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Originally Posted On: https://nexusitgroup.com/blog/how-to-avoid-work-from-home-burnout

 

If you work from home, then you will be experiencing the pressures and rewards of a work life balance. The best work-from-home opportunities and jobs, provide a sense of fulfillment. Your professional life is also in alignment with your personal values and priorities. However, if you are just starting out on the work from home adventure, then you may not yet be aware of the many pitfalls that can derail your success. So, if you are seeking more ways to avoid work-from-home burnout, read on to uncover 10 ways to stay motivated and energized.

It’s easier said than done. Your first line of defense against work-from-home burnout will be to avoid putting pressure on yourself. The key to being successful at home is to give yourself permission to work when and how you want. You are your own boss, after all. You can decide to work early in the morning, late in the evening, or anywhere in between.

According to a recent study conducted by the employment website Indeed, 52% of workers feel burned out, with 67% blaming COVID-19 for their stress. According to a 2020 Gallup poll, fully remote workers now experience higher rates of burnout than on-site workers.

Be honest with yourself. Determine what your actual work life balance is right now. If you are busier than you’d like to be, that’s a sign that you need to upgrade your skills. If you’re spending too much time with your office PC, then you need to find a way to focus more on the real world and less on your computer screen. There’s no better time than the present to start improving your work-life balance!

As the lines between work and home life become increasingly blurred, many Americans report feeling burned out. Here are some tips for coping with work-from-home stress.

Don’t let work define you

When you get into a regular routine, you become the person you strive to become every day. When you work from home, you become the person you strive to be every day. Take some time to learn to treat your home office as if it were your office.

Take a planned day off

It’s critical to take a day off if you’re suffering from burnout, but only with a plan in place. Structure the day in such a way that it is distinct from the other days off — in a way that aids in your recovery. Make a self-care plan that includes exercise, a fun event, meditation, a sport, family time, or whatever else helps you relax and recharge. We all require a break. We’re putting in significantly more time and effort.

We cannot emphasize enough how critical it is to schedule and take a vacation. So many people in 2020 and 2021 deferred taking vacations.

Focus on the end result

The bottom line usually motivates a lot of us to succeed more. If you want to make a sale or build a list, focus intently on the outcome. Rather than focusing on what you have to do, focus on the end result – what you’ll do or what you will have done when you reach your goal.

Give yourself breaks

Work from home can be extremely demanding. In order to stay sane, it helps to take short breaks every couple of hours. During those ten minutes of downtime, take a minute to relax, clear your mind, and get prepared for the next ten hour stretch of work. If you work-from-home burnout occurs during these times, it’s time to give yourself a break.

Mimic your commute

If you worked in an office, your commute to and from work would be your time to mentally transition and decompress. Establish a time block to commemorate the end of the workday by taking a walk, listening to a podcast, or calling a friend.

Take your office politics out of the equation

The politics of work life are sometimes what keep people from living a work-from-home life balance. Sometimes, you might find that your boss has been pushing you to work more hours than you feel comfortable with. Try ignoring your boss and doing everything yourself. You’ll likely find it is much easier to stay on task and finish what you need to do.

Set aside some time each day to pursue your own passions

Pursuing your passions and using them as a source of income can help you earn a work life balance. After all, it would not do any harm for you to earn a little extra income while working less hours. Besides, the longer you work to achieve your work life balance, the better you will enjoy your job and the more you’ll get done!

Zoom fatigue

Zoom in numerous ways is as if you’re being smothered by a fire hose of nonverbal communication. When participating in a web conference, one of the most impactful things you can do is turn off self-view mode — this will keep your camera on, but will not show you the mirrored view, which can have a positive effect on your behavior. When possible, opt for audio-only meetings to reduce your reliance on the computer and to alleviate the fatigue associated with being on camera.

