{"id":4055,"date":"2020-04-16T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T00:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dollarsandsense.sg\/business\/?p=4055"},"modified":"2021-03-16T16:41:36","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T08:41:36","slug":"preventing-burnout-work-from-home-covid-19-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dollarsandsense.sg\/business\/preventing-burnout-work-from-home-covid-19-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips For Preventing Burnout While Working From Home During The “Circuit Breaker”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article was first published by Annie Teh <\/a>of Pigeonhole Live on her LinkedIn profile. Republished with her permission.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work as we know it is changing. Scratch that, Life as we know it is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we adjust to the new normal in the midst of this pandemic, it can be easy to feel like we need to set the same expectations, or possibly even higher expectations on ourselves. As we work from home, we should be working longer hours and achieving even better results than before our lives changed forever – right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is this way of thinking understandable? Definitely. The correlation between effort and success has been a narrative passed down from the last generation; if we’re faced with adversity, we should work harder than before to become successful. The effort that we put into anything we do is completely in our control, and in a time of uncertainty, is what we naturally lean into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The danger comes when we don’t take into account the context of our current struggles. Our daily routines have been thrown off balance. Our usual way of connecting with others has been severed. While we’re struggling to meet our usual level of productivity, we forget that we’re also thinking about a million other things — Are our families safe? Will I have enough food? Will I still have a job a month from now? Will I stay healthy during this time? Will I survive this loneliness? Have I washed my hands enough?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as we process and adapt, we expend energy. We get tired and demoralised. Add to that our lack of boundaries between our physical work and life spaces, and we move closer to a novel brand of burnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This mental exhaustion that we feel is real. Ignoring it as we set these expectations on ourselves does no favours for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Time For Introspection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As we go through these uncertain times, let’s take the foot off the pedal and take some time for introspection. Instead of pushing ourselves to reach high expectations of productivity, look inwards and observe the effect of living in a pandemic on your mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As written in Forbes<\/a>: “In this time of COVID-19 mental health IS health<\/strong>. It is foundational to overall health and maintaining the mental health of people right now is a fundamental priority for maintaining workforce health.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some guiding questions that may help:<\/p>\n\n\n\n