On Fire—Instead of Burned Out ǀ Mastering Remote Work
Working remotely does not have to be synonymous to being burn out. Here are a few tips to help find your remote work groove.
Admit it. Before you landed your first remote job or your first freelance gig as a “digital nomad”or “location-independent entrepreneur” you were dreaming of working next to the pool, in your pajamas from bed, or from a chair watching the beautiful ocean and feeling the breeze in your hair.
After the initial first photos, you realise that working from the bed makes your shoulders and neck hurt and it associates your bed with work instead of “rest”; you can not see your screen on a sunny terrace—what were you really thinking when you had that idea of working at the beach!?! Sand, heat, and laptops don’t do well together.
Remote work is on the rise. Over the last five years, the remote workforce has grown 44% and over the previous 10 years, 91%. And this is only the beginning. COVID-19 gave remote work another big push—and it does not look like we will be going back to corporate offices any time soon.
Remote workers have a lot of advantages. They do not need to commute to work and save money for cars, gas or public transport and make a positive impact on the environment. However, there are a lot of things new remote workers are often not aware of:
Structureless Days
Since you do not need to be at work at a certain time, you end up sleeping in, and working nights and weekends. Breaks are filled with Netflix. A 30-minute lunch break becomes a 1.5 hour break, and you end up, you guessed it, working nights and weekends and feeling anxious if you can still get everything done in time. It usually takes a while to figure out that a fixed structure really helps to make sure you get your work done.
Lured Into Distractions
You sit down to start your day at work. You were just thinking about your response to that email as you gaze around the room. “Oh! I forgot to water the plants, they are looking really sad”. You get up and go to the kitchen and the dishwasher is blinking at you, showing it is done. “Why do I not unload that quickly while I get inspiration for my email?”
45 minutes later, you find yourself back at your computer. One thing led to another and you got caught up in lots of distractions. And that was only you, and your monkey mind! Imagine how many additional distractions there are out there if you have kids, a dog, or your partner running around the house!
Feeling Alone
At my last office job, I would always go over to the coffee machine that was located in the accounting department. My two colleagues there were always happy to see me, and I had a small chat while the coffee was pouring through.
Those chats set the mood for my day, taught me some Russian and became part of my day. They always knew about my frustrations, my weekend, and anything else I needed to vent about. Working from home can be lonely. Seeing people on a screen or starting a Slack conversation takes a lot more effort to initiate than a quick chat with a colleague in the hallway. Especially, if you are an introvert.
Neglecting Your Looks
Your body is your temple. But, hey, no one is going to see me right?
I eat breakfast while already starting to work. Did I brush my teeth this morning? Not sure. Does it matter? No need to style my hair— a ponytail will do. Oh, and jogging pants are the best. You work in them, you chill in them, and maybe they get taken out for a little run once in a while. All of the sudden you start feeling like a slob. And it does not feel good. A manager that looks like a slob. Something starts to feel very off there.
So how to master the remote world as a pro and stay healthy?
Use a coworking space.
A coworking space helps you to separate work from play and cuts out lots of distractions. It offers a social setting that you can use as much as you like, and if you don’t—a pair of headphones clearly indicate that you are not up for chatter. Another plus is that I got lots of clients through coworking spaces and expanded my network with coaches, business partners, and friends. It makes sure you get dressed and helps with setting a routine.
And the best of all, you still have the freedom to come and leave as you please, and to work from a different office each day, which is highly important for us “variety driven” travelers. Coworking spaces are slowly opening again and taking a lot of precautions to help you stay healthy.
Take breaks and turn up the inner volume button.
It is very easy to get ¨sucked¨ into work and keep working an hour before going to bed. At home work never stops, since the office is always open and the work is never done. We are all the time in “our head”, thinking about the next meeting, the disagreement with a colleague, the presentation for the next day, and our performance.
The remote work environment is a very rational space. As a survival strategy we often disconnect from our bodies. We turn up the volume of our “surroundings” which causes us to not hear our own voice. We condition ourselves to ignore the pain in our shoulder, the nagging feeling in our belly, and the restlessness of our soul. Instead we pay close attention to Slack notifications and meeting reminders, incoming emails, and blinking reminders. Making sure we are efficient and always performing. Remote workers often spend way more time working and actually being productive.
Office workers often get up to talk to colleagues, drop off a piece of paper in a different department, or make a copy at the copy machine. These tasks offer small breaks that remote workers often don't take. There is also no lunch with coworkers to get some frustrations out, or after work beers with coworkers.
While remote work has many benefits, we have also seen that remote workers more easily slip into burnout. Remote teams are more efficient and productive, but the human body is the weakest link in this setting. Remote workers often push themselves harder and since there’s nobody around to notice that you could use a break, chances are you won’t notice until it’s too late.
These common burnout symptoms are cries for help of your body that shouldn't be ignored:
Anxiety and depression
Chronic fatigue
Insomnia, tossing and turning all night
Anger and irritability
Wide range of physical symptoms, such as indigestion, headaches, heart palpitations, (bladder) infections, back pain.
Lack of motivation, degraded job performance
Cognitive issues, inability to focus, forgetfulness, brain fog.
Stop! Until here, and no further! Setting boundaries.
People that suffer from burnout often have weak boundaries. They find it difficult to say “no” to additional tasks and are often perfectionists that worry a lot about what others think of them and their performance. An important tool to prevent burnout is to set clear boundaries. For others. But most importantly, for Yourself.
Be careful with caffeine, sugar, and alcohol
Don’t neglect your social life
Set a rule to not touch your computer before and after working hours
Take breaks (set a timer) and put them to good use (see below)
Try to exercise more
Create a routine that works for you
Make sure you get quality time off without your laptop
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
Reconnect with Yourself
In order to regularly connect with yourself throughout the day, set a timer on your phone that goes off every 2 hours. Take that time to do some mindfulness exercises based on touch, sounds, or sight.
Take 2 minutes to really focus on rubbing 2 fingers together and feeling the ridges on your fingers. Focus on all and each of your toes and wiggle them around. Listen to the most far away sound you can hear and next to the closest sound: your own breathing.
Stanford professor Shizard from the New York Times Bestselling book Positive Intelligence calls these “PQ reps (Positive Intelligence Quotient)”. They help to activate a different part of your brain, which he calls the “Sage”. This helps you to master your day, connect with yourself and get better results in a more positive and relaxed way.
Another great way to connect with yourself is to get up and turn up the volume on your favorite song and dance like no one is watching. Let your body lead. Move how your body wants to move and notice any tension or area of discomfort.
Intuitively we all know what serves us well, but we still have a hard time to implement these tools. Sometimes something so simple can be so hard at the same time. But all bits do count. Just make sure to keep perfectionism at bay. Even better—put perfectionism out of business, so you can get into yours.
Andrea de Baat is a Burnout & Female Embodiment Coach (Certification in March 2021) that has experienced burnout and boreout herself, travelled the world on her own, and made some radical changes in her life. Andrea has worked remotely in the Silicon Valley Tech space, and has experience freelancing, as well as running her own business. She now uses her experience and education to help others to feel on fire instead of burned out.
Andrea loves to use coworking spaces and has been using Croissant for the past 2 years.