7 Productivity Tips to Avoid Burnout When Working from Home

When the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, businesses and workers were forced to adapt and implement a remote work setup. As with inevitable change, comes certain challenges. 

For business owners, the main concern is maintaining the employee’s productivity to feed business continuity. While for employees, working in an unfamiliar environment may cause undue stress and even burnout. 

Fortunately, there are several ways to solve this issue to make working from home both productive and enjoyable. 

Work from Home Advantages

Business owners and CEOs may not realize this right away, but having a remote workforce provides plenty of opportunities for business growth. 

 

Firstly, remote work limits the negative effect on business disruption during a crisis. It can also contribute to an increase in business efficiency. According to this research, 85% of businesses said their productivity increased due to the flexibility of a remote work setup.

Secondly, it allows companies to save on operational costs such as building infrastructure and leasing office spaces. In fact, this study showed that companies in 2015 saved $44 billion USD by allowing employees to work remotely.  

Lastly, flexible working arrangements can increase employee retention and morale over time. The same study also showed that 76% of employees said they’re more willing to stay in a company where flexible working arrangements are offered. The remote work setup also contributed to the increase in employee morale by 90%.

It’s clear that businesses reap the benefits of remote work and the same can also be said for employees. This study stated that 86% of employees have said working from home greatly reduces stress and 77% believed that it improved their overall wellbeing. 

For most people, working from home provides the work-life balance they never get from working in the office. However, there’s still a tendency to overwork even when working from home.   

Work from Home Tips to Avoid Burnout:

1. Dress for the job
2. Assign a separate workspace
3. Plan ahead of time
4. Find your productivity period
5. Stay connected
6. Get rid of distractions
7. Set specific conditions for balance

1. Dress for the Job

Even though you’re at home, practice dressing up properly as if you’re going to the office. Establishing the routine of dressing up conditions your mind that there’s work to be done. 

Besides, you’ll need to join in video meetings from time to time, so you might as well look your best. Staying in pajamas all day will certainly affect your working mindset.

2. Assign a Separate Workspace

Setting a separate workspace will help set physical boundaries between work and home. If you have an empty room or a small nook in your house that you’re not using, you can transform it into your home office. 

A designated workspace lets you focus on work and will help you dissociate work from other household tasks. It should feel detached from the rest of your house.

3.    Plan Ahead of Time 

It’s easy to lose sight of tasks and deadlines especially when your superiors can’t see you physically. However, you can monitor your own productivity by planning ahead of time and doing time management techniques. 

At the end of each day, make a list of tasks to be done for the following day. On the next day, review your priorities and tackle high-value tasks first. Try and implement time management techniques such as the Pomodoro Technique or the Eisenhower Matrix to maintain your focus throughout the day. 

4.    Find Your Productivity Period

An advantage of working from home is that it allows you to be flexible with your time. You might discover that your productivity period is different from when you’re in the office and when you’re working at home. 

Determine your productivity period and surround your tasks with it. If you’re productive at night, then do tasks that take more effort and energy at night. You can do easy and repetitive tasks like reading emails and answering messages in the morning.

5.    Stay Connected

The downside to working from home is the challenge of collaboration. You may not realize it right away but keeping in touch with your peers can destress you and cut out the monotony of work. 

Despite working separately, make an effort to reach out and connect with them. Nowadays, it’s easy to check in with your peers with the advent of online communication tools.

6.    Get Rid of Distractions

It’s great to keep in touch with your peers. However, too much communication can distract you from doing actual work. Distractions such as email notifications, social media notifications, and phone messages can interrupt tasks at hand when you need to have immense focus. 

To avoid these, turn off or mute your devices while working on an important project or task. Aside from virtual noise, you may also experience distractions right at home. Family members or even pets can distract you. That’s why you need an isolated area in your house where your family can’t bother you while you’re working. 

7.    Set Specific Conditions for Balance 

Not all people can achieve work-life balance at home. For some, working from home feels like a privilege that’s been granted to them. That’s why they feel like they should work harder. This is the reason why stress and burnout escalate. 

To prevent this, practice setting up specific conditions and allot time for other things. Try out different hobbies that can take your mind away from work such as exercising or reading a book. 

You Don’t Have to Feel Burned Out

There are plenty of pros, and there are some cons when it comes to working from home. However, there is one common goal for business owners and workers, and that is to stay focused despite any situation. 

We hope that these productivity tips will help you create boundaries between your work and home life and lessen the feeling of burnout.