information
    7. University exemptions
  5. Employers
    1. Become an Authorised Training Office
    2. Resources for Authorised Training Offices
    3. Professional entry
    4. Apprenticeships
  6. Find a CA
  7. ICAS events
    1. CA Summit
  8. CA magazine
  9. Insight
    1. Finance + Trust
    2. Finance + Technology
    3. Finance + EDI
    4. Finance + Mental Fitness
    5. Finance + Leadership
    6. Finance + Sustainability
  10. Professional resources
    1. Anti-money laundering
    2. Audit and assurance
    3. Brexit
    4. Business and governance
    5. Charities
    6. Coronavirus
    7. Corporate and financial reporting
    8. Cyber security
    9. Ethics
    10. Insolvency
    11. ICAS Research
    12. Pensions
    13. Practice
    14. Public sector
    15. Sustainability
    16. Tax
  11. CPD - professional development
    1. CPD courses and qualifications
    2. CPD news and updates
    3. CPD support and advice
  12. Regulation
    1. Complaints and sanctions
    2. Regulatory authorisations
    3. Guidance and help sheets
    4. Regulatory monitoring
  13. CA jobs
    1. CA jobs partner: Rutherford Cross
    2. Resources for your job search
    3. Advertise with CA jobs
    4. Hays | A Trusted ICAS CA Jobs Partner
    5. Azets | What's your ambition?
  14. Work at ICAS
    1. Business centres
    2. Meet our team
    3. Benefits
    4. Vacancies
    5. Imagine your career at ICAS
  15. Contact us
    1. Technical and regulation queries
    2. ICAS logo request

Building mental resilience while working from home

  • LinkedIn (opens new window)
  • Twitter (opens new window)
By Bupa

12 August 2021

Over the past 18 months, you’ve more than likely worked from home for a good percentage of the time. Even as we emerge from the pandemic, you may continue to do so, or at least part of the time.

While working from home has benefits, it can sometimes take its toll too. Especially if you’ve been doing it for a long period of time and your resilience to the situation is beginning to wane. Work and home life can easily blur together, and you might feel ‘stale’ or ‘trapped’ working and living in the same space.

Resilience, in a nutshell, is your ability to deal with and respond to challenging situations. Here, we share six practical ways to boost your mental resilience while working from home.

Maintain a routine

If you think back to your pre-COVID work life, it’s easy to see the differences to your day. Your daily habits supported your mental health, without you even knowing it. Your commute to and from work, catching up with colleagues over coffee, or perhaps meeting a client for lunch. All these things boost your mental health through connection, interaction and movement.

Having a similar routine to the one you had in the office can help you transition better into ‘work mode’.

  • Make a point of getting dressed and ready for your working day, rather than working in pyjamas or lounging clothes.
  • Go for a short walk before and after work to help create the structure of a working day.
  • Set an alarm or diary reminder to take your lunch break, as well as regular breaks throughout the day.
  • Shut down your computer properly when you’re scheduled to finish work so you’re not tempted to carry on checking emails into the evening.

Challenge negative thought patterns

If you feel stressed or find yourself thinking negative thoughts, stop for a moment and try to challenge them. For example, you might be fearing the worst about an outcome, but try to reframe the situation and identify any positives. Studies show that people who take an optimistic outlook on events tend to deal with them better.

Your resilience to both work-related stresses and life events will build as you overcome negative thought patterns in a positive way.

Actively manage your energy

Mindfulness is a term we hear a lot when it comes to wellbeing – and for good reason. It helps you become aware of what’s going on right now in your mind and body. Practising mindfulness regularly can help reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, and has been linked to resilience.

Make time to really notice how you feel and what your energy levels are like. If you’re feeling flat, stressed or anxious, take a break from work and try to identify what’s causing these feelings? What can you do to shift those feelings and increase your energy or improve your mood?

Stay connected

Working from home can sometimes be lonely. It’s easy to feel ‘out of the loop’ or not connected to colleagues and friends. Make time to connect with others, in person or virtually. Keep talking to your family and friends about how you’re feeling. Talking things through can help you feel better and might give you a fresh perspective on the things that are worrying you. Check in on others too – this can help you feel connected and purposeful.

