Is Working From Home good for your health?
With so many of us leading increasingly busy and stressful lives, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a healthy work/life balance. A recent survey found that 52% of UK workers admit work regularly impacts their personal life, and 67% intend to make changes to improve their work life balance.
37% of us do at least some work from home in 2021, up from 6% in 2018.
According to the ONS Business and individual attitudes towards the future of homeworking, UK: April to May 2021 report, working adults listed “work-life balance” as the biggest positive of WFH.
With the average commute to work in the UK pre-pandemic being 58 minutes, it’s understandable why working from home has become so attractive.
The Royal Society for Public Healthcare found that longer commute times impacted people’s health and wellbeing due to increased stress, higher blood pressure and BMI, and reduced time available for health-promoting activities such as cooking, exercising and sleeping.
While working from home might have benefits for our mental and physical health, there can be drawbacks for the home and family life. Spaces that were traditionally used for eating or relaxing, are increasingly being used as places to work.
Nearly a third of those working from home (30%) find it difficult to separate their home and work lives. A further 27% reported difficulty in switching off at the end of the day or working week, whilst 34% believe working from home has placed a strain on relationships with their partners or children.
“As a couple psychotherapist I see the stress that working from home can bring” says Pauline Hodson (Chair of the British Society of Couple Psychotherapy and Counselling)
“I believe there is an unconscious expectation that “home”, just like “mother”, can cope with anything and adapt to any situation, but just like the office our home is an institution, and as such has a culture and adheres to a set of rules and boundaries that need to be recognised and taken into account if working from home is to be successful.”
One way people are enjoying the benefits of WFH, without the negative impact of encroaching on the spaces in the home traditionally used by the entire family, is by building a Garden Office.
Sales of garden buildings rocketed by 500% between January and May 2021, compared with a year earlier.
With most garden rooms not requiring planning permission or building regulations approval in Greater Manchester and East Cheshire, working from home in a bespoke garden pod could cut your commute to 30 seconds, without the stress and cost of building an extension.
Relax From Home offer a completely bespoke Garden Cabin solution from initial consultation, CAD design and build.
Operations Director Joe Brown stresses the importance of understanding the customer’s needs “Every customer has different needs and a different budget. Our entire approach is based around understanding our customer’s needs, and then designing and building a solution that works best for them.”
Richard in Wilmslow wanted a large Garden Cabin for use as an office and casual entertaining space, with storage and wrap around decking and entire landscaping transformation. “Relax From Home created great design and a superb build. We really love our “shed””.
RFH offer free consultation and site surveys, with their individually tailored designs ranging from cheaper timber clad summer rooms, to high end 25 year guarantee composite cladding with full insulation and bi-folding doors Garden Cabins.
Covering Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Sale, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge, Handforth, Cheadle, Bramhall, Poynton, and surrounding areas, please feel free to get in touch for a free consultation 0161 221 1150 sales@relaxfromhome.co.uk