3 Tips for Social Workers to Make Working from Home Less Stressful

Social work is already difficult.

But over the past few months, it has gotten a lot harder.

Some social workers have been required to continue field visits while others have been forced to work from home to help prevent the spread of the disease.

Adjusting to working from home wasn’t easy for a lot of social workers. While some are ready to head back to the office or back into the field, others have no plans to return.

Here are three major lessons we’ve learned on how to make working from home less stressful for social workers.

1. It is crucial to manage tasks.

A good task manager for yourself or your team will definitely set you up for success. The rhythm of checking off tasks as you complete them is much more satisfying and effective than messaging your boss to tell them that you have completed a task.

Setting milestones along the way to help accomplish your main goal is another great way to stay on track and ensure that the task at hand does not become too overwhelming or daunting. Checking off these milestones also provides your team with an informal update about where you stand on a project.

2. Attempt to limit your distractions.

There are countless tips and tricks you can use to limit the distractions around you. We have all heard that you should put your phone out of arm’s reach and have a clean workspace. But for those of us who have roommates, kids, significant others, or pets running around, limiting distractions is easier said than done.

A strict schedule is also key when it comes to staying on task and not getting distracted. Keep your morning routine the same as it usually is minus the commute. Waking up, taking a shower, doing your typical bathroom routine, and making coffee are all essential for you to be alert for the day ahead. The same should be true for the middle of the day—Even though you might want to do your dishes or vacuum to procrastinate real work, stand strong.

For the end of the day, you should set a hard “cut off” time for work if your job allows—A time where meetings, calls, and busywork are halted until the next morning. Especially in the world of social work, we all know that taking your work home with you is pretty much part of the job. It’s even more apparent now because the physical boundaries of an office don’t exist. Now social workers must be extra strict with themselves when it comes to taking time for themselves and their families away from the daily worry and grind of their jobs.

3. Be on the hunt for new and all-encompassing technology.

Whether you take advantage of your iPhone’s FaceTime feature for face-to-face calls while on the go, or you search for a third-party video calling app to include your Android friends, there are plenty of options out there. But when considering all the options, are you also considering the data that you are letting these apps collect from you? Are you making sure that if you’re discussing private or sensitive information, you are using a HIPAA-compliant service?

And besides the security of the app you and your team choose to download, are you then looking into that app’s overall functionality? Many apps offer video calls or group chats, but what about the apps that merge everything into one? You’re already jumping between multiple applications to communicate with your team, so why add 2–3 more when you could just consolidate into one?