Organizational support decreased workplace stress, which brought about feelings of hopelessness. Work stressors in terms of high workload and job insecurity amplified work–life conflict, intensifying psychological strain and decreasing perceptions of social support. Resourceful and resilient organizations (Privara, 2022) operating remotely improved mental wellbeing and job satisfaction (Nemţeanu and Dabija, 2023), further optimizing employee financial security and reducing layoffs. The remote work experiences in terms of cognitive and affective processes (Robinson et al., 2021) influenced job performance and employee wellbeing, thereby persuading organizational behavior. Feeling exhausted due to insufficient rest while working remotely can result not only in long-term mental health problems but also in lower productivity.
Explore the Root Cause of the Funk
Plus, having a visible measure of your productivity encourages you to keep up the good work. While virtual team building can be fun, many folks miss being physically present with colleagues. Working with folks you have never met in person can remote work fatigue be a strange feeling. If possible, it may be worthwhile to occasionally meet up with remote coworkers in real life.
Still, PTO policies are in place for a reason, and leaders need to communicate the importance of taking time off to recharge for the benefit of individuals and the company. I’m not saying you should lie, but if you are experiencing bandwidth issues, wink…wink… turning off your camera helps improve the audio quality. With everyone working from home and many kids going to school virtually, it’s very plausible. Remember – in the end, less screen time will lead to less scream time. Feel free to allow yourself a few minutes to get distracted or a few hours off to recharge. Acknowledge that even if work from home offers freedom in some aspects, other elements can zap your energy.
Socialize with Remote Coworkers During the Work Day
Habit tracking is one of the best tips for feeling unmotivated when working from home. Sometimes, remote work funk is a side effect of unhealthy workday behaviors. For instance, perhaps taking too many breaks during daytime hours can cause you to work late into the night. Or, spending most of the day in Zoom meetings may cause you to feel irritable or sluggish.
Look for signs of burnout
- My expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting for Fortune 500 companies from Aflac to Xerox and over 15 years in academia as a behavioral scientist at UNC-Chapel Hill and Ohio State.
- To ease the burden of video conferencing fatigue, managers need to discern when and if video is absolutely necessary.
- Changing your video conferencing habits is a great place to begin conquering Zoom fatigue.
For example, if you want to meet with your team about a new social media outreach project, you may want to give an overview of the project and assign responsibilities. You may find it easier to share details on an initiative like this via email rather than hosting a video conference. Your environment can have a significant impact on your mood and productivity. For example, if your desk is cluttered with paper and junk, then you may feel irritated about the mess. Re-decorating your office is a great way to boost productivity and employee happiness.
Workplace social support is needed for technology-mediated remote work to improve professional engagement and the psychological wellbeing of employees. Low work morale and engagement resulted in a decrease in employee psychological health and efficacy. Working from home led to a feeling of being undervalued and not being trusted enough to undertake specific tasks among employees. Physical and emotional load, psychological fatigue, emotional pressures, and excessive workloads brought about increased professional burnout. Mental and emotional stress related to increased job demands and workload reduced employee motivation and diminished workplace wellbeing. Flexible jobs, time management, and emotional team support can improve employee health, productivity, performance, and creativity, reducing workplace stress, anxiety, burnout, and isolation.
In order to stave off the most severe burnout, it is essential to build a healthy and balanced routine. Without a commute, it is so easy to spend days-on-end indoors in one’s home. Take breaks to go outside, get a quick walk, change the scenery, and refresh your mind and body to fight off and overcome any work from home fatigue. At NoHQ, we will explore the symptoms of WFH burnout, and what employers and employees can do to overcome remote work fatigue. You can even make exercise a group activity, for instance, meeting up on a video call with coworkers to do yoga or following a 10 minute cardio routine on YouTube together. Or, you can download a social running app or complete a workout challenge with your remote colleagues.