How Your Workspace Can Impact Your Mental Health
It’s estimated that we spend a third of our adult lives at work so it’s crucial that we ensure our workspaces are optimised for supporting our mental health and wellbeing. Whether you’re working from home, an office or a co-working space, your environment can affect your happiness, mindset and productivity levels.
As we look to the future – both with Covid-19 restrictions in place and beyond – it’s time for us all to consider how we can alter our workspaces, making them a place that we look forward to being in or returning to when we feel that it is safe and appropriate to do so
So, where can you start?
OPPORTUNITIES TO ESCAPE THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE
As organisations across the globe continue to return to their workplaces, or at least assess how they will do so, an even greater need for flexibility has emerged – and not just in terms of contractual agreements. Some companies are opting for workplaces that allow employees to choose whether they’d prefer to hot-desk in a lively open plan office, use a designated desk in a smaller, more private office or bypass the office entirely and work remotely.
When we really need to focus, most of us tend to seek out a quiet, distraction-free zone to retreat to. Prior to the pandemic, working from home typically provided us with this – but now we’ve all come to realise just how much this blurs the boundaries between our personal and professional lives, and the rose-tinted glasses have definitely slipped!
Since Covid-19 hit the UK earlier this year, the NHS has reported a 20 per cent surge in the number of people seeking help for their mental health. Immersing ourselves in nature, even if only for a short while, is said to boost our mood, reduce stress and, of course, improve our physical health.
We appreciate that not everyone is lucky enough to have several acres of parkland to explore on their lunch break, or treehouse meeting rooms like those at Microsoft, but even a quick stroll along the canal or in a local park can work wonders for the body and mind. Now, more than ever before, it’s vital that we prioritise our mental health and remember that we needn’t confine ourselves indoors; instead escaping our desks every now and again, either to socialise or spend some solitary time outdoors.
In a recent survey, 70 per cent of employees said that the office was important for developing their networks, and two-thirds agreed that these relationships had been beneficial to their career. But the benefits of being surrounded by like-minded individuals don’t stop there.
Humans are social creatures, and even the most introverted among us need to foster connections with our colleagues and feel a sense of community. While working remotely, employees typically bypass the metaphorical water cooler, missing out on opportunities to build lasting bonds with others – ones that diffuse tension and keep morale high.
There’s certainly an appropriate time and place for remote working, but the need for a comfortable, spacious and well-equipped office has perhaps become even more prominent in recent months. No doubt this is a sign of what our ideal workspaces will look like as we continue to move away from working at our kitchen tables and into places in which entire teams can thrive.
Interested in finding out more about how our flexible workspaces could work for you? Simply get in touch with us to arrange your visit.
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