Ever since you have been telecommuting, you have been warned about telecommute burnout. But what is burnout and how can you avoid getting it? Or if you have it, how can you treat, or better yet, get rid of burnout altogether?
It is important to understand burnout because 51% of telecommuters are complaining of burnout as they continue to work from home remotely during the pandemic. Even with the best efforts to see that remote workers are taking breaks, getting outside, taking walks, engaging in enjoyable hobbies, taking advantage of flexible work hours, and spending more quality time with family (71% report they are doing all of that), still over half of all remote workers are complaining of burnout.
With so many benefits of working remotely, how can so many be suffering from burnout?
All the universities and thinktanks in America are diligently scouring the data to find the answers, and so far, they are in agreement that assuming that participants are tending to their own self-care needs, the work at home environment is one of the key contributors to telecommute burnout.
The working from home environment consists of not only the workspace which is set aside for the performance of one’s job duties but also the structure of the rest of the atmosphere, including the balancing of work life with home life within the same geographical location, when they were better separated before transitioning to remote work.
It is much more difficult for employees to see clear definitions between their home life and their professional life, now that they share the same space 24/7, thus opening the door to increased stress which leads to burnout. Structure and routine throughout your workday can go a long way in staving off burnout.
Other components of burnout include depression which can be attributed to the isolation from being under pandemic restrictions and feeling as though you are imprisoned or being held captive in your own home.
Another contributor to stress in the work from home environment which leads to burnout is that which is associated with trying to justify one’s value to the organization while telecommuting. How is your employer to know that you are giving the same value (or reportedly more value) for your efforts working from home as you did when you were working in the office? There is a lot of anxiety associated with justifying one’s value to the organization and may also be tied to feelings of inadequacy of fear of job loss.
The stress and strain of burnout is not the kind of thing you can just brush-off, ignore, or leave unattended to. Burnout is a cumulative stressor which builds up in the body and expresses itself in a variety of way physiologically. Repressed burnout can appear as
- High blood pressure
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Obesity
- Weakened immune system
- Heart disease
- Cognitive dysfunction
… and so much more …
How to Overcome Burnout
Be Kind
By taking self-care to the next level and being kind, not only to others but primarily to yourself.
Three Things
Have a daily reserve of three activities that you can engage in that will bring you to a centered place of peaceful resolve. It might be talking a walk, quilting, and doing a guided meditation (like Sending Love to the World).
Then, when you are feeling disconnected or overwhelmed you can take a break and pick one of these three activities.
Set a Schedule
Your body loves to know what to expect, so having a regular schedule even though you know you have the ability to change it at any time, gives your psyche a specified routine container to hold all your business details.
Take Time Off
Not just regular breaks throughout the day but actual days off. I know this is less exciting if you are going to feel like you are wasting your vacation time on staying home (during the pandemic) but having scheduled time off work to not work is good medicine.
When you come back after taking a reprieve, you will feel much better about the work that you will be doing.
Do Something Fun
Have something you can do in your off-hours. You may still be on pandemic lockdown, but you can still do stuff, like go somewhere or do something that makes you feel good. You might have an activity that you like to do, like a hobby, that you can get involved in that takes your mind away from the thoughts and details of your work.
The key to telecommute burnout is to be aware of it, to understand it, as best possible, and to use techniques, like being kind to yourself, having three things on standby that you can engage in at any time, setting up your own work schedule, taking time off (days) from work, and doing something fun.
You can make it through this without having to be a victim of telecommute burnout.