JOHA

How to Handle Work-From-Home Burnou

Are you fed up with the whole working-from-home thing? Maybe you’re running low on enthusiasm and you notice your productivity is falling. Or maybe it’s hard to stomach one more Zoom meeting, or one more email from your boss. If so, you may be experiencing symptoms of burnout.

Many people used to fantasize about being able to work from home. The zero commute, more time with family, and easy access to the comforts of home have a lot of appeal. But for some, the reality of working from home has been different than they imagined. No commute also means no boundaries between work and home; while we’re never “at work,” we’re also never really away from it. For parents of school-aged kids, working from home also meant dealing with the joys of home schooling while trying to act like a responsible professional. The challenges continue now that school is out for the summer. Taken together, it’s all adding up to the perfect recipe for burnout.

Years ago I realized what it meant to be burned out. I was closing up my office at the end of another draining week, and tried to look forward to the weekend ahead. What difference does a weekend make? I heard myself ask. I’ll just have to come back on Monday.

That sentiment captures a lot of the burnout experience. Downtime from work feels nonrestorative. Even a week or two of vacation may be inadequate to restore our energy and enthusiasm. Other common symptoms include:

Lack of enthusiasmIrritability and impatienceChanges in attitude, especially becoming cynicalDifficulty generating interestBeing easily distractedDeclining productivityUsing alcohol and other substances to cope

It’s better to catch the signs of burnout as early as possible. The longer it goes on, the longer it can take to recover. Recovery may be especially delayed if we’ve given up important areas of our lives, like exercise and socializing. I was amazed at how long my own symptoms of burnout lingered. I had assumed that once I