How to Beat Employee Burnout in the WFH Environment

“Burnout” has been an increasingly common term when talking about the new remote work culture. What started as a short-term “leave” from the office has turned into a new way of life. While there are plenty of perks that come along with working from home, it can be isolating and hard to manage. Have you found that you’ve had fewer social interactions since the start of working from home? And your laptop has basically become an extension of yourself?

Since Covid, employees have reported working three more hours per day – That is 15 extra hours added onto your week, which is technically another part-time job.

It’s important to keep it human and remember what it was like working in an office. Below are some tips and tricks on how to break up the monotony of working from home (WFH) and keep a healthy and productive work/life balance:

• Have a morning ritual – Give yourself time in the morning to get your mind together. Listen to music or podcast, scroll on your phone, watch/read the news. While it’s great to not have the morning commute, that commute gave you time without any distractions before your workday.
  
  
• Try to take a walk or get outside every 2 hours if your schedule allows for it. Or try to break up your day with a midday workout!
  
  
• Get some sunshine! Have you ever been in a situation where the sun didn’t make you happy? It’s not only good for the soul, but the sun also has many health benefits (hello, Vitamin D!). So, get outside and get in the sun. If you’re a morning person, try waking up to watch the sunrise or make it a point to end your days with a sunset walk (what a way to end the workday!).
  
  
• Of course, wearing your pjs is a major plus to working from home, but try to change out of your pajamas and get dressed in everyday clothes – that doesn’t necessarily mean wearing a suit and tie, but wearing pjs for an entire day might not help your productivity!
  
  
• Go to lunch. Or at least walk away from your desk and sit at your kitchen table to eat. When you were in the office, did you eat lunch every single day at your desk? Probably not, so don’t do that at home!
  
  
• Plan a work happy hour. This can be on zoom, or if zoom fatigue is high, go to a fun bar/restaurant with the other in-town team members. Check out our Aussie zoom team dinner from a few weeks ago!
  
  
• The most important thing to do when working from home is shutting your computer at the end of your day – when you were in the office, you would shut down at the end of the day and go home. You need to create these boundaries, or “office hours” for your own sanity. Just because your office is at home and you have the ability to always be working, does NOT mean you should always be on. Give yourself a break.

The line between work and life has become quite blurry and burnout is only growing. While it isn’t always easy being faced with unfamiliar challenges, it is possible to adapt and overcome them. The tips above are just a few ways we can conquer burnout and come out on top.

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