Are you at risk of home-working burnout?
Many of us grabbed the chance to ditch the commute when lockdown began, but is it now affecting our health, asks Cara Mcgoogan
When Fiona Todd accepted a job in public relations 18 months ago, she asked to work from home twice a week. On a bad day, her commute from Farnham, in Surrey, to Kingston, south-west London, was an hour and a half ’s drive. So when Wildfire PR employees were sent home in March, she thought it would be easy.
Like many, she looked forward to doing her washing at lunchtime, saving money on flat whites, having more time to exercise, and constant access to fresh food. But three months into lockdown, the 28-yearold senior account manager started to yearn for office life.
As well as feeling claustrophobic, she says she even missed “getting in the car and having that time for myself ”. Virtual communication was difficult and she was working for hours on end without a break. “It gets so tedious,” she says. “I was really tired in the morning. It was hard to get up because I had nowhere to go.”
Yesterday, it was reported that almost half of the UK’S 50 biggest employers have no plans to return to the office in the foreseeable future. For some this will be great news – a third of office workers are keen to continue working from home, according to the Centre for Economic and Business Research. But for every one worker who is enjoying their newfound flexibility, there are others who will find this news hard to take.
The Institute for Employment Studies found half of respondents aren’t happy with their work-life balance and a third feel isolated.
There are physical downsides, too, with more than half complaining about new pains in their neck, shoulders and back. Working in our homes has also added to the number of Britons who sit for more than four-and-a-half hours a day, which has leapt by 22.5 per cent. This can lead to an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and early death.
“We all sprang into crisis mode at the start of the pandemic,” says Emma Mamo, head of workplace wellbeing at the charity Mind. “Now, it’s sinking in that this is it for the foreseeable future. There’s a paradox, because working at home gives you flexibility, but it creates a greater risk of work bleeding into your personal life.”
Kelly Feehan, services director at wellbeing charity CABA, says the initial appeal wears off over time. “You think about sitting in your pyjamas with a tea, fitting your work in,” she says. “But in reality, working days have got longer. People know where you are all the time, because everybody is at home.”
The Mental Health Foundation and Linkedin have warned of an increased risk of burnout after finding that workers are putting in an extra 28 hours of work per month on average.
“How do you shut off from work when there’s no time to decompress?” says Mamo. “It feeds into the ‘always-on’ culture.”
Lack of motivation is a common problem, with people feeling “they can’t drum up the motivation to sit in their study for hours a day, then feeling like they’re getting behind and not contributing,” she adds. Workers have replaced “presenteeism” – the practice of being at your desk longer than you should to show you’re working hard – with being always available. A quarter of workers feel pressured to respond more quickly to emails and calls than they normally would, according to research from Linkedin.
“There are loads of layers of guilt,” agrees Mamo. “People feel guilty about struggling with their situation.”
The feelings of loneliness, boredom, guilt and disconnection that some people experience when working from home have also been exacerbated by the challenges of lockdown, such as tech problems, noisy housemates, difficult partners, demanding children and haphazard workspaces. “We’ve all been in the same storm, but not in the same boat,” says Mamo.
Wildfire PR has introduced an “uninterrupted work” schedule that means no meetings can be arranged between 11am and 3pm. “It means people can focus, read, think, write and have lunch in peace, without their calendar being at the mercy of others,” says Debby Penton, managing director.
“It can be really draining, especially when it’s via Zoom or Teams,” says Todd, whose slow internet at the beginning of lockdown made video calls even more taxing. “You have to be a lot more alert and engaged, make more effort than you would if you were opposite someone and they could see your body language,” she says.
To stave off WFH burnout, many companies have introduced measures to make working from home easier. Some have given staff multiple days of “coronavirus leave”, while others have email-free days and planned virtual activities for staff, such as yoga lessons and cocktail-making classes.
Virtual mental health support and subscriptions to apps such as Headspace have also boomed, with 35 per cent of companies spending more on wellbeing, according to Westfield Health. To help prevent muscular-skeletal issues, some firms have given staff money to equip their homes with ergonomic chairs and keyboards, computer screens and even standing desks.
Teapigs reports an increase in businesses sending care packages to employees. Gaming company itech Media offered £1,000 per month to staff who had a partner who was out of work, while United Utilities has created grants of up to £5,000 for employees struggling for any reason.
But nothing can replace regular contact with colleagues. “A lot of people are saying, ‘My boss isn’t checking in with me’,” says Mamo. “We’ve recommended employers create a feeling of community, looking at ways to work with social connection and seeking feedback from employees.”
Home workers can take their own steps, too: have a routine, make sure you get enough sleep, create time for daily exercise and take regular breaks from your desk. At the end of the working day, mark the transition with an activity, such as a walk, cooking, or pouring a glass of something. If you can, designate an area as your working space and physically leave it when the day is up. Social contact is also important.
“We hope most managers would acknowledge this is having an impact on mental health,” says Mamo. “If you need to raise it with your manager, take the time beforehand to think about what you want to share, how it’s impacting on your work, and what support they could give you.”
Todd, who lives on her own, was so keen to get back to the office that she has been going in three days a week since Wildfire PR reopened on an optional basis in July.
“As soon as I’m with people my mood lifts. I already feel more motivated,” says Todd, who doesn’t want to go back full time, because of the commute. “A few days a week is a good balance.”