This year has brought about a variety of stresses that we probably never suspected we would be dealing with. Perhaps your company switched to 100% remote, your children are now splitting their time between being in the classroom and remote learning, or maybe before this year you had never been involved in virtual meetings. Whatever the case may be, we have all more than likely had to make some adjustments to our everyday lives. With all these changes happening around you, you should also know how to avoid burnout in the workplace!

We have put together a list of some of our favorite tried and tested ways to avoid burnout. So, buckle up, because “Zoom fatigue” has no place here!

Create a Routine

Think about this for a second. Prior to March of this year, you probably had a solid routine in place for yourself and the members of your household. Why should that change just because everyone is working or schooling from home? We are creatures of habit. Just because you may not physically be leaving your house in the morning to head to the office, does not mean that you cannot still have a routine in place!

Here are some things you can do to keep your routine going:

1. Set your alarm in the morning. You do not necessarily have to set it for the same time you might have previously! But as we head into the winter months (otherwise known as the months of darkness), it can be tempting to stay wrapped up under the covers and sleep in later. While it might feel good in the moment, it will throw off your entire day. Set an alarm for a reasonable hour that is consistent throughout the week.

2. Get in a workout before you get to work. The difficult part about working from home is the lack of body movement. Getting in a workout first thing in the morning can set the tone for the rest of the day. Although it might not be your favorite thing to do in the moment, it will leave you feeling energized and ready to take on the day! Go for a walk with the dog, find a workout program online, do some yoga, or heck, jazzercise with Richard Simmons. This is a judgement free zone!

3. Plan your meals for the week. Many of us find this to be an annoying tidbit within our day. I know in my household, although we are both home, dinner tends to be the last thing that we are thinking about. Put together a menu of sorts for the week. That will help you to avoid the dreaded “what do you want to eat?” when 5 o’clock rolls around. Plus, it will help you to remove your meat from the freezer so it is dethawed in time!

4. Set a routine with your children. This is incredibly helpful. Especially when our jobs require us to be available all throughout the day, but our kids also need us. When my child is home on remote learning days, he tends to follow a similar routine to his in-school days. From the time he wakes up, to when he eats, and when he does his schoolwork. This helps him to anticipate what is going to be coming next throughout the day. We randomly check-in with each other as well. He will often come to my desk, let me know what he is working on, if he has any questions, if he is planning to take a break, etc.

Mental Health Breaks

We are all guilty of neglecting our mental health from time to time. You would think that it would be a no brainer to take a minute to let your brain relax throughout the day. However, what I have found is that when we are all working from home, we do not experience those typical distractions that tend to pop-up during the day. Perhaps a coworker used to pop by your office to say hello, which would give your brain a breather for a few minutes. Or maybe it is someone’s birthday, and you are stepping away from your desk for some cake in the kitchen. Although we may be feeling that we are being more productive at times now, we need those moments to just shut our brain down and decompress.

So how can you do this? Set some 10- or 15-minute time blocks in your calendar. One for mid-morning and the other in mid-afternoon. Do not forget to block off at least 30-minutes at lunch time as well! For me, I take this time to sit out on my porch if it is a nice day. Or call me weird all you want, but I might spend that time folding laundry or doing the dishes. They are mindless tasks that I am going to have to do at some point anyway. It gets me up and away from my desk, so for me it feels like I am killing two birds with one stone. Do something that is going to make you feel refreshed by the time you walk back to your desk!

Unplug and Unwind

This really goes along with taking mental health breaks. Living in a digital world, it can be difficult to unplug once the workday is over. Between phone calls that might come through after hours or the emails from clients. Although we have the capability to stay connected 24/7, it does not mean that we should! It is important that we take the time after hours to unwind from work life and focus on ourselves. Work will always be there tomorrow, and the next day. For example, in my house we try to make it a rule that at the end of the workday, we do not talk about work. The exception being if something from your work life is going to affect our home life. This helps to place a separation between work and home, especially when we do not leave the house to go from one to the other.

At the end of the day, your routine needs to work best for you. The stresses of all that we have been dealt this year are real. If you do not currently have a solid routine in place and are wondering how to avoid burnout in the workplace, I recommend giving some of the above a try. If you have any other helpful tips on ways to avoid burnout, please share them in the comments!