Take a break

If you find yourself in the midst of a lot of stress from work, try to take a break. If you feel like you have no energy to continue doing what you are doing, you may benefit from taking a vacation or doing something you’ve always wanted to do but never had the time. Taking time away from work can help you avoid work-from-home burnout. If you can’t take a vacation, you could consider setting aside some time each day just for your hobbies or favorite activities.

If you have children, you may find yourself having to juggle work with being with them. One way to combat work-from-home burnout is by giving your kids a chance to do something they love. Give them some space by leaving them with someone else, like a friend, so they can enjoy their time with their friends and do something else that’s not stressful for you. If you’re working at home and getting a lot of noise from visitors and family, consider putting your work computer to sleep when you’re not using it. This will help you sleep better and get more done during the day.

Get organized & me time

The last two steps to work life balance are probably the most important. Get organized, set aside time for yourself and spend some time with your family. Work is a great motivator, but if it becomes a burden, you won’t achieve your work goals and will never get the benefits of your hard work.

Set boundaries and limits

Simply because your boss is aware of your whereabouts does not imply that you must be constantly available to them. Establish a firm start and end time for your day, and schedule small breaks throughout the day. This can be extremely difficult to do if you believe your job is at risk of being eliminated due to layoffs.

We emphasize that if you are the type of worker who takes on everything, now is the time to delegate. You have a team for a reason.

Self-care

Exercise is critical, as is getting enough sleep and practicing mindfulness. For instance, to avoid burnout, create a list of the activities that bring you joy and schedule them into your schedule.

Most important work

This is not the time for busy work. Employees should focus their efforts on high-priority issues.

While working from home, employees frequently feel compelled to project an image of productivity, which can lead them to prioritize immediate tasks over more important ones—a tendency that research suggests is counterproductive in the long run, even if it benefits productivity in the short run. Employees, particularly those juggling family and work responsibilities, should pay close attention to prioritizing important work.

Continuously working, even on your most critical tasks, is not the answer. It is estimated, the average worker is productive for 3 hours per day on average, and these hours should be uninterrupted working hours. Even prior to Covid-19, employees struggled to carve out 3 uninterrupted hours to focus exclusively on their core work tasks. Employees’ time has never been more fragmented than it is now that work and family boundaries have been removed.

Employees who are constantly “on” run a greater risk of burnout when working from home than they would if they went to the office as usual. In the long run, cramming work and email responses into every spare moment is not only counterproductive, but also detrimental to our well-being. We all need to find new ways to carve out non-work time and mental space, and to assist others in doing so.

Create a space you can call your own

Are you still working from your couch? While not everyone has the luxury of a dedicated office space, We emphasize the importance of having a functional desk and computer setup — complete with a comfortable chair. Given that many remote workers have no set schedule for returning to the office, now is the time to reassess your situation in order to work comfortably and efficiently.

Follow these tips for more work-from-home burnout prevention advice

Schedule time to cook

Stop working on the weekends

Don’t use medicine as crutches

Dream about travel

Use yoga to reset your mind

Identify a remote work accountability buddy

Go for a mid-day walk

Make a rewards system

Make time for human interaction

If it can wait until tomorrow then do it tomorrow

Eat right

Burnout Symptoms

Burnout is a “occupational phenomenon,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which recognized it as such in 2019.

• Insufficient energy or exhaustion
• Increased mental distance from one’s job, or negative or cynical feelings about one’s job
• Professional efficacy is diminished

Most importantly, If you continue to feel overwhelmed while juggling life and working from home, it may be beneficial to consult a therapist. They can be extremely beneficial in structuring the type of recovery plan that may be required. There are several types of teletherapy available, as well as hotlines and online resources.

We want to stress that there is a reason the World Health Organization defines burnout as a “occupational phenomenon” — and that help is available if you seek it.

In sum, these are just a few recommendations that can assist workers in maintaining a healthy balance between work and personal life and avoiding work-from-home burnout in the long run. Employees will require the freedom to experiment with ways to make their circumstances work for them in these uncertain times.

If you find yourself going into an office and you’re feeling burned out, checkout our tips to recharge and refocus.

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