It’s been a little under 2 years since covid first disrupted our lives. Most of us were required to transition to an entirely new way of working overnight. Two years on, remote work has now ingrained itself in our lives. Despite our experience working through a pandemic, many of us still find that working remotely can blur the boundaries between our personal and professional lives and as a result, struggle to set healthy boundaries.
That isn’t to say that working remotely is negative, many love the flexibility it gives. Nevertheless, working remotely definitely has its struggles, especially when doing so amid a pandemic.
For many, being taken out of their natural office workspace caused stress, people found themselves working longer hours to demonstrate commitment and motivation to concerned managers, whilst others dealt with loneliness and a lack of motivation. Individuals may find that they push themselves too hard, or lose the will to push themselves altogether, both are clear signs of burnout.
What is Burnout?
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It happens when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, interest is lost, as is the motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.
If you are burned out, the negative impacts can spill into all areas of life – including your home, work and social life. Not only this but burnout for a prolonged period can cause long-term effects to your body that make you more vulnerable to illnesses. Because of this, it is important to deal with it as soon as any signs come on. Some things look out for include:
- Changes in mood
- Increased mental distance from your job
- Changes in sleep patterns
- Withdrawing from everyday life
- Increased anxiety
- Unhealthy habits
- Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
- Reduced professional efficacy
If any of these resonate with you, don’t feel embarrassed or concerned, millions of people have felt this way since the start of the pandemic, and we want to help. If you’ve felt any of the above, read on to learn the keyways in which you can avoid burnout and stay happy while working from home.
Give Yourself a Break
If you’ve worked from home, you’ve most likely caught yourself taking your lunch/break and then proceeding to do no more than, head downstairs, grab a snack, and within a couple of minutes you’re once again sitting at your desk back in ‘work-mode’. It is far too easy to get sucked into a project deadline, a meeting that went on twice as long or completing a task for an upcoming deadline. Never allowing yourself a break can gradually lead to exhaustion.
Our best advice is to simply take the full amount of time you're given. Use this time to do something such as, chat with a family member, take a walk, play with your pet, or even just scroll through your phone. Allowing yourself to briefly disconnect gives you the chance to recharge and clear your mind. What you’ll find, is that giving yourself this break means that when you go back to work, you’ll feel more motivated and energetic than before.
Additionally, it’s a great idea to give yourself a short 5-minute break at least every hour, experts have found that doing so can improve focus, productivity, and decrease the chances of burnout.
Communicate and Socialise
It would be hard for even the most introverted person to not start feeling lonely and isolated when working from home for an extended period, with no co-workers around. These feelings can be further amplified whilst working in a pandemic where social interactions will also be limited during your personal time.
Schedule video calls, pick up the phone or chat instantly with other team members to keep that connection. Talk about work, engage in casual chat or crack some jokes. While video calls are great for maintaining human connection, keep in mind not every meeting or chat needs to be over video. For some, constant virtual appointments can become stressful or burdensome. We recommend taking some calls walking outside or sitting to create balance.
For our customers, Microsoft Teams has allowed them to keep connected with their co-workers, customers and clients throughout the pandemic so far. It is cloud-based, so people are connected via the internet and there are no phone call charges. You can chat, send gifs, stickers and emojis in a group chat or in one-to-one messages, as well as make reliable voice and video calls using the platform. Teams is also available on a wide range of devices, so no matter what you are using at home, there is a secure and familiar experience.
Give Yourself a Routine
One of the main benefits of working from home is undoubtably the amount of flexibility you're given and understandably you’ll want to take advantage of this. That being said, we highly recommend that you put a normal work routine in place, this will help you get into a work mindset and stay productive.
Each morning if you used to listen to a certain podcast or playlist on your commute to work, use that same media and listen to it as you’re getting ready or whilst you go on a 5-minute morning walk. Try to keep this as part of your daily routine as it’s a great way to set the tone for the day.
Make Your Workspace, a WORKSPACE!
One of the biggest causes of remote work burnout is the place you decided to work. Working from home doesn’t mean you can work from your bed or sofa all day. Of course, this wouldn’t be good for posture, but it also means there is little to no distinction between your work and relaxation areas. A quote by Chief clinical officer Dr Brian Wind backs up this point by stating, “Working from your bedroom can be disruptive to your sleep because your bedroom becomes associated with being alert and awake, especially if you already find it difficult to switch off from work at home”.
To help maintain a professional outlook on your work when away from the office, we recommend you create a dedicated workspace in one area of your home. If possible, make this separate from your bedroom, if you struggle with this due to space, we believe it is worth sacrificing a small section of your kitchen or dining area in order to keep your personal spots such as your lounge and bedroom un-associated with work.
Set Clear Deadlines
Deadlines are important, they give us a timeframe in which a task or project needs to be complete and allow us to pre-plan. Unfortunately, when working from home a large source of stress can come from these deadlines, or at least from not knowing exactly what the deadline entails due to being away from the office for so long. We recommend that you set up a video call with your manager to clearly define priorities and goals, then set your deadlines together to be assured you're working towards a deadline you understand and know you can meet.
If you find yourself working hard but unable to meet the deadlines set, you may be overworking yourself and as a result, you’ll be much more susceptible to burnout. If this happens ensure you communicate with your manager so you can both set a more realistic deadline.
The Most Important Thing is You
For many of us working from home has become the new normal. This isn’t to say working from home feels normal, for many, it’s quite the opposite. During a pandemic, it may become too difficult for people to separate their personal and work lives.
Give yourself space, resist the urge to always be ‘online’, employees who are will be at a higher risk of burnout. Instead take some time during your workday to focus on yourself, mentally and physically. Take short breaks, go for a walk, stretch between a meeting, spend time with your family but most importantly, remember your well-being should always be your number one priority.
Conclusion
A study conducted by TINYpulse found about 86% of remote workers say they’ve experienced a great deal of burnout. This suggests that despite remote work becoming a norm the productivity and engagement of this new workforce are at risk. Being able to identify and avoid burnout will be crucial to your success when working remotely. Ensure you communicate regularly with colleagues and your manager, yet make sure you take regular breaks to give yourself time to breathe. Finally, set up a separate space for work and stick to it, so there is a distinct difference between your work life and personal life.
The entrust IT Group have already helped many businesses throughout the pandemic by implementing solutions such as Microsoft Teams. It has truly been a game-changer for our customers especially, ensuring their staff can stay connected in many ways more than one while isolating and working from home. If you feel your business could benefit from a reliable MSP like ourselves or want to put the right technological solutions in place to help avoid burnout, please do not hesitate to get in contact with one of our experienced consultants on 0330 002 0045 or email enquires@entrustit.co.uk.
