How To Combat Work-From-Home Burnout

Everyone liked the new work adaptation- work from home (WFH) – when the whole world embraced work from home as a new norm during the pandemic. Employees were glad about not stressing much about the commute or waking up early to reach the office. It was a relief working from home in pajamas and munching on your favorite snacks the entire day. But, WFH led to burnouts.

Productivity increased, and employees were happy about newfound freedom, ample time to relax, and became efficient. But lockdown also initiated a sudden change in the working environments for employees and organizations that lacked proper infrastructure, compliance, resources, and place to assist remote working.

After a year into a pandemic, though the productivity remains the same, employees feel burnout due to lack of socializing and it routinely affects people. If you are interested to know ways to combat work from home burnout, you are in the right place. Read more about practical tips that you can follow.

Tips for combating work from home burnout

1. Keep moving around

It is essential to keep moving around from our bed as we are at the point that we are stuck in our bed and different furniture the entire time of work. Moving around in your room is a great way to break the monotony and reduce the burnout of working from home.

During lunch break or break time, you can move out of your home for a walk or a run to avoid muscle atrophy. Take a periodic interval to do some form of exercise or yoga or stretch to keep your body healthy and productive.

2. Avoid screens in the morning

As we spend the entire time looking at the screen in one form or other, it gives constant headaches, irritability, eye strain, and other medical issues. So, it is an excellent way to reduce screen time is to go mornings without a screen.

When you wake up, make sure that you are not looking at the screen for few hours instead of scrolling the screen mindlessly. Utilize that time for your hobby or exercises to embrace a healthy routine.

3. Set a routine

• What time do you wake up daily in the morning? Or
• How would you like to spend your recess time?
• What do you do in the evenings?

Most of us consider routine equivalent to monotonous practice instead; setting a routine will help gather us and avoid thinking about what to do next. So, plan and write your daily activities and stick to them with all your might.

Sticking to a set routine will help to overcome the burnt feeling of working from home.

4. Develop or learn a new hobby

It may seem impossible for few to learn or practice a hobby due to a lack of time and professional commitments. But now, when work from home is the new norm, it is never too late to engage in any physical activity or learning a new skill to improve your professional career. These hobbies will help you to focus and improve concentration and prevent from work from home burnt out.

5. Call anyone home

A human being’s design is not to live in isolation for an extended period. Although we spend a lot of meeting time in zoom calls and online meetings, we lack personal touch and interactions.

Socializing is key to our mental health so calling a friend or family home for a conversation or lunch is a great stress buster. Even if you don’t have anything to talk about, call over people for a coffee cup or watch a movie to unwind.

6. Plan your meals

Planning meal ahead is a great way to include healthy food habits and avoid junk food for wholesome nutrition. Meal planning will allow you to mix and match different cuisines to your meal, providing variety and taste.

Set aside a day or two for ordering from outside if you are not in a mood to cook. Plan your meals so that you can look forward to your favorite cuisine to beat the monotony of daily life.

7. Get better sleep

Sleeping better at night also requires a proper routine and planning. When we are bound to spend the whole day at home, we tend to miss following an appropriate sleep schedule—putting screens away an hour before your sleep will help you sleep deep in the night. Reading a book or listening to nice relaxing music, or speaking to your loved ones is also a creative way to conclude the day.

Sleeping better is not about waking up late in the morning instead, sleeping at a set time and waking up at the set time is a healthy option.

Hope these tips help motivate you to re-energize and work well!