Wake up. Walk three steps towards your desk, and voila—you’re at work! Easiest commute ever. This is the bittersweet reality for those who work remotely from home. On one hand it’s great that you don’t have to deal with morning traffic, but on the other, the lines between work and home are blurred. Some have set up workspaces in their bedrooms, while others have taken over the dining table and other rooms in the house. What happens when 5PM rolls around? Without your coworkers around scrambling to catch their train or running out the door to pick up the kids (your cue that the work day is over), you might not have even noticed that it’s now past six and you’re still working.
You might be more productive, but if you find yourself working longer hours and feeling utterly drained, then you’re one of many suffering from remote work burnout. Another contributor to the exhaustion can also be attributed to many of our non-work interactions still being through a screen even if they are fun happy hours and virtual game nights with friends.
Read Also: Remote Work Best Practices: What We’ve Learned at Kintone
Kintonians have been there too. We have now been fully remote for over three months with no date for when we’ll be returning to the office. While we are not experts by any means, we’ve tried new ways to combat remote work burnout and we’d like to share our top five tips. At the end of the day, your mental health is far more valuable. It’s about knowing when to hit pause.
1. Spend Quality Time With those You Love During the Day
- For me it's about taking a couple of walks a day with the dog and playing more basketball with my son. - Mike
- I ended up living with two pups now that I live in SF (one is my roomie's dog). The upside is that you always have a furry friend to calm your nerves and play, but the downside is that they'll bark/whine with no concern for your meeting schedule. Another positive note about having a dog at home is that they force you to go outside. These are quick walks, less than 15 minutes, but they do wonders for your senses (hello fresh air!) and mind. - Miri
Pictured above is Miri walking Pluto around the house while in a meeting.
2. Develop a Green Thumb
- Gardening is a big stress reliever for me. That's what I did during my staycation and I found it to be really helpful. I'm planning to do it again this summer. - Isabel
- I’m not burned out from remote work, but I did have the opportunity to get into gardening. Growing food, herbs and then eating them is AWESOME. - Nim
- I started a hydroponic garden! Tending to the plants has been a new hobby and a destresser for me. - Steve
Pictured above is Steve's hydroponic garden, you can tell the basils took over the space.
3. Take PTO
- PTO is crucial for managing stress levels and taking care of your mental health. - Isabel
- Taking some time off to recharge has been very beneficial because the lines between home and work have been blurred while “sheltering in place.” Taking the time to just relax and reset has helped me go back into work feeling fresh. - Christian
4. Roll Up Your Sleeves For Home Renovation Projects
- As many homeowners know, the work never ends. After owning our first home for only four months, my husband and I are quickly realizing that. However, we enjoy turning this house into our dream home. We aren't big on swimming, so naturally the built in pool was one of the first things to go. We pulled apart the pool and deck little by little and loaded it into a dumpster. The end result weighed over three tons. We've turned the sand pit into a temporary fire pit while we wait for our top soil and grass seed. The extra space will leave lots of room to extend our deck to be able to host our family cookouts. - Larissa
5. Become a gamer
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To get my social fix, I turn to video games and hosting virtual game nights! I’ve hosted some with my personal friends and one with Kintonians so far. I've also started playing more multiplayer online games to talk with people with similar interests. It's great that video games are keeping a lot of people connected right now. A very popular video game right now is Animal Crossing! Steve, Kevin and I have a separate chat on Zoom to share 'Turnip' prices, which is like stock prices in the game. - Carina
Also read: Work From Anywhere: The Next Phase of Work From Home
- Video and board games are a great way for me to turn off my brain from work and challenge myself to think creatively in other ways. I love any game that incorporates puzzles, like Zelda! When I’m feeling burned out from all the screen time, board games and puzzles are a nice break. - Euna
Pictured above is Carina's Animal Crossings character. (Image credit: Nintendo)
There you have it, we hope these tips are helpful! If you would like to share what has worked for you, please post it below in the comments.
About the Author
Malena is a Senior Events Specialist and Marketing Campaign Associate at Kintone, where she enjoys getting people excited about Kintone through events they host and creative marketing campaigns. You will find her sketching out new ideas for social media copy, drooling over event catering menus, and flipping through Kintone threads where all the project management lives. Born and raised in San Francisco, she is a natural at finding the best places to eat in the city and navigating towards the nearest Bart station. Malena graduated from UC Berkeley, with a degree in Psychology, roll on you bears!
