Work from Home Burnout?
So you’d like to request a day off even though you’re kind of already “off”?
It’s 10 A.M., you’re currently slumming it in your cat print pajamas, hair strewn in a messy bun, chewing at your pen caps, or even worse, fingertips, all while staring at your emails with that far away longing gaze. You’re reading the words but nothing makes sense so you’ve spent the past 2 minutes reading the subject line over and over to make sure you didn’t miss something important. Sound familiar? It should.
It’s called work burnout and it happens to each one of us at some point in time.
From the very age of fiduciary responsibility for ourselves, we’ve been pounding the pavement, burning those keys on that keyboard, and rifling through the “Help Wanted” section of every newspaper available. We have been conditioned to work for what we want, however, not when we want.
Having a job and building a career is crucial. I totally get it. After all, what’s there to gain if you don’t put full effort into your endeavors? You pour your heart and soul into meetings, projects, and deadlines but somewhere along the way of pleasing your employer or clients — succumbing to their every email and phone call, you’ve neglected yourself. “What about my needs?”
We’ve now found ourselves mandatorily sequestered. Those of us who are fortunate to work from home have been doing so for at least the past 45 days. So far, I’ve noticed there's a need to overcompensate due to the fact that you can now work from your bed.
We all know employers can spy on us remotely by checking our daily logs, activity time and general available “presence” via an impromptu Microsoft Teams calls. So, what do we do? We forego bathroom breaks, skip lunches and most importantly — forget to hydrate just to prove that we are alert, attentive and ready to get the job done no matter the cost; whether it be detrimental to our physical and mental wellbeing.
You, my dear friend, are a delicate flower, who needs love, sunlight and LOTS of water.
Just because we’re not at the physical office doesn't mean that we’re less preoccupied with impending workloads. I suggest we stop putting ourselves on the back burner and start focusing on “Me.” There’s already enough anxiety circulating. The last thing we all need right now is to have a nervous breakdown in front of the entire office during your Tuesday morning Zoom session.
For now, vacations have been put to a halt which means we’ve got a whole lot of PTO saved up waiting for our next big adventure. Utilize some of that time. Working from home doesn’t mean that you can’t take a day, or two, or even three to yourself to sleep in a little. Perhaps you have school-age children who are now dependant on you for home studies. With those days you take off, you can now dedicate a couple more hours to the cause of edification at home.
For those of you who are hesitant to take a day off, gosh darn it, look up from those screens once in a while. Every hour of the workday, take 5 minutes to yourself to breathe deeply and rehydrate. Take your lunch breaks on time. Set a reminder if you’re going to forget — your body, brain and kidneys will thank you.
Taking some time for yourself doesn't instantaneously label your work ethic as derelict. In fact, it may just lead to increased focus and productivity. There’s no right or wrong way as to how you define and practice “me-time.” Just like your deadlines, everything is a work in progress, including adequate self-care.
