Millions of people around the world have made a sudden transition to remote working amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Not surprisingly, this has made some employers concerned about maintaining employee productivity. But what should concern them in this unprecedented situation is a long-term risk: employee burnout.

Yes, you may think that being at home you will not get exhausted, you have the couch, the TV or the bed, you will think that with all of this, it is impossible to get burned out. That's a huge mistake because even if you work from home, you can get exhausted and have symptoms without realizing it.

There are even studies and articles that show that there is more risk of exhaustion working from home than at the office.

These are some of the most common symptoms of exhaustion:

• Anxiety and depression
• Chronic fatigue
• Anger and irritability
• Insomnia
• Physical symptoms like indigestion, headaches, heart palpitations...
• Lack of motivation, degraded work performance
• Cognitive issues, inability to concentrate, forgetfulness,...

You do not need to have all these symptoms, it is not a checklist, but they are the most common ones. If you have any of these symptoms, we recommend you take a couple of days off or consult your doctor for better analysis and diagnosis. Recognizing the symptoms of burnout at an early stage is vital to avoid more serious consequences.

However, we believe in the philosophy of prevention rather than cure, so we will give you some tips and advice to avoid the problem and reduce fatigue.

Do not Attempt to Solve Everything on Your Own

You should not waste time doing something you are not good at and be stressed by it, especially if you have the option to hand it over to someone else.

We all want to be the “perfect worker”, but sometimes you are not able to do all the tasks, and that is normal. We are not robots, we are humans. 

Wanting to hog all the tasks is only going to cause you much more stress and fatigue and less productivity. Delegating your tasks to another member of your team does not make you less of a worker than another.

Limit Your Contact With Negative People

Talking to negative-minded people who do nothing but complain will only drag down your mood and outlook. If you have to work with a negative person, try to limit the amount of time you talk together and only for strictly professional things.

Schedule ‘Me Time’

We spend hours glued to our computers every day, so it is important to remind ourselves to get up and do some activities from time to time. A sedentary lifestyle is very bad for you. You have to dedicate time for yourself and have quality breaks; drink a coffee, take short walks a few times a day, do some housekeeping, have fun with your children or talk to your friends.

Separate Work and Personal Life

To have a healthy mind and prevent burnout it is essential to separate your personal life from your work.

When you work in an office, the moment you leave your workplace, the work of that day is done. But that's not the case for people who work from home. Often, you end up working more hours than you should and even on weekends.

Set yourself a time limit like when you were working at the office and follow it, once the schedule is over, close the computer and forget about work and focus on your family and personal life.

Have a Healthy Lifestyle

Eating healthily is one thing we should all do, regardless of stress and burnout yet many of us don’t.

Often, when working from home people have unhealthy habits, eating in front of the computer, junk food, excess caffeine and sugar, and lack of any kind of exercise. These bad habits can increase your burnout rate and make you more stressed and fatigued which will not only affect your work productivity but also affect the people around you. 

Be aware of the risks and take immediate action if you notice signs of exhaustion. Notify your superiors, your clients, consult your doctor, seek out your friends, and take quality time off. As we have said before, prevention is better than cure.

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