Prioritise self-care

Prioritising self-care can build your resilience and keep you feeling well. Look after yourself by eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, exercising regularly and getting enough quality sleep.

During harder times, or maybe just after a difficult day, make a point of doing something to show yourself kindness and compassion. Think of the things that make you feel better and make the effort to carry one or two of them out. Do some yoga, go for a walk or cook your favourite meal.

Design your environment

One negative to working in an office is having limited control over your desk setup, such as its location and personal touches. Embrace the opportunity to create your own work environment at home. Think about the things that boost your wellbeing or you like having around you.

  • Treat yourself to flowers or a house plant to have on your desk.
  • Light a candle or buy a diffuser that contains your favourite scent.
  • Put on some relaxing background music.
  • Change it around – reorganise or relocate your working space from time to time to keep things fresh.

This blog is one of a series of articles from our commercial partners. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of ICAS. 


Sources:

  • Sisto A, Vicinanza F, Campanozzi LL et al. Towards a transversal definition of psychological resilience: a literature review. Medicina (Kaunas). 2019;55(11):745. doi:10.3390/medicina55110745
  • Five ways to mental wellbeing. Government Office for Science. GOV UK. www.gov.uk, published 22 October 2008
  • Five ways to wellbeing. Mind. www.mind.org.uk , accessed 15 June 2021
  • Southwick SM, Sippel L, Krystal J et al. Why are some individuals more resilient than others: the role of social support. World Psychiatry. 2016;15(1):77-79. doi:10.1002/wps.20282
  • Kleiman EM, Chiara AM, Liu RT et al. Optimism and well-being: a prospective multi-method and multi-dimensional examination of optimism as a resilience factor following the occurrence of stressful life events. Cogn Emot. 2017;31(2):269-283. doi:10.1080/02699931.2015.1108284
  • Parmentier FBR, García-Toro M, García-Campayo J et al. Mindfulness and symptoms of depression and anxiety in the general population: the nediating roles of worry, rumination, reappraisal and suppression. Front Psychol 2019; 10:506. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00506
  • Asensio-Martínez Á, Oliván-Blázquez B, Montero-Marín J et al. Relation of the Psychological Constructs of Resilience, Mindfulness, and Self-Compassion on the Perception of Physical and Mental Health. Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2019;12:1155-1166. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S225169
  • How to manage stress. Developing resilience. Mind.  www.mind.org.uk,  published November 2017
  • Terry ML, Leary MR. Self-compassion, self-regulation, and health. Self Identity 2011; 10(3):352–62. doi: 10.1080/15298868.2011.558404
2023-03-MarksElectrical 2023-03-MarksElectrical
ICAS logo

Footer links

  • Contact us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice
  • CA magazine

Connect with ICAS

  • Facebook (opens new window) Facebook Icon
  • Twitter (opens new window) Twitter Icon
  • LinkedIn (opens new window) LinkedIn Icon
  • Instagram (opens new window) Instagram Icon

ICAS is a member of the following bodies

  • Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (opens new window) Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies logo
  • Chartered Accountants Worldwide (opens new window) Chartered Accountants Worldwide logo
  • Global Accounting Alliance (opens new window) Global Accounting Alliance
  • International Federation of Accountants (opens new window) IFAC
  • Access Accountancy (opens new window) Access Acountancy

Charities

  • ICAS Foundation (opens new window) ICAS Foundation
  • SCABA (opens new window) scaba

Accreditations

  • ISO 9001 - RGB (opens new window)
© ICAS 2022

The mark and designation “CA” is a registered trade mark of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), and is available for use in the UK and EU only to members of ICAS. If you are not a member of ICAS, you should not use the “CA” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to accountancy, tax or insolvency services. The mark and designation “Chartered Accountant” is a registered trade mark of ICAS, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and Chartered Accountants Ireland. If you are not a member of one of these organisations, you should not use the “Chartered Accountant” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to these services. Further restrictions on the use of these marks also apply where you are a member.

ICAS logo

Our cookie policy

ICAS.com uses cookies which are essential for our website to work. We would also like to use analytical cookies to help us improve our website and your user experience. Any data collected is anonymised. Please have a look at the further information in our cookie policy and confirm if you are happy for us to use analytical cookies: