Before reading the articles, I already had concerns about how technology might contribute to burnout. From personal experiences, my job consists of 90 percent being online, and I am also taking all my classes online. It seems that every aspect of life is handled online. When it comes to filling out any forms or making appointments, the main option is to do it online. There are days when I have three Zoom meetings back-to-back, and then I have a Zoom meeting for one of my classes. Can you imagine looking at the computer for 6 hours at a time? I say all this to say that although technology could increase flexibility and access, it can also bring emotional exhaustion and the pressure to always be “on.”
In Hilty’s Figure 2, the area that resonated most with me was fatigue, especially the type that gradually creeps in unnoticed. Fatigue may not be as dramatic as burnout, but it is often a predecessor. What stood out to me was how mental fatigue builds through constant screen time, reduced face-to-face interaction, and the emotional toll of virtual clinical work. Can have on an. Individual. To prevent moving from fatigue to burnout, I would implement regular breaks from the screen and set hard boundaries.
The one thing that stood out to me was Technology & Office Design: One issue many people have is poor ergonomics. I’ve personally struggled with back and neck pain after a long day of looking at the screen. To address this, I’d invest in ergonomic furniture and ensure my workspace encourages movement, maybe like a walking pad and something that could help with my posture. I would also invest in some blue light glasses to help prevent eyestrain.
In the MacDonald article, many clinicians expressed concerns about work-life balance and the feeling of being “always available.” This doesn’t bother me because I have learned to set boundaries and to disconnect when working from home. I have learned that for my own sanity and for me to show up fully present, I must rest and reset. I love the flexibility of remote practice; I hate going into the office where there are so many distractions or noise. I think that for anyone to thrive working from home, they must be organized, have strong boundaries, and make sure that they take the time for self-care.
Ratcliff’s definition of burnout is “chronic workplace stress that hasn’t been successfully managed,” is on point. I appreciated how she broke down symptoms like emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of accomplishment. I have never heard of or taken the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) before, but this is at the top of my list to do. This can be an awesome tool to help professionals prevent burnout.
Some of Ratcliff’s self-care suggestions, like maintaining a support system and regular physical activity, are common, but many individuals fail to do this. I found them useful because we, as social workers, tend to forget the simple things. However, I think she could have emphasized organizational-level changes like advocating for manageable caseloads.
THIS: “However, I think she could have emphasized organizational-level changes like advocating for manageable caseloads.” Yes! Your work environment plays such an important role in the way that you’re able to juggle the workload. I think that having a supportive team that talks about how to make workloads equitable and honor boundaries as well as work/life balance isn’t talked about enough. Sometimes it feels like production is the only important thing, but staying physically and mentally healthy as a social worker has to be top priority to have longevity in this career.
Allison,
Just an FYI – when you place your image, if you go to the Set Featured Image on the bottom of the right hand menus in the post writing screen, you can upload the image to the media library and then set it as your featured image. Then we can all see it at the top of your post and whee it better.
I will admit that I don’t remember where you work, and I figure it’s just as well I’d on’t go look it up right now. Three Zoom meetings in a row is crazy. I promise you aren’t any good to anyone by the third one. Many of us talked at the start of the pandemic that people figured if we could have 2 meetings a day when we met face to face, then tha meant we could have 4 if we were remote. I say hooey.
In terms of ergonomics, several of you have mentioned this and I shared a video from a PT on how to set up your office. You may know all this already, but I found it useful.
https://youtu.be/7YDeeb5SGkc
And finally, I agree with Liz. While we have individual responsibility to take care to set good boundaries, organizations have a responsibility to not put their workers in a position to have to choose between their own health and feelings of guilt that they aren’t doing their job. Again – hooey.
Good job on this post.
Dr P