If you’ve experienced what Stanford University researchers call Zoom fatigue, rest assured, it’s not just in your imagination. The fact is, some virtual meetings cause exhaustion and contribute to burnout. However, they won’t be phased out anytime soon. So, it’s up to you to understand why this happens and how to mitigate it in order to stay healthy and productive.
Organizations require employees to collaborate with more people than ever before, both internally and externally. This ever-increasing demand can be tough to keep up with. It ultimately leads to frustration and sometimes even to collaboration burnout.
Most of the employees working from home seem to enjoy their working arrangements, with 77 percent even claiming that they feel more productive. The trend seems to keep rising, even though some companies have called their employees back to the office. However, remote work is not all milk and honey. Employees working from home also have to face a series of challenges.
Those warm, vibrant summer months have been replaced with the brisk chill of autumn. That means shorter daylight hours, cloudier weather and frostier temperatures as winter is almost round the corner. You might also notice a dip in workplace motivation or even performance along with this seasonal shift. And it’s not just your imagination.
The global pivot to hybrid work has given many professionals the flexibility to choose their own schedule, location, and format when they work remotely. However, despite WFH being such an in-demand perk, work burnout levels are continually on the rise.
The weather isn’t the only thing that changes with the season. Your mental health and mood also fluctuate in response to this cycle. As the warmth of summer fades into the chill of autumn, you might start to notice an uptick in stress levels. It’s not your imagination, it’s autumn anxiety. After all, this is a hectic, fast-paced time of year.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote working has become more and more widespread. According to Owl Labs’ State of Remote Work survey, at the beginning of this year, 62 percent of full-time employees in US worked remotely to some degree. By now, more than 65 percent are mostly working from home. And the already fragile work-life balance is once again under great pressure. Therefore, avoiding burnout and caring for the mental health of their employees have become paramount for companies from all over the world.
As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, millions of people have transitioned to telecommuting. For some, working from home feels like newfound freedom. There’s no boss hovering over your head, no soul-crushing commute to work, and everything feels so much more flexible and enjoyable. However, after you spend a couple of weeks working remotely, you start to notice its challenges. What once seemed interesting and exciting is now monotonous, dull, and makes you feel the beginning of a burnout.
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance can be difficult in today’s culture that celebrates being always on. In fact, 94 percent of 1,000 professionals surveyed by the Harvard Business Review said they put in 50 or more hours a week at work. What’s more, nearly half that group clocked in more than 65 hours a week.
In today’s always on workplace culture, where employees are rewarded and oftentimes expected to work long hours and communicate continuously, balance can be hard to find. In fact, more and more people are prioritizing work over their personal lives, tipping the scales toward burnout and stress.
