‘Everybody feels it’: Mental-health challenges of working from home, pandemic confront Boulder County residents

Since John Tayer, Boulder Chamber CEO and president, began working remotely his dress attire has changed. While it still includes a button-up shirt and a tie, he has swapped dress slacks for comfortable shorts. Instead of going into the Chamber offices to work, his couch, or occasionally the dining table, is his office.

But working from home isn’t as relaxing as it sounds.

Tayer and other Boulder County professionals in high-stress jobs that are newly remote are learning how to balance family, household duties and work under one roof. Though he said he enjoys his role at the Boulder Chamber and his work energizes him, it’s inarguable that the stakes are higher, the days are longer, and the need for mental-health breaks is more necessary than ever.

A study by Mental Health America and Boulder-based FlexJobs Corp. found that of the 37% of respondents who are employed, 76% are currently working remotely and are working longer hours than they did before the pandemic began. The survey had 1,500 respondents from the U.S. Of those surveyed, about half were employed and the other unemployed.