We all know what burnout is and how damaging it can be to us mentally, emotionally. However, is work from home burnout real? What's it then? Due to pandemic, our usual workplace has gone through a major "revamp". While technology has make it easier to work from home, we tend to forget that remote working requires a different skill set than working in the likes of an office.
You wake up, make yourself a cuppa, then you "magically" transport yourself to your office - that's the reality of work from home these days. Your office may be sitting room, living room, kitchen (you name it, anywhere that you can possibly work uninterrupted). However, are you doing it correctly? Do you have the right set up at home? Are you doing your job real well at home or are you at risk from wfh burnout?
Andrew Schwemm, a licensed psychologist with Alma (network of mental health providers) said that, 'Work from home burnout happens when people can't separate their work life and home life.' Especially now, people have a hard time distinguishing the two as they've been doing both at the same space. How can we manage working from home? Here's some useful tips:
1. COMMUNICATION
Virtual meetings on Zoom are a norm these days. Don't skip those small talks! While you're waiting for other colleagues to connect to the meeting, why not chat with the colleagues which are already in the room? Don't rush into the professional side of things yet. While the temptation to start off the meeting is very real, you should take some time to forge the connection with your colleagues.
2. INVEST IN A HOME WORKSPACE
Let's face it, you may have worked in your kitchen or bedroom for the past few months. Why not create a home workspace? Get a proper desk and work chair. Make sure that your work desk and chair are position at a proper height to prevent repetitive strain injuries. Though a workspace may sound like a simple step but it actually makes work from home much easier.
3. BOUNDARY CROSSING
Pre covid times, we would change into our work clothes and commute to our workplace. Now, most likely we're just working in our home attire. There's no boundary crossing happening. To effectively work from home, maintain that boundary crossing. Change into your work clothes every morning (yes, that tie too!). Dress like you would smartly every day. Don't abandon this step which separates between work and home. It'll do you good!
4. WORK SCHEDULE
To maintain that 9-5 work schedule is highly unlikely if you're working from home. You need to find the work time budgets that work for you. Especially for those who have children, maintaining a schedule is quite difficult. One way to create intentional work time budget is to have an automated reply stating you might be slower to respond as you're dealing with work.
5. PRIORITISE
While working from home, you might prioritise productivity rather than important tasks. Where you're juggling a lot of tasks in one hand, it's best for you to prioritise important tasks. Focus on the workloads which their deadline is approaching. WFH isn't the time for you to do busy work. When you focus on completing an urgent project, you're more productive than just doing tasks.
That said, WFH is more stressful than working in the office as you'll have to strike a balance at a space that you've long use to rest. I hope you find these tips helpful to curb WFH Burnout.
