Is working from home bad for health?

The underlying health risks of working from home must not be overlooked

Well after Sanjay Aggarwal, an IT professional, turns in for the night, he finds himself checking his mail frequently on his smartphone. Unable to put his mind to rest, just in case there is an important mail, he stays logged in 24x7. The impulse to react as soon as he gets a mail sometimes consumes him of all his energy and leaves him sleep-deprived.

Aggarwal, who is in his 30s, works from home. When he opted out of a full-time office job, he had bargained for greater independence and a more flexible schedule. Instead, he finds himself even more wired up.

Manish Jain, a consultant in psychiatry at Delhi’s BLK Super Speciality Hospital, who is currently counselling him, says Aggarwal sometimes starts his work day as early as 4 am — or even earlier. He complains of being distracted by household chores during the day and wants to spare the evenings for his children. He finds his professional life increasingly eating into his personal space and vice-versa. As a result, he suffers from increased work-related stress which, of late, has manifested in the form of insomnia. 

People in India are increasingly adopting the trend of work from home, or telecommuting, with the hope that it will improve their quality of life. More multinationals are also devising policies that allow their employees to work from outside of office. This changing concept of traditional workspace and official working hours is enabling companies to add more workforce, acquire better talent and increase productivity, while keeping spending in check. In a profitable barter, people also tend to prefer employers who facilitate this flexibility. 

But new opportunities come with underlying risks, as Aggarwal’s case shows.

Highly mobile workers, who routinely work from home or multiple locations outside office, often complain of stress and sleep disorder. According to a joint report by the International Labour Organisation and Eurofound — titled Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work and released earlier this year —41 per cent of the teleworkers (or “work-at-home” employees) surveyed, were under some degree of stress against 25 per cent people who worked out of an office. And, 42 per cent teleworkers were suffering from insomnia. The United Nations agency report covered 44,000 responders from 15 developed and developing nations, including India.

A constructive debate on challenges faced by teleworkers has not come to the forefront in India because of their limited number. But health experts say they are handling such cases on a regular basis. 

“Most people who come for counselling are struggling to find a work-life balance. There’s a new case almost every day,” says Samir Parikh, director of mental health and behavioural sciences at Fortis Hospital, Delhi. 

A 35-year-old mother of a toddler says because she is available at home, even though she might be working during that period, she is expected to take care of the child simply because she is around. She says that though she is able to work in the first place because her company has a work-from-home option, it is a taking a mental and physical toll on her. She feels pulled by both her family and office. She also feels cut off from her social life.

A person who routinely works from home has limited peer-to-peer interaction, which can breed job and performance-related insecurities, while also scaling down a healthy level of social interaction, says Parikh.

Many employees also end up working for longer hours at home. This, experts argue, is because of not sticking to a routine. The UN report estimates that 45 per cent of teleworkers carry out small errands in between their working hours. “Personal hygiene also takes a hit. People tend to work at odd hours — late nights and early morning —in multiple shifts, which disrupts a healthy routine,” says Jain.

This raises a question on the work-life balance that the employees who opted to work from home had set out to achieve. According to the UN report, of the 19 per cent teleworkers in India, 66 per cent were working over 48 hours a week and 67 per cent worked over six days a week.

Experts suggest striking a balance between working from office and telecommuting. Mental health specialists say it is important to devise a work routine and follow it. Among other suggestions are working for fixed hours, maintaining a healthy level of social engagement and taking adequate breaks. A home office must demarcate space for work and personal use to avoid blurring the two. Parikh says people who work and live in the same space often don’t get the required mental breaks and feel the need to step out more often. 

A steeper challenge that employees need to tackle is the command and control style of their employers and focus on meeting the day’s objective rather than clocking more hours than their peers. The balancing act is in knowing when to switch off, before you burn out.

The ups

Helps balance work with personal commitments

Gives greater freedom of work

Facilitates a flexible working schedule

Saves time and money spent on commute

Reduces carbon footprint

The downs

Longer working hours

Odd hours can lead to stress and insomnia

Isolation because of lack of peer-to-peer interaction

Job and performance-related insecurities

Blurs the line between personal and private space

Staying fit and healthy  

Demarcate work and personal spaces

Follow a routine and fix working hours

Spare time for social engagements andwork-related interactions

Don’t remain on standby — know when to switch off

lf possible, alternate between working from home and office