Combating Burnout in the Remote World

Maybe life was easier back when everyone had to go into the office (I know the audacity of me saying this) but stop and think about it; the physical separation between your work and personal life allowed you time to actually disconnect (ok granted maybe it was in the middle of rush hour) but working remotely has blurred the lines by erasing the on- or off-the-clock boundary.

More employers than ever now offer hybrid and remote positions,?challenging us to reframe our thinking around burnout. Let's break down the risks of burnout, how to avoid it, and strategies to recover from it.

Recognizing the signs

Common?symptoms of burnout?include trouble concentrating or completing tasks on time, anger or sadness, insomnia, and even physical symptoms like headaches and exhaustion. Though we often think of burnout as the cumulative product of work stress, it can be activated by specific events like layoffs or economic turmoil.

When gauging the severity of burnout, consider the frequency, intensity, and duration. Those factors can help clarify whether a person is experiencing situational depression, adjustment disorder with depression, anxiety, burnout, or a combination of those elements.

When you're looking at symptoms of burnout, is it happening in multiple areas or is it just having to do with work? Consider what triggers you: Is it something work-specific? If you're feeling extra prickly at work, but you're fine with your friends, you can see that there's a clear demarcation.

Risk factors in remote work

Burnout may have decreased for some with the rise of remote work, but working from home comes with its own challenges.?

Work friends help many of us to decompress from the stress of a bad day or a disastrous meeting. It’s harder to foster those interactions over channels like Slack or Zoom. There's just something about having that space or even a ritual: Back in the day with my last team, we had our daily 2pm Starbucks run, and would get out of the office, walk over to the Starbucks and step away from the craziness for 15-20 minutes. It was that little break that allowed us to keep pushing through for the rest of the day, and we got some fresh air and away from our desks and phones.

There’s also the fact that many remote workers are putting in longer hours with less time to pause.?Physical and mental breaks are critical?for avoiding burnout, improving productivity, and reducing mistakes, whether they’re remote or not.

Finally, there’s the boundary issue. When your living and workspace are more or less the same, drawing the line between your work and personal life can be. In fact, depending on my schedule, I now take my walk to Starbucks (I promise this article is not being sponsored by them) and not only do I get in my mile walk and some cardio, it's like a mini commute before I come back and start my day.

Setting boundaries

Boundaries apply both to expectations you set for yourself and with your team. For example, if you have the space to create a dedicated office in your home, using that area solely for work allows you to “leave” your job behind and disconnect at the end of the day. (If you live in a small space, placing your laptop in a cabinet or closet at the end of the day works, too.)?

Implementing a startup and shutdown ritual can also shift your mental state. Instead of rolling out of bed and firing up email in your pajamas, embrace a morning routine of getting dressed and making coffee before you log on for the day.

When the day is over, let it be over. Barring an emergency, there’s no reason to respond to messages from work late into the night. If your team expects otherwise, then it’s time to adjust their expectations around when you are available, and when they can expect a response to an after-hours request.

Just like a midday change of scenery can be welcome in the office, breaks can also prevent burnout while working from home. Make an effort throughout the day to move and stretch hourly, hydrate or caffeinate, and even exercise or meditate. If you have a neighbor who also works from home, consider coordinating schedules for a midday walk; you can celebrate each other’s workday wins together, or act as a sounding board for problems.

And don’t forget about vacations! People need prolonged breaks to recharge, so use your vacation time and enjoy some rest.

And on that note, "The Pivot" will be on hiatus for the next 2 weeks (possibly the month of July). I chose to write about burnout today because honestly I have been in a major funk for weeks. On July 7th I will be departing for Honduras and heading to the village of Limon where I go for a week and a half every year as part of my non profit that I run with my best friend. Check out an article I wrote about my experience in March called 5 Simple Life Lessons.

This is one of my happy places, and while I would not say I am burnt out per se, I can see it coming and being reminded of how important the little things are is what I need. This is not a glamourous trip (we do have fun and do enjoy ourselves) but we also work to help improve the children's center that the local church runs. This is a mission I will be dedicated to for the rest of my life.

I have not decided if I am going to take a social media break for the entire month of July quite yet, but I am putting a lot of things on hold to take some time, to celebrate my 50th birthday and be in a place with people that bring me joy.

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