Everyone has been there. Waking up in the morning, changing clothes, preparing breakfast or coffee, and psyching yourself up for the day of work ahead. No matter how much you love your work, there will be days where you get stressed out.
This can be a bigger problem if you work from home. Freelancers and remote workers are envied for their freedom to work from anywhere in the world and at their leisure. While this has its perks, it can be hard to switch off and you can easily get burned out.
Studies and surveys suggest working at home isn’t as peaceful as many would predict. According to a recent study, 69% of employees working from home either show or have shown burnout symptoms ever since shifting to remote working methods.
Here we will help you to understand what burnout is, what causes it can how you can prevent it. By the end, you should have a clear idea of how to have a stress-free work life.
What is Burnout?
Burnout refers to the body’s physical and mental response to being overwhelmed by stress. Unrelieved stress can slowly build up and lead to work-related burnout. Symptoms of burnout include a feeling of exhaustion, fear of work, decreased productivity, low energy levels, lack of motivation, and possibly in some cases, an overwhelming urge to do something apart from work.
Being burnt out is a death sentence to your productivity and mental health. Work burnout affects you at a mental level, can cause chronic stress and induces physiological problems such as:
• Insomnia
• Restlessness
• Headaches
• Stomach aches
• Lethargy
• Weakened Immune System
Burnout even affects your relations outside of work with a lack of mental connection with people resulting in depersonalized interactions. A burnt-out person might even experience loneliness even under conditions that would normally prevent one from feeling lonely.
Keep in mind, studies have shown loneliness to reduce life expectancy by 70% in people. For reference, smoking and drinking reduce life expectancy by 50% and 30% respectively. Burnout-induced loneliness poses a danger to your physical and mental health.
Suffice to say, job burnout is a serious concern for every employee. Especially with the overwhelming number of remotely working employees showing indications of possible burnouts.
Early Signs of burnout according to Freudenberger and Gail North
According to psychologists Freudenberger and Gail North, there are 12 stages of job burnout. Of these, the early burnout symptoms can be seen in someone in the first 4 stages
Stage 1 Excessive Ambition
The first stage of work related stress is surprisingly an overwhelming increase in motivation and enthusiasm towards one’s work. At this stage, your enthusiasm and ambitions are at their highest. You will find yourself unable to say no to responsibility and work.
People at this stage are overcome with the feeling of wanting to prove themselves and therefore are willing to take on as much workload as possible. The first stage is oftentimes confused with inspiration and a love for work.
Stage 2: Working Harder
The second stage of job stress is an exaggeration of the first stage. Because of excessive ambitions, the person begins to push themselves to work harder to meet their standards. The extra responsibilities and workload from the first stage make it impossible to comfortably do everything without putting in the extra effort.
The desire to prove their worth to themselves as well as everyone around them pushes them to attempt to handle all the responsibilities alone. At this stage, it becomes increasingly difficult to prioritize tasks.
Stage 3: Negligence of self
At this point, the person is overwhelmed by their work and responsibilities. They can no longer complete all their tasks and duties within the allotted working hours. This forces them to sacrifice their leisure time to complete the work.
At this point, the person may forgo eating, sleeping, and spending time with family or friends to focus on work. Furthermore, this feeling of sacrifice is oftentimes justified as necessary and natural. This belief is toxic and detrimental to your health. The first mistake and mismanagement begin from this stage.
Stage 4: Displacement of Conflict
At this stage, due to negligence of self and necessary social interaction, problems begin to appear in the personal life. These can range from deterioration of health and appetite, social isolation, inability to meet deadlines, and loss of purpose.
These problems are many times attributed to stem from bad environmental circumstances instead of a personal change of behaviour. Similar to the first of the five stages of grief, this stage is full of denial.
The person refuses to own up to their shortcomings and thereby constantly pushes the blame onto other people or circumstances. This causes strife and tensing of interpersonal relationships.
The 5 Phases of Burnout
According to research on job burnout by Winona State University, there are 5 Phases of burnout that a person goes through in order. These are:
Phase 1: Honeymoon Phase
This phase is exactly what it sounds like, everything is in your favour. You encounter great success in your professional career and life. You feel yourself getting close to your goals and it motivates you to work harder.
