“Work from home burnout” refers to being in your home constantly and having a lack of location change affect your work-life balance and mental health negatively. Some have reported feeling tired or just losing their focus throughout the day the longer they work from home.
In fact, remote workers may have to work a little more to make their space meet their needs.
Don’t worry. There are ways to enjoy your space while combating the negative effects of prolonged work-from-home burnout.
Here are a few ways to reclaim your home and how it can help you kick the work-from-home burnout blues:
Enhance your living space
Swapping out decor now and then is par for homeownership. However, upgrading your decor to something that helps refocus your mind and allows you a bit of breathing room is recommended for those working and living from home.
Try getting a breath of fresh air while incorporating living decor into your home. Houseplants can help elevate your mood while giving you something out of the ordinary to focus on. They’ve also been known to clean the air around you and help keep certain odors and contaminants out.
If you’d rather look into more functional ways to enhance your living space, try using organization and storage areas. Creating space on a counter or table is a great way to give the allure of being clean while giving your items a new and convenient home.
Enjoy your living space
Every home has a space inside it that makes for a good getaway place. If you need to find a corner to spend your lunch break, reading a book and enjoying a cup of coffee, try setting up a small table and chair near a window. This will also help provide more natural light, which has been known to bring elevated effects to most rooms.
If you find you have more space with fewer things in it, try creating a meditation corner or space for light exercise work. Keeping your blood flowing and taking breaks to clear your head are great ways to maintain a productive workweek. One of the perks to working remotely is your space is yours, so you can use it as you need to.
For those with a completely blank wall that seems to be taking its toll on you, try the soothing nature of a water element surrounded by natural or living pieces, like a living wall covered in climbing houseplants. These elements can help simulate an outdoor break area or a peaceful garden.
Embrace your living space
Every so often, it's best to embrace your situation. But that doesn’t mean you can’t create a remote work environment that best suits your needs. If your space is small, but distractions are large, try adding a few room dividers or room dividing pieces, such as bookshelves.
Breaking up the room is an excellent way to avoid remote work burnout, as it creates a dedicated workspace that separates home life from.
If you still find yourself feeling a little out of sorts, try rearranging your home’s furniture. It’s not as large of a project as a full renovation can help ease your work-from-home burnout by giving you a fresh perspective of your space.
When working from home, burnout is bound to happen. There are ample ways to maintain your well-being when working from home, such as maintaining scheduled work hours, deep breathing exercises during your day and getting enough sleep.
Maintaining social connections with co-workers, other friends, family and community members can also have a great impact on your mental health and help you avoid work from home burnout.
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