Remote working has changed how many of us look at the prospect of having a job. A lot of people have been glad to take the additional freedom, flexibility, and comfort that comes with earning their living from home, but it could come at a price. One part of that price is that spending more time in isolation and in one spot could be detrimental to your mental health. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be. Here are a few ways to take better care of your mind while working from home.

Set Clear Work-Life Boundaries

One of the biggest issues with working from home is that the lines between work and personal life can blur when your home becomes your office. You might be more inclined to answer emails late at night or skip lunch breaks, but over time, this can exhaust your mind. Protect your mental health by setting a firm start and end time for your workday. Create small rituals, whether it’s lighting a candle and having a minute of quiet, or shutting down your work laptop, to mark the end of the work day. Establishing your work-life balance and creating firm boundaries between work-life and home-life can ensure that your mind is able to recover fully from the workday.

Create A Fitting Workspace

Your environment plays a big role in your mood and mindset, as well. If you’re just working from bed or from a cluttered desk that you also use for other purposes, your workday can feel scattered and stressful. Designate a specific workspace, even if it’s just a corner of a room, that signals focus to your brain. Keep it clean, add a few calming touches like a plant, cozy lighting, or a favorite quote. Natural light is ideal, but a good desk lamp can help you keep the space bright and productive. A peaceful work environment reduces how fatigued you get as you work and creates another important distinction between office and home to help you manage those work-life boundaries.

Know When You Need Some Help

If you feel like stress is getting to you or your emotions have been spiralling lately, then it’s important to recognize that therapy is a valid option. In fact, therapy isn’t just for when you’re at your breaking point, but for helping you maintain your mental health as part of your routine, as well. With online therapy covered by insurance, you can have a much more accessible path to the help that you need, rather than feeling like you can only get in touch with a therapist when you’re in a crisis. Talking things through regularly helps you spot patterns, prevent issues from growing, and stay emotionally grounded. Therapy isn’t about fixing something broken; it’s about keeping your mind resilient, supported, and strong as you navigate the challenges of remote work and beyond.

Schedule Your Breaks

If you decide to only take a break “when you need it,” then it’s very easy to suddenly find yourself not taking a break. Wanting to finish your workday sooner or getting absorbed in your current task might not seem harmful, but it can contribute to burnout if you’re not careful. Schedule short intentional breaks as part of your workday, even putting them in your calendar with reminders if you have to. If you have flexibility in your schedule, taking a break every 90 minutes is widely considered the optimal routine. Step away from screens completely: stretch, get a snack, take a walk, or simply breathe deeply. Even five-minute pauses can reset your brain and prevent the slow creep of burnout.

Stay Connected

The real erosion of human connection isn’t just a hypothetical fear of working from home, it is a reality for a lot of people. While you may have Zoom meetings and Slack chats with your colleagues, they can replace real face-to-face contact. Make a point of reaching out to friends, family, or even a colleague with whom you get along. Scheduling even one face-to-face a week, be it a meeting at a cafe or going out for lunch together, is vital, even if you’re an introvert. The mind craves community and belonging, and isolation leads to anxiety and burnout.

Taking care of your mental health is vital no matter what kind of work you do, but it’s important to be aware of the particular risks if you work from home. The tips above can help you find the tools to deal with the threats of stress, burnout, and isolation.