My team has been working remotely for approximately two years. Working remotely has increased my agency’s technology dependency. We have been provided with new cellphones, tablets, monitors, and docking sessions. I spend my entire workday reading and sending emails and participating in virtual conferences. Working remotely, I have noticed symptoms of fatigued for example when I hear the default galaxy ringtone in public, I immediately begin searching for my work phone. My mentor suggested that I change the ringtone every so often to decrease the stress associated with a constantly ringing work phone. I have grown accustomed to the sound of being called into a Teams call several times out of the day. I am also considering getting an eye exam just due to the strain of increased screen time.
The area that resonated to me the most was the routine/fitness area. This is an area I could improve in. I often feel as if I have to be accessible at all times. At one point I was missing meals to participate in meetings or answering calls from my work phone late into the evening. I am learning to unplug from work and be present in my family life.
I am working with my leadership team to develop regular opportunities for staff to engage, learn and train in person. The in-person activities will foster team cohesiveness and boost morale. I hope that the team will be able to build connections within the team and utilise those connections in their day to day work.
The reaction that resonated most with me from the MacDonald article was the blending of home and work for remote workers. After working remotely for two years I would prefer to go into the office so that there was a clear separation between my work and home life. The nature of my work can be heavy at times and I would prefer to keep the heaviness at work.
I agree with Ratcliff’s definition of burnout. I have observed the impact of burnout with my coworkers, support staff, and in my own career. When I start noticing symptoms of burnout, I start looking for opportunities to change my role at work. I would consider exploring a few of the articles Ratcliff provided, most notably articles 12 and 13. I have not taken the MBI, but I would like to just see where I would rank currently now that I have changed roles at work.
No, I think Burnout has to be addressed in a manner that is realistic. Often there a workplace cultures or attitudes that can contribute to burnout. Such as discouraging the use of PTO, constant calls and emails after hours to name a few. Yoga and Mindfulness are good tools but if the office or agency does not promote or support self care authentically burnout will continue.
I can totally relate to what you said about remote work and the blurred lines between home and work life. It’s so easy to feel like you have to be “on” all the time. I’ve had similar moments where even a simple sound, like a Teams notification, instantly puts me back in work mode. Changing your ringtone was such a good call.
I’ve also been working on setting boundaries and actually unplugging after hours. It’s tough when the culture kind of expects constant availability. I agree that burnout can’t just be fixed with mindfulness or yoga if the agency itself doesn’t support real self-care.
I love that your team is planning more in-person meetups. Face-to-face time really does help break up that isolation and remind everyone that we’re all human behind the screens.
Tierra,
I think it is very interesting that your supervisor suggested changing your ring tone. How about reducing the times that it rings? I don’t say that with any intended disrespect, but the constantly ringing tone suggests some workload issues that could be addressed in other ways. And when I read on in yor post about receiving calls at non work times, I wonder even more about that responsibility. I understand that we have personal responsibility to set boundaries. However, organizations and supervisors have responsibilities to not ask us to work 80 hour weeks, or to have time meetings at all hours.
Many of us talked at the beginning of the pandemic that we felt like the assumption was there was more time to make assignments and expect us to work. If we could have two meetings when we were face to face, then we could have 4 when we were remote. That is absolutely not professionally responsible thinking. Period. your desire to go back to the office is probably more related to the fact that they can only get so much done in so many hours – and assign so many things.
I liked the image, BTW. good job. Would have liked to hear just a bit more from the articles themselves.
Dr P