Have you found yourself feeling stressed and yelling at your children or co-workers for no reason? Or maybe you’ve been finding it difficult to concentrate at work. Are you sleeping well but still feel exhausted? It is important to pay attention to these signs as it could mean you are suffering from Burnout Syndrome brought by COVID-19.

Many people believe that the main cause of Burnout is the workload. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines “Burnout” as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

Which means, anyone could suffer from Burnout as it can be caused by:

• A lack of connection at work;
• Lack of control;
• Unfair treatment at work;
• Lack of support from team members;
• Feeling the reward does not match the workload.

As if that wasn’t enough in normal times, we now have to deal with a global pandemic that only aggravates the causes of Burnout. 

According to Davida Ginter, co-founder and CEO of Enkindle Global; (a non-profit initiative that cultivates personal well-being to promote social welfare), and author of the book: “Cultivating Well-being to Successfully Lead Social Change,” we are now seeing new cases of Burnout because of the Covid 19.

“The pandemic brings with it a sense of continued uncertainty, which contributes to chronic stress,” says Ginter. “Employers, employees, and those who are self-employed have no idea what will happen next, what the ‘new normal’ will look like, and how long this will last.”

Ginter also states that working from home could be one of the main causes of the recent outburst in Burnout cases.  “So many people are dealing with loneliness from a lack of physical connection and social isolation.” She also mentions that we create a false expectation that we must be available 24/7. “The truth is that nowadays we’re dealing with a work/life ‘blend,’ not ‘balance.’ We feel guilty about taking a break in the middle of the day, even if we desperately need it.”

However, it is not all bad news. It is possible to adopt healthier practices at the workplace at home to minimize the mental ‘ware and tare’.

Reduce the pressure

During the pandemic it’s become more and more difficult to close new deals. Many customers are terminating contracts and putting a hold on ongoing negotiations. This creates a desperate scenario to many businesses and the team.

But remember, defense is as important as attack. It’s time to slow down and focus your efforts and attention on retaining current customers. 

This does not mean that you will not close new contracts, but rather direct the efforts and emotional burden to those who are already on the boat with you. 

It’s important to not feel pressured to hit targets at this point.

Organize your time

In a normal scenario, we easily separate ‘work time’ from ‘personal time’. We do this by dressing for work, commuting, talking to our work colleagues. But this has become increasingly difficult during the pandemic. 

To help avoid Burnout it is important not to spend the whole day in your PJs, and not let your personal time blend in with your work time. 

So even if you are working from home, you should get up, get dressed and keep your schedule.

Experts advise creating an agenda for the house, stipulating schedules for work, for the children, and for the home routine to avoid confusion and exhaustion. 

Relax

Why don’t you have a go at meditating, or even a quick 15 minutes physical exercise? 

Many people say they don’t have time to relax, and this is a big red flag for Burnout. The truth is that we don’t need that much time, and even listening to relaxing music while we work could help avoid becoming overwhelmed. 

You could also take 5 minutes to breathe. Yes, that’s right, for 5 minutes try to clear your head and just breathe. 

Prevention is the best practice. So, if you feel that you or your staff are feeling overwhelmed, evaluate the conditions of the work environment to reduce risks, give the staff their deserved recognition so they have better perspectives within the company, and most importantly, improve internal communication. 

Remember, Frontall is always here to help with your staffing needs, so that’s one last thing to worry about.