Analyzing the effect of distractions of working from home on mental health of office workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a massive switch from working at the office to working from home fulltime to minimize the spread of the virus. Although working from home has a lot of advantages, such as the increased flexibility and autonomy of employees, there are also many challenges. One of the main challenges are the distractions, such as distractions from noise (e.g. household members or construction projects in the neighbourhood) or ICT-induced interruptions from co-workers (e.g. email, calls, chat), temperature, amount/type of workplace (e.g. a private office), aesthetics or good furniture. Although earlier research has shown that several types of work distractions are negatively related to employees’ well-being, still little is known about the effect of distractions, specifically related to the physical workplace, on people’s mental health. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the influence of workspace characteristics and personal characteristics, mediated by the perceived distractions at home, on mental health, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected, using an online survey, among 271 employees of a large company in the Netherlands. Preliminary results showed that perceived distractions at home were of significant influence on employees’ mental health. Physical workplace characteristics, such as workspace temperature, cleanliness, colors on the wall and the size of the work desk, were also found to affect people’s mental health, as well as personal characteristics, including personality and age. These results confirm the influence of workspace distractions on employees’ mental health while working from home, and indicate the importance of the physical work environment for people’s mental health. Findings of this study could be used by organizations to optimize working from home and offer healthy work environments.