Ironically, people going through this phase often describe themselves as living their lives to the fullest. They have high job satisfaction and happiness quotient. They are full of enthusiasm regarding their jobs, common traits for a person in the honeymoon phase are being committed, energetic, and creative.
According to the research, a person can stay indefinitely in the honeymoon phase as long as they adopt healthy coping methods for the inevitable stress that comes with their jobs.
Phase 2: Balancing Act
In this phase, the person begins to develop self-awareness regarding the stress that comes with their jobs. This is especially the case in people unable to find proper methods to distress.
Improper methods of relaxation include committing yourself to activities that stress you out, for example, toxic interactions with your significant other or friends. According to the research, the second stage is characterized by a noticeable increase in the following five things.
• Job dissatisfaction
• Work inefficiency
• Fatigue
• Insomnia or unnatural sleeping habits
• Procrastination and indulgence in self-gratification activities
Phase 3: Chronic Symptoms
This phase marks an exacerbation of symptoms from phase 2. It is phase 3 that marks the first serious onset burnout symptoms. People in Phase three are often tired, frustrated, demotivated, and dispirited.
The research indicates people in phase 3 have high-stress levels, which lead to a weakened immune system. Stressed out people often have volatile temperaments and low self-esteem stemming from dissatisfaction towards themselves.
• Chronic exhaustion
• Recurring Illness
• Anger
• Depression
Phase 4: Crisis
During Phase 4 all the previous symptoms become critical and deterioration of health is accelerated. The person suffering from job burnout can be considered a medical patient. At this stage, you may need to consult a mental health professional due to your emotional exhaustion. Common symptoms at phase 4 are
• Intensification of physical symptoms or an increase in them
• Obsessed with work frustrations
• Pessimism and despondency
• The advent of an escapist mentality
Phase 5: Enmeshment
The final phase is when the state of being burnt out and otherwise becomes indistinguishable from each other. The person at this phase is more likely to be diagnosed as suffering a physical or mental health ailment than they are to be from burnout.
Dealing with Burnout
With nearly 69% of employees experiencing early burnout symptoms, an awareness of precautionary and stress management practices is of grave importance. Here are some things you can do while working remotely to lower the risk of experiencing burnout.
Exercising early in the morning before work
Getting ready for work in the morning might have been an irritating part of the routine and not having to do so seems less stressful. However, the morning routine acts as a reminder to your body and mind to prepare itself for work.
Since it is not needed to get ready for work in the morning when working from home, it is recommended to exercise in the morning instead. The exercises can be walking, jogging, yoga, or even a callisthenic full-body workout.
Exercising in the morning will prepare the body for the stress of the coming day as well as bolster your immune system, reduce chronic stress and is great for mental health.
Finding time to communicate with friends and family
Taking some time out of your day to contact friends or family can help you feel connected. It is fine to call someone to talk about the weather. They need interaction with other people just as much as you do. Many people struggle with working from home as they don’t have those social interactions. If that sounds like you, then reach out to people.
Taking time off
It is a common trend among remote workers to overwork themselves by working well past regular office hours. Such behaviour is detrimental to your mental and physical health and leads to burnout. To avoid burnout and focus on managing stress, take some time off now and then.
You can take a week off from work and focus on your home life. These vacations will help you cut loose and feel better about both your work and yourself. Experiencing job burnout is horrible and you need to look after your well being.
Ask for help when required
Dealing with burnout at work is important. Just because you are now working remotely does not mean you are alone. Many people fail to realize this and tend to do everything by themselves. Doing so places unnecessary stress on them and increases the risks of burnout.
If you ever come across a difficult problem or situation, reach out to your colleagues and team members for help. You are not in this alone, and asking for help will help you deliver quality work without the extra trouble.
Work from Home Vacations
One of the best things about remote work methodology is being able to work from anywhere in the world. This means that you can actually go on a vacation to another city or country and still be able to work.
It is quite common among successful freelancers to go on vacations while working remotely. This trend has lately been on the rise even amongst remotely working employees. It’s a great way of overcoming burnout at work.
Being able to visit your favourite city or holiday spot while still being able to work provides positive reinforcement to the idea of remote working. It is a great stress management method and ideal for people tired of being confined to their homes.
