Burnout is an inevitable symptom of working as an adult. The responsibilities that you bear and worries in your gut can be overwhelming. However, those who work from home can experience burnout in a different way. Thankfully, a home setup also means they have their own unique way of coping with burnout. Today, let’s talk about 5 tips you can use to avoid the effects of burnout.
Take a Break
Some people may start to associate their home as a place of work and only work. After all, you can’t afford to be distracted just because you’re in your own room. People can spiral when they start to think their humble abode is no longer theirs but their employers or clients.
This is a bad mindset to be in.
One of the greatest assets of remote work is being able to take breaks at your own leisure. Most remote jobs don’t have managers constantly surveying you during your work hours. If your work is starting to overwhelm you, just leave the laptop for a bit and relax in your living room. Perhaps even pop on a short YouTube video to level your worries. That goes double for results-based jobs that don’t track your hours.
Making work from home easy starts when you finally learn how to take breaks.
Put on a Tune
Another great aspect of working from home is that unless you’re in a voice account (which even then, you won’t always be on the mic), is you won’t be bothering anybody else with your boredom-killing habits. Do you like playing music when working but the office requires you to always be “alert” even on downtime? No worries about that now when you’re working from home.
Music has been well-documented to have a positive effect on worker productivity and cognition. Not only that, it helps them stay motivated and eases anxiety. Music at home is simply a far better experience than music at the office.
While some offices may have radios blaring out music you don’t like, you have the choice of what music you like. Other times, some offices will ban earphones in the workplace to give an appearance of “people looking busy”. There are no such limitations at home. Lastly, some offices don’t even allow any unnecessary noise in the workplace at all. Meanwhile, your home is your concerto.
So the next time you’re feeling bored at work, just put on a tune. Don’t feel bad about feeling happy while working.
Designate a Workplace
Some people find it difficult to associate their home with their work. To fix this, pick a spot in your home that you designate as the “work area”. A decent and organized home office can help you separate your home from your work, figuratively if not physically.
Workplace organization is the name of the game here. From physical files to your inbox, keep everything in your workplace tidy and free of distractions. You should internalize that when you are sitting down in your workplace, work is to be done. This gives you a clear split between “work time” and “free time”. Plus, it also helps you hold yourself accountable. You don’t have to worry about think you’re “not working right” if you’re in a workspace.
A designated workplace is the key to work-life balance.
Hang Out with Co-Workers
“But a helpful article from the internet, how can I spend time with them if they’re all the way over there?”
Good question. Remote culture is something that you need to get used to ASAP. Just because you’re in different parts of the country, or even the world, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy each other’s company. If you’re on a break with a fellow remote worker, chat them up on any of the hundreds of chat apps in 2021. Do they like video games? Add them to your friend list and play a few rounds after work.
If meeting people in person was a requirement to making friends, then penpals wouldn’t have existed back then. Unlike penpals, we have significantly more technology at our fingertips to make online meetups engaging in their own way.
Take a Day Off
Yes, hard as it is to believe, working from home doesn’t mean you forfeit your vacation leaves. Working from home can definitely feel isolating at times. To alleviate that feeling, get a day off. You can finally get out of the house and do the things you want to do. Your home office should remain closed on your day off. Scheduling your vacation days ahead of time gives you something to look forward to.
Remember, working from home isn’t being lazy. Your work at home is just as valid as work in an office. Keep that in mind, because you deserve every vacation leave you take.
Guest post by Regi Publico of Regi Publico Blogging