Working from home has its perks.
We save so much time without having to commute to and from work each day. There’s also the flexibility of making our workspace exactly the way we want it to be.
However, it’s easy to fall into the trap of burnout if we aren’t mindful of it.
Without the regular in-person interruptions from co-workers, we are less likely to notice the passage of time. We might end up sitting in front of the computer for hours as a result.
When we are engaged and focused on a task at hand, we are more likely to ignore signals given by our body when it’s time for a break. We might forget to eat, or drink, or to get up and stretch. Others have told me that they find themselves working late into the night, because they are engrossed in a project or a task.
It is more challenging to maintain work-life balance when there lacks physical distinction between work and personal life.
In the past, your work hours end when you leave the office. You might find yourself bringing work home, but mentally you are aware that you are spending your personal time on work.
When you work from home, your work and personal life might start to fuse together. They share the same physical space. There is no clear distinction between the two. If you want, you could be working all day, all week. People you work with might also be less likely to respect your boundaries e.g., sending you work emails/ texts late into the night, and expecting a response from you.
Do you feel that your work life is slowly seeping into your personal life? Or that you are constantly thinking about work? Do you feel drained because you feel that you are always working? If so, here are some strategies that might help you cope with burnout.
1) Set boundaries with yourself to separate work from your personal life
Achieving work-life balance requires you to be self-disciplined. It means work when you are supposed to be working, and take breaks when you are supposed to take breaks. Too often we find ourselves procrastinating during the day, which results in working late into the night to compensate for time lost during work hours. What most people don’t know is that when you procrastinate, your mind is still in work mode. It’s not completely relaxed, and therefore it isn’t exactly taking a break. Overtime, even though you aren’t working or being productive, you are still using up mental resources.
Setting boundaries with yourself means committing to a certain number of breaks per day, even if it’s tempting to work through the breaks. It means committing to following a schedule, and working only during work hours.
Here are some tips that could help you set boundaries with yourself:
Don’t check emails during dinner, or when you are winding down
Don’t work in front of the TV – have a clear distinction between work and personal time
Leave your phone in another room when you are working, so you are not distracted by social media or messages from friends
Set alarms to remind you to get off work (on time) and take breaks
Schedule breaks throughout the day
During your break, drink water, eat, stretch, and leave your work area. Rest your eyes by taking your eyes off your computer screen/ work documents
Schedule breaks in between zoom meetings, if you can. Don’t schedule back to back meetings.
Leave time for winding down at night
Avoid working on weekends
Be strict about when you are getting off work, even if it means having to push today’s tasks to tomorrow
2) Work in a separate space if you can
If you can separate your work space from your living space, do it. Try not to work at your dining table, or in your bedroom. The bigger the physical gap there is between your work space and your living space, the easier it is for your mind to understand the difference between the two. You want your mind to associate work with a specific context, so that the context would prompt your mind to focus. For instance, you want to be able to concentrate when you are sitting at your desk. Similarly, you want your mind to relax and stop thinking about work when you are away from your work space. This is why you don’t want to mix the two together in order to better balance work and personal life.
3) Change of scenery
Change of scenery is so crucial to helping our mind relax and reset. This is similar to why we need to keep our work and personal space separate. Our mind is very quick at making connections between contexts, and therefore, it is much easier to take our mind off work when we are not in a work environment. Go for a walk during lunch break, even if it is just for 15 minutes. Step onto your balcony, or walk into your living room and sit on the couch for a little while if you don't have the extra time. This allows our mind to recharge. Close your eyes and practice a grounding exercise if you want.
4) Manage co-workers’ expectations
You are not alone in terms of finding it challenging to separate work from your personal life.
You might find that your co-workers/ supervisors are also struggling with it. They might be more likely to contact you after work hours since everyone started working from home. You might start receiving late-night emails or text messages. If that’s the case, you’d need to be assertive, and let your team know when your work hours are. It’s okay to clarify that you don’t check emails or your work phone after a certain time. It might be tempting to reply to emails on the weekend, but try your best not to. Turn off your work phone and laptop at night and on weekends to resist the temptation to respond.
5) Create a transition ritual
Our mind is not a programmed algorithm. This means that it takes time for your mind to fully understand that the work day is over. When we work at an office, our commute home is what prompts our mind to realize that the work day is over. Now that this part of our life no longer exists, we can use other activities to help our mind understand that it’s time to wind down. I like to call it a transition ritual. Here are some of the things that you can do to transition out of work:
Change into your casual clothes
Go for a walk or exercise
Yoga/ stretches
Take a shower or a relaxing bath
Turn off your computer/ work phone
A quick body scan/ grounding exercise
Make yourself a snack or hot drink
6) Monitor your mental health
Lastly, as you try to implement the aforementioned strategies into your life, monitor your mental health simultaneously. How are you feeling on a day-to-day basis? Are you feeling the same level of fulfillment about your job? Do you feel that there’s a clear distinction between work and your personal life? Do you feel well rested after a night’s sleep? Do you feel recharged after the weekend? How’s your appetite? These are all important check-ins that you need to do regularly.
Here are some signs of burnout (please note that the list is non-exhaustive) if you are unsure if what you are feeling is considered a burnout.
Of course, I understand that work is not as predictable and regular as we’d like it to be. There will be a few late nights here and there, or weekends where we’d have to put in extra hours. That’s okay, it’s fine to get off work at 9 pm on some days in order to meet deadlines. Just be mindful of how frequently you are making exceptions, and don’t let it become a regular occurrence.
Contact me here if you would like to further discuss ways to prevent burnout or to achieve better work-life balance. I offer a free telephone consultation to potential clients.
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