One might think that working remotely is an introvert’s dream: sitting at home, on your own computer hidden behind the screen, possibly in your pajamas. But the truth of the matter is, for many introverts, remote work is kind of a nightmare. This pandemic has chased, literally, every office worker out of their desks and into their homes, and everyone found themselves trying to figure out a routine to make this work, rules to make this new life a little easier. And that seems to be a difficult task. From too much screen time, no “blue light” breaks, lack of schedule between working hours and home time, endless preparation and constant video calls are just some of the problems everyone is facing. Introverts, extroverts, ambiverts alike. And by far, the worst part of remote work is video calls. Being on camera is a performance, whether you like it or not. Thoughtless scheduling can mean you may end up performing for eight hours a day and you have no cues, of how to read your audience, to rely on. It’s just heads on shoulders, appearing on screens, struggling with online platforms, sound system, technology, features and tools, in a vague resemblance of human connection. Social anxiety accumulates, isolation takes its toll and with a camera on your face, just waiting for you to spill out results in the middle of your home, personal, turbulence can drain all your energy.
And this Is basically the key to managing remote work and avoid a virtual burnout – protect your energy.
One must pay attention to routine. It doesn’t matter if you hated your commutes to SP and back every day. That was a ritual that allowed you to distinctively separate work from home. Even if your car/ bus ride was short, it was a safe boundary with little to know effort to implement and follow, but an immense break for your head to assimilate the change of environments and tune to the change that was about to happen. It would help you process the struggles of the workday before getting home, just like talking to your spouse would make the load (even if not completely) disappear. We needed that. For many of us those little coffee breaks would set the tone for the day – the chat with a co-worker on the elevator or even the coffee-breaks in the middle of the afternoon that would help you make it through the rest of the day. That is all gone.
And rituals might be the answer to get that control back. It is possible to recreate those breaks and bounderies at home, and allow you the time to get into the right headspace to start working, or having a bit of music or change of lighting to finish the day, before going back to “son/friend/spouse/parent-mode”.
Here are some tips for breaks that could be implemented in your routine, to delineate the work-home transition.
- You could take a walk around the block before you start working (even jog or exercise, if you used to do that).
- Getting up (breathing / stretching) from the chair in the middle of the morning to get some coffee, and drink it in a different environment, even if it’s your living room’s balcony – do not use this time to be on the phone, and if you have someone else with you at home, try to coordinate this time, to talk about something other than work, like you would chat with a friend at a coffee-break.
And don't forget we need to handle our pace, place, and space.
- Pace yourself. Come up with a nice schedule that is not overwhelmed with videoconferences, and meetings because those are performances and your brain needs a break from it. Do not schedule meetings back-to-back because we need a recharge time after each one; and do not ignore the time of the day that you prefer to have these meetings and the time it is better for you to just have quiet (administrative maybe) work time.
- Use your place to help you enforce these boundaries. Even if your desk is your kitchen table, make sure you have everything you need to work well (lighting, tools, pens, diary, calendar, calculator – yes we have everything on our computer, or phone, but it’s a good excuse to take your eyes away from them just for a little while. Moreover, make sure you can put your work away at the end of the day and don’t mix it with meal times.
- And last, but not least, space. You need some space to breathe, be alone with yourself to organize your thoughts, and that means some alone time, even away from your spouse and kids. This is extremely important to manage your energy and redirect your focus after a work day. If you have a room for yourself, use it… play an instrument for a little while, listen to music, read a chapter of a book… that doesn’t mean ignoring the people you live with, as they should also be doing the same, but making sure you’re at your best for them and for each area of your life.
Even with a vaccine taking place, remote work is here to stay, so along with the already known challenges, we now have the opportunity to create something new, and not only transfer old habits and old company culture to our remote work. Build something better, something that you’ll be proud of and won’t exhaust your brain and health.
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