burnout

Working From Home – Coping With Burnout

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The pandemic has changed the way we live our lives. Our regular daily schedules have been turned upside down, and our homes have become our worlds. It’s the place where we work, eat, go to school, exercise, socialize, and vacation.

If you’re able to work from home, I’m sure you’re grateful! But still, it can be challenging. You may find it difficult to separate your work life from your home life. Since the workday no longer ends when you leave the office, it often seems to extend throughout the day and evening, and you may feel like you’re expected to work at all hours. Everything kind of blurs together, making it difficult to unplug and truly relax.

Feeling like you’re on-call all the time coupled with the stress of the pandemic can lead to exhaustion and ultimately, burnout. Signs of burnout include such things as forgetting to complete tasks, missing deadlines, feeling depressed, feeling pessimistic about work, sleeping poorly, and feeling fatigued all the time.

If you’re experiencing work-from-home burnout, you’re certainly not alone! And there are steps that you can take to make things better. Here are a few things to try:

  • Communicate with your boss regularly – Build a relationship with your boss. Make sure he or she knows what you’re working on, how your projects are going, and if you’ve encountered any roadblocks. And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, be honest about it. If your workload is simply too heavy to manage, talk to your manager about prioritizing your work, and then focus on the most important items.
  • Create a schedule – Decide what time you’re going to get up every morning, and establish a morning routine that prepares you for the day. (That might involve taking a nice hot shower, cuddling with your cat while drinking coffee, or taking a brisk walk.) Also, decide what hours you’re going to work. Schedule regular breaks during the day, and during those breaks you should step away from your computer, stretch, rest your eyes, and get some fresh air. Finally, choose a time when you’re officially “off the clock” each day, and stick to it. Talk to your boss about your proposed schedule, and make sure he or she knows when you’ll be online and when you won’t.
  • Take control – A lot of things are out of your control right now, and that can make you feel helpless. To combat that feeling, try to take control of the things you can. For instance, you could make an effort to eat regularly, and try to eat healthy meals and snacks. Another thing that you can control is your bedtime. Try to create a nighttime routine that will help you to relax, unwind, and get a good night’s sleep.
  • Take some time for yourself – Once you’re done with work for the day, take the time to do things that you truly enjoy. Play that new video game. Take a hike in the woods. Work on the hobby that you’re passionate about. Play with your pet. Do the things that distract you from work and bring you joy.
  • Reach out to other people – Make sure to talk to friends and family regularly. Give them a call, if you’re unable to meet in person. It will help you to combat the feelings of loneliness that you might be experiencing, and make everything a little easier.

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Yurcaba, J. (n.d.). Work-from-home burnout is real – here’s how to recover. The Muse. Retrieved from: https://www.themuse.com/advice/work-from-home-burnout-coronavirus-pandemic

Is It Possible to Be Too Helpful?

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Are you the person that your coworkers go to when they have a problem? Are you always available to assist them when they need it? If so, you’re obviously a nice person and an excellent team player! But you could also be spreading yourself a bit too thin. If you spend a lot of your time helping others, it can be more challenging to get your own work done.

There are a lot of reasons why you probably enjoy collaborating with your coworkers. You like helping people, you like being viewed as friendly and knowledgeable, you like being seen as an expert in your area, you like to be in control of situations, etc. But even though helping others can feel really good, it can also lead to feelings of stress and exhaustion – and ultimately burnout.

So what should you do? Well, you shouldn’t stop helping your coworkers entirely. That would be mean and wrong! But you should try to put a limit on it. Author Sue Shellenbarger offers the following suggestions:

  • Protect your personal time – If helping out a coworker will cause your workday to stretch into the evening or weekend, you should politely decline.
  • Get your work done first – If someone asks for your assistance, you can agree to help out. But tell the person that it will have to wait until you get your own work done.
  • Ignore nonessential emails – It’s great to be responsive, and it would be wonderful if you could reply to every single email that you receive. But if you did that, it would likely eat up way too much of your time. Protect your time by replying to the important emails and letting the nonessential ones slide.
  • Get realistic about meetings – If you agree to attend every meeting that you’re invited to, the meeting organizers would certainly appreciate it. But you would also have little time left over to get your work done. So review the meetings that you attended over the last few months. Are there any that were a waste of time? If so, you should skip them in the future.

 

Shellenbarger, S. (2018, July 23). You could be too much of a team player. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from: https://www.wsj.com/articles/you-could-be-too-much-of-a-team-player-1532352464?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=5

 

Burnout at Work and How to Recover

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Burnout

Burnout is a serious problem for a lot of people with demanding jobs. Stress and overwork can cause people to become exhausted and unhappy. They worry non-stop, lose interest in other activities, stop taking care of themselves outside of work, and feel pessimistic, frustrated, and disillusioned.

And ultimately, people suffering from burnout often experience difficulties at work. Even though they’re putting in a tremendous amount of effort, it’s not something that can be sustained. So eventually, burnout often results in reduced productivity, a drop in motivation, and more frequent conflicts with coworkers.

So what should you do if you’re experiencing burnout or you feel like you’re starting to head in that direction? Here are a few suggestions:

  • Take breaks during the workday – Allow yourself time to step away from your desk and clear your head. Even short breaks can be very restorative.
  • Make time for relaxation – Once you leave the office, stop working. Use that time to engage in some sort of relaxing activity – whatever you enjoy! Read a book, take a walk, watch a movie, or go out to eat with a friend. And during this time, don’t read or answer work emails. You need to separate yourself from work, and take time to relax and unwind.
  • Take up a hobby – Find something outside of work that you’re passionate about, and start devoting some of your time to that endeavor. It will help you feel more energized and engaged.
  • Know when to say “when” – If your workload is simply too heavy to manage, you need to lighten the load. Delegate work to others if possible. Talk to your manager about prioritizing your work, and then focus on the most important items. And don’t take on new projects without giving them careful consideration first.
  • Get some sleep – Try to get at least six hours of sleep each night. Getting the right amount of sleep will help you feel more productive, positive, and effective.

 

Gerry, L. M. (2013, April 1). 10 signs you’re burning out – and what to do about it. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2013/04/01/10-signs-youre-burning-out-and-what-to-do-about-it/#71d0a35e625b

Reading Work Email When You’re Not at Work Is Hazardous to Your Health

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Do you feel obligated to check your work email on evenings and weekends? What about when you’re on vacation? If you do, you’re not alone. In many offices, employees feel like they’re supposed to check their work email during off-hours. Employees may not be officially required to check in – but it’s often an unspoken expectation.

It may not seem like that big an imposition. But research suggests that checking your work email during off-hours could have a damaging effect on your health.

In a recent study conducted by researchers at Lehigh, Virginia Tech, and Colorado State universities, it was found that checking work email during off-hours caused feelings of emotional exhaustion and burnout. In fact, study participants indicated that just knowing that they were expected to check their work email – and that there may be one lurking out there – was enough to cause them to feel anxious and unhappy.

So what should you do if you feel like you’re expected to be on call during off-hours? Talk to your boss about whether it’s really necessary for you to be available all the time. Maybe there are certain days when it would be acceptable for you to be off-line and unavailable. Or if it’s necessary for at least one employee to be available all the time, maybe you could create a rotating schedule. This would give you the chance to completely unplug during certain weeknights and weekends.

 

MacMillan, A. (2016, July 28). What being expected to check email after work does to your health. Health. Retrieved from http://www.health.com/mind-body/work-email-health

 

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