The other day I was talking to a colleague and she said something that blew my mind. She was mentally preparing herself to celebrate her birthday in quarantine...for the second time. We are approaching one full year since we were required to work from home full time. No additional support was provided to parents who normally relied on childcare or to young people who shared small spaces with roommates. No new boundaries were set for acceptable work conditions, work hours, or work demands despite having to confront a major health crisis. 

It felt like everything had changed in our personal lives yet nothing changed at work.

One of the many struggles I faced then and now is trying to balance the work stress when gyms, restaurants, bars, parks, theatres, and stores are all shut down. I have spent more months isolated by myself than ever before and it takes a toll on my motivation, focus, and overall happiness. If you are already someone who suffers from anxiety, I can’t imagine the compounded effect you must be experiencing. 

There’s no denying that work is dominating our time and energy these days. Most people I spoke to in January felt like work had gone into overdrive in 2021. Tension levels are rising and emails are flying around all hours of the night and weekends. It just felt abnormally busy and kinda miserable. Issues that normally wouldn’t bother me, like an email pointing out a mistake or lack of appreciation when covering for someone started to wear me down. It has been years since I cried at work but I started to feel the tears well up one day while on a call with a teammate. I immediately realized I need to squash this feeling before it gets worse.

Here’s what has helped me restore balance and motivation levels in the last few days:

1. Personal Reflection

   Take a moment for a self-assessment of your emotions and physical health. It’s important to identify and label your feelings because different approaches are needed if you’re feeling angry/frustrated versus depressed/sad. You also want to be mindful of what you’re consuming each day. You’ve heard the expression “garbage in, garbage out” and that applies to what you eat and drink and how it makes you feel. You might be sitting around all day and getting 8 hours of sleep, but that doesn’t always equate to quality rest. 

2. Identify your mood boosters

   Think about the things you enjoy doing that make you feel better. For me, it’s a fun HIIT workout, a good cocktail, a yummy meal, reality TV and a laugh with friends. If I can find a way to incorporate most of those things into my week, I will be less cranky. Set a recurring reminder for yourself or schedule time with a friend to help you stick to the routine. You can also use a habit tracker and get the satisfaction of checking it off and tracking your progress over time. What works for others may not work for you, and that is okay! 

3. Team Support

   Find teammates, friends, and mentors you can vent to. The key is to talk about what you are experiencing without whining. For example, I told my colleague that I was feeling defeated lately because of endless delays and roadblocks to accomplishing the task at hand. However, I also felt motivated by the positive response we were receiving on an adjacent project. He shared that he felt the same which made me feel less alone. We realized that our energy is contagious and so we’re going to try to keep each other positive and optimistic.

   I also leaned into other small tasks that allowed me to collaborate with others and shine by using my strengths. These small wins not only made me feel more accomplished and capable, it also led to more recognition and appreciation internally. 

   I experienced two very kind gestures after a particularly rough week that really turned my attitude around and I hope you all can implement immediately within your teams.

• A senior team leader took the time to send me an email saying “good job, keep up the great work.” But she took it a step further by copying my direct manager. This was a career first for me and I felt overjoyed and so validated by a simple action that took her just a few minutes.

• A teammate sent me a text to give me a compliment after I led a team meeting. I was nervous about filling in on short notice and running a large team conference call for the first time. Without facial expressions or body language, it’s hard to know if you’re doing a good job and so I appreciated him taking the extra minute to send me a text and boost my self-confidence. 

Much of normal office culture has not translated to the work from home environment like chit chats in the kitchen, visibility from senior leadership, happy hour drinks after a long day, skill development and so on. If you know these are things you miss or need for your professional happiness, try to initiate these moments as best as you can. Suggest a trivia night over zoom or a virtual coffee catch up. If you need to call someone to talk about a project, spend a few minutes first asking them about a fun show they may be watching. 

Positive human connection with colleagues will make your work day a little brighter and increase your motivation to continue to do a good job. Set small personal boundaries such as no emails after 8 pm (unless super urgent) or walks without your phone. The most gratifying thing you can do is pay someone a compliment when they deserve it. A few minutes of your day can make someone else’s week!