How to Boost Happiness When Working From Home

We’re coming up on twelve straight months of this new normal of working from home. Routines are starting to form–which can mean your employees’ daily routines are becoming a little stale. They’re balancing work and family–and for many, they’re part-time teachers when schools are in online learning mode. Your priority is keeping your team happy and healthy, and we’re here with a few tips to show recognition and boost happiness while working from home.

Spice up those virtual coffee meetings

We designed our offices to be more than places where people sit for eight hours a day. From the lunchroom to hallways to water coolers, they’re places meant to spark conversations. Working from home means all those serendipitous moments of inspiration or problem solving are harder to come by. 

We’ve all tried to schedule coffees with coworkers during the pandemic. Either something comes up or worse, there’s nothing to talk about on the calls. Beyond pairing up two employees, one idea is to give them a series of ice breaker questions to get off on the right foot. These questions can be anything from a first concert experience to what’s the most useless thing you have in your house or apartment right now.

For companies that use Slack to keep connected, the Donut app for Slack helps connect employees who might not usually have interactions when working remotely. They can even take care of suggestion icebreaker questions with their recently launched feature called Watercooler.

Get flexible

No, not a virtual yoga class–although we do need to work on our chaturanga flows. We’re talking about flexible schedules. Before the pandemic, we used to be worried about employees responding to emails late at night. But working from home has blurred the lines between home life and work-life even more. Having a flexible work schedule policy is a great first step, but it will take action to make it work. 

Start by having your employees share with their team what their work schedule will be. Some might block out time to help children with online learning; others will schedule a daily walk to clear their heads and get some exercise. Every employee must see this in action, so it becomes a regular part of your work routine. Employees can also be encouraged to use the out of office feature in their email to let coworkers know their schedule. Last but not least, as a people manager, you need to walk the talk. Set and share your flexible work schedule so your team can follow your example.

Change up your meetings

Whether it’s Zoom, Teams, or Hangouts, we’re spending most of our day in video calls. But what about those phones on our desks? We know phone calls aren’t the most popular use of a smartphone for Gen-Z and Millenials, but you’ve got unlimited minutes, so why not use them?

If it’s available to you, dial into your next meeting or 1:1 while you’re out for a walk. It’s a great way to explore your neighbourhood and get a little fresh air. Even if you don’t get outside, putting in your earbuds and dialing in to a meeting is a great way to do some chores around the house or sit somewhere comfy you usually wouldn’t.

Slow down the scroll

Social media is our primary way of keeping in touch with friends and catching up with news. But how much time are we spending on the infinite scroll? According to a United HealthCare Services report, Inc., adults reported spending up to 13 hours a day on screens since the pandemic began. 

This much screen time causes damage to our physical and mental health. Our suggestion–put some intention into your social media usage. Try only opening Instagram to send a friend or family member a message. You can also try blocking time in your day for a social media fix. Timeboxing the scrolling and double-tapping can help reduce usage and improve your overall happiness.

Show some recognition

The pandemic has thrown our senses out of whack when it comes to understanding productivity and overall happiness. Our work and home lives have blended, and many employees are still struggling to find the balance they need. 

When we were able to work together in person, showing recognition was easy. Working remotely or having a mix of in-office and remote employees can create situations where there’s a lack of equity in how we give recognition.

Make a plan to recognize your employees for their milestones–from work anniversaries to birthdays. Our founder Pj Lowe found that there is more than just a good feeling from showing recognition–it drives employee happiness and retention rates. That awareness sparked Pj to start Chocolate Soup to help make it easy for companies to build recognition into their culture in a surprising and delighting way.

Our Winter Warmer Spices and Winter Warmer Mug boxes are a great way to show recognition this winter. Learn more about them here.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash