Before reading these articles, I was certain that technology-mediated practice lessened fatigue amongst many professions. In my personal experience in past jobs, I have enjoyed days where I can do documentation at home without going into the office because I can work at my own pace in my comfort of my own space. I have many friends and family who work in the IT field from home, many of whom say that they enjoy working from home and they hope to never have to go back into an office. I think many people feel less micro managed when they are not in an office and enjoy being able to complete household tasks while working.
The area that resonated with me the most was the routine and fitness section. I am the kind of person that heavily benefits from a daily routine and schedule. I also find it helpful to take breaks throughout the day to move around or give my brain a break. I use an agenda and struggle when my routine is changed and my workload feels too heavy. I think an unmanageable workload can easily lead to burnout. One way to prevent from moving to burnout would be to set boundaries about the workload that you are willing to take on. I think prioritizing work that is meaningful to you and utilizes your strengths can prevent burnout as well.
When it comes to technology and office adjustments, I think I might have an issue with planning for other technology needed. In my current practicum placement it took a long time to get my professional email set up. In that situation I had to continue to reach out to the IT department and my supervisor to make sure it got done. For training and professional development, I may have an issue with social and interpersonal relationships. This can look like struggling to connect and get ideas from other professionals. I think this issue can be addressed by being intentional about seeking out relationships with other professionals. When it comes to clinical care, I think interruptions can be an issue because it feels like we are always on stand by for the next emergency. One way that we can limit interruptions is by having our notifications silenced when we are working directly with clients. An issue that I may face with human factors is the myth of multitasking. When working with technology it feels like we can accomplish more at once, but we have to be intentional with our work still so we do not make careless mistakes.
When reading the MacDonald article, I resonated with the thought of one practitioner that said that working from home allowed them to buy a more affordable home without having to have a quick commute to the office. As a person who is in their early 20s, I get anxious at the thought of having to buy a home anytime soon. The idea of also having to purchase a home within a certain distance from an office makes me nervous as well because you cannot dictate the housing market in that area. I can see how working from home can give you a piece of mind about choosing a home based on your own preferences and what fits in your lifestyle.
This article describes burnout as chronic stress and long-term exhaustion, which I think is accurate. I found it interesting when they mentioned how burnout leads to high turnover. I think that this shows how burnout does not just happen to one individual but burdens many. I was interested in taking the MBI test, but I was not willing to pay for it. In the future once I am more involved in my career it would be good to take to make sure that I am not burnt out and I am able to effectively serve clients.
I did find Ratcliff’s suggestions in preventing burnout to be beneficial. Professionals should be able to practice self-care so they can best serve themselves as well as clients. I believe that all social workers should practice mindfulness. If we are unable to be present with our clients, we are not completely prioritizing their well-being. Being mindful also reduces anxiety, which can lessen the likelihood of burnout. If I had to give other suggestions for preventing burnout, I would say exercise and boundaries.
Ally,
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 also hear a number of folks talking about being happy to work from home. This seems to be very common among IT professionals. The only caveat I would offer is to check and make sure their family things it’s a great idea. Often people don’t have good work/life boundaries, but they aren’t aware of that fact at all. The people around them can often see it better. Plus, I wonder sometimes if there are types of work that naturally lend themselves to remote work and others that do no? Just a question. I have also found that when someone is doing remote work for IT, they supply them with all of the tools they might need to do that work comfortably and safely. Just saying.
did it surprise you that they included the routine and fitness section at all in this article? I agree that routine is critical for many folks, but some have difficulty creating one for themselves. I think this is, in part, what your friends and family might mean when they talk about being micro-managed in the office. Routine that benefits the work of everyone is often different from routine that benefits the individual. And sometimes having to make a change in routine because it helps someone else do their job better is not something most remote staff consider.
I found it fascinating to hear your thoughts about the housing market and its relationship to remote work. I understand the thinking that flexibility in location because you work remotely opens up possibilities of home ownership. I sincerely hope that we reach a point where the decisions to work with people in a face to face environment or remotely is tied to the kind of work we do, not the difficulties of where to live. I suspect that is naive on my part, and I accept that criticism. However, as we think about our work as social workers, I wonder the impact of remote work versus in-person contact on the success of what we do.
There are so many factors that swirl around the issues of remote work. I suppose they really aren’t’ that much different from other factors we have faced in the past about job selection and career choices. There is just a new one that involved the role of technology.
Dr P