Working from home is a great concept and it is increasingly becoming a preferred choice not just for individuals but also for the majority of corporations. It offers many advantages like it allows you to work from the comfort of your couch, adjust your own time schedule and spend more time with your family while saving significant overhead costs for employers. But one of the biggest challenges is work from home burnout and so businesses, as well as organizations, are looking for ways to prevent and avoid work from home burnout.
However, in spite of so many advantages of this concept, many people face burnout while working from home, especially those who are working from home for the first time.
Various studies and surveys have pointed out that work from home is leading to longer or irregular work hours, erratic sleep patterns, unhealthy mealtimes, and less physical activity. Burnout in employees working from home is leading to inefficiency and fatigue in many cases. Moreover, due to burnout and unresolved digital distractions, an individual may also face mild to severe symptoms of anxiety, depression, and irritability.
The good news is that most of these symptoms and in fact work from home burnout as a whole can be fixed and prevented with effective and disciplined time management. Working from home has its own limitations, however, they are largely dependent on how you manage your time, how motivated you are, and how much you can resist the distractions around you. If you are willing to prevent and avoid work from home burnout, you can surely do it
If you are looking for effective ways to prevent and avoid work from home burnout then consider adopting the following approaches.
1- Create a Work Schedule
This is the most important step to avoid burnout from work from home. Time management holds the key to success as far as work from home is concerned. While working from home we are always switching professional as well as personal lives and we need to strike a balance between the two. Creating a work from home routine and sticking to it will help to demarcate boundaries between work & leisure times.
The scheduling will not only boost productivity but will also keep the person alert and active most of the time. Moreover, you can better manage work from home deadlines with an effective schedule in place.
2- Take Adequate Breaks
Reduced physical activity is one of the major drawbacks of working from home. When you are working from the comfort of your home your morning physical activity gets reduced drastically as you don’t have to take the bus/train or drive a car, take stairs or move around in the office like you used to do.
Also, since there are no coffee or chit-chat breaks this reduces the physical activity even further. As a result, you will spend prolonged hours working on the same table and chair.
To ensure that you get at least some physical activity you must schedule walk breaks or do some small physical exercises. This will help you take better care of your body and you will be able to handle stress and burnout. A walk in the open will also stimulate your senses and you will feel fresh.
3- Do Not Forget Vacation
Work from home forces you to be indoors most of the time during the day. Since you are not going outside for work, you have limited contact with the surroundings and other human beings. All these things impact your mind and your routine becomes monotonous and boring.
To re-energize and rejuvenate yourself, you must consider entertainment activities. Activities like hiking, camping, vacation, etc can be a welcoming change for you and take seriousness off your mind for some time. Reward yourself with some entertainment activity or staycation every now and then to keep you motivated. This way you will also be able to avoid burnout.
4- Use Right Tools & Resources
In general, the work from home concept is not very demanding as far as resources are concerned. A decent internet connection and a laptop is a basic requirement and you are all set for your home office.
However, the advancement in the field of information and technology has blessed us with many tools and resources that help us to monitor work productivity at home and at the workplace. These tools and resources provide a variety of data and give detailed insight into the work progress. With the help of this data and reports, one can plan the work in a better and more efficient manner.
Using the right tools will significantly help you avoid the work from home burnout and the productivity while working from home will go up considerably if all the desired tools are handy and there will be no chance of burnout.
5- Stay Physically Fit
If you are feeling lethargic while working from home then you are not alone. The majority of the people who are working from home are feeling the same way. Physical activity gets restricted to a great extent when you work from home and thus you need to indulge in some sort of sporting activities not only to keep you physically but also mentally fit.
Also, enrolling in activities like swimming, running, jogging etc with some friends or even alone will be a great idea. It will not only stimulate your metabolism but will also provide a break from the monotonous life of working from home. There are so many activities that will help to keep you physically active and based on your liking you can choose anyone.
6- Take Time for Socialization
Socializing should be treated as a priority if you are serious about avoiding burnout. It’s true that working from home brings you closer to your families, but for humans interaction with friends, colleagues, acquaintances are equally important.
Working from home makes an individual feel isolated and thus interacting with others will always bring a fresh feel. Networking and feeling connected to your near and dear ones will keep you motivated, thus avoiding any kind of burnout while working from home.
The Bottom Line:
Working from home has its own challenges and burnouts remain the most common challenge, however, with mindful planning and an effective schedule in place, you can beat the situation and prevent and avoid work from home burnout right before it occurs.
