How to prevent and manage work from home burnout

The beauty of remote work is that you don’t have to waste hours on the commute. Or take time off for a doctor’s appointment. It gives you the freedom to optimize your workday and develop a healthy life-work balance.

Remote work also creates a flexible and supportive environment for globally distributed teams, boosting both cost efficiency and productivity.

However, remote workers still face modern workplace pressures. The blurred lines between work and home can lead to stress and burnout. And when your team is scattered around the world, it’s harder to spot and address these issues.

So, how do you make sure your team is enjoying the perks of working remotely without burning out?

This article will help you understand exactly that. We’ll take you through the causes of burnout, what work-from-home burnout looks like for remote teams, and how you can help your team tackle burnout at work when it happens.

What is work-from-home burnout?

Work-from-home burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by long-term stress or too much work while working from home. Part of this is the fact that it’s easier to blur the boundaries between work and home life.

In a traditional workplace, there’s a clear separation between work and home — you drive to an office, work until it’s time to clock out, and come home to your personal life.

When working remotely and asynchronously, remote workers may find that they’re working more than they should. They might be checking work email when they’re supposed to be off, or spending hours of their personal time working on professional projects.

Some workers may experience burnout by attempting to juggle home-related responsibilities like parenting alongside working from home. They may go straight from working to dealing with high-pressure family demands with no downtime.

Other friends or family may think remote workers “don’t really work” because they work from home, and could impose on them by assuming they have time to babysit or drive someone to an appointment.

Work-from-home burnout can show up as:

• Physical burnout: Physical burnout is probably best seen as exhaustion. It can manifest in other ways, such as the person being clumsy or careless: tripping, knocking things over, or even making more typos than usual. It can also show up as insomnia, which makes an already-tired person even more exhausted.

• Emotional burnout: The frustration caused by burnout often surfaces as bursts of emotion in individuals: crying in inappropriate circumstances, or lashing out at co-workers. Workers may also have negative feelings or feel alienated from team members.

• Cognitive burnout: When a person is experiencing burnout, they might be unable to work well. They may perceive their work to be dull or routine. Others may observe them in a brain fog or find a lack of creative ideas from them.

• Mental burnout: When someone is stressed for a long period of time, they may become forgetful, depressed, or anxious.

Managing employee burnout in the workplace is a big part of creating a strong remote work culture.

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What are the causes, symptoms, and signs of work-from-home burnout?

Two things can cause burnout from working from home: external stressors and internal drivers. But before we get to that, let’s take a look at some common remote work burnout symptoms:

• Constant busyness: If a team member is constantly busy, but not much work is getting done, it can be a sign of burnout. When a worker is spending excessive time on work, but on little else, it could be a warning sign.

• Physical symptoms: Constant stress can lead to physical illness. Burnout can manifest itself in the body, and the worker may experience illness, aches and pains, headaches, stomach problems, and sometimes serious issues like high blood pressure or heart attacks.

• Mental symptoms: Burnout can lead to mental symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. Workers who suffer from burnout may become irritable and experience mood swings.

• Environmental signs: There are signs in the environments of remote workers that can indicate burnout, according to Jayne Morris, author of Burnout to Brilliance. Examples can include clutter, piles of laundry, dying plants, or physical appliances breaking down due to neglect.

• Loss of motivation: When a team member feels burnt out, they might not be excited or motivated to work. This can show up as procrastination, difficulty starting or finishing tasks, or frequently missing deadlines. For example, they might seem less engaged in meetings or put off starting projects.

• Alienation: When people with burnout are overworked, they may become negative or withdraw from colleagues. While this can happen in a regular office, remote work can exacerbate feelings of disconnection and indifference. The lack of in-person interaction can amplify these feelings, leaving employees even more isolated.

• Reduced work performance: You may notice a teammate working longer hours while accomplishing less, or “spinning their wheels” at work. That’s because stress and fatigue make it harder to concentrate. In fact, people with high stress levels are 1.37 times more likely to have trouble thinking clearly, which can lead to more mistakes in their work.

External stressors

External stressors are the things outside of you that drive burnout from working from home. They’re things like deadlines, work situations that create stress, or even non-work stressors, like family life.

• A lack of boundaries: Without clear boundaries between work and personal life, remote workers often find it tough to switch off. This can lead to longer hours and more stress.

• Isolation: Working from home can make remote workers feel lonely and cut off from their colleagues. Without social interaction and support, stress can build up, and employee motivation can drop. Over time, this emotional strain can lead to burnout.

• Constant connectivity: The expectation to always be online can make remote workers feel like they constantly need to be available. This pressure can stop them from taking breaks, leading to constant stress and mental fatigue.

• Workload: A healthy workload is a good thing for team members. But over recent years, as layoffs have been taking place, some workers have ended up shouldering the work that’s been left behind. Excessive workload is a big contributor to burnout, especially if it seems like the work never stops piling on.

• A lack of communication: It’s easy for remote teams to make the mistake of under-communicating. Unfortunately, a manager not communicating enough can contribute to uncertainty and stress, especially if someone is feeling overwhelmed with work.

• No downtime between work and home: Without a commute, remote workers often don’t have a period of decompression between work and home. This buffer can be necessary for workers who need a moment to catch their breath after work. Going straight from working to parenting or dealing with a home issue, for example, can add to the stress.

Internal drivers

Internal drivers of work-from-home burnout include a set of thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes that could increase stress and cause burnout. Although each person’s self-talk is different, there are some common patterns of thinking that can lead to feelings of burnout, such as:

• Feeling like you always have to be busy: According to Morris, constant busyness is one of the most common internal drivers of burnout. You may have internal drivers that tell you to “hurry up,” “keep going,” or “get back to work.” This sort of self-talk often goes back to childhood, when we were told not to dawdle or waste time and get back to work when we were daydreaming at school.

• Feeling like you have no control: When a worker feels like they can’t control their workload, or don’t have any control over decisions in their work life, it can take a mental toll on them. This can result in a feeling of powerlessness like you always have to be switched on at work or at the mercy of others.

• Imposter syndrome: Imposter syndrome is the feeling that an individual is a fraud, despite evidence that they are actually quite successful in their field. Recent research suggests that stress caused by imposter syndrome contributes to burnout. This may be because people with imposter syndrome feel like they have to work twice as hard to be effective at work.

• Perfectionism: High standards can be motivating, but they need to be realistic. When they're too high, they can lead to constant stress and frustration. The pressure to achieve perfect results can make you overwork and never feel satisfied with your efforts, ultimately draining your energy and causing burnout.

• Inability to say no: Some people find it hard to refuse requests. But when you keep taking on more tasks, you stretch yourself too thin, increasing stress and leaving less time to rest. This can then make you feel like you have no control over decisions in your work life.

• Fear of failure: Ever find yourself constantly worrying about messing up or not meeting expectations? This fear can push you to overwork, piling on the stress and anxiety as you desperately try to dodge failure. Over time, this relentless pressure, without any real relaxation, can zap your energy and lead straight to burnout.

Reducing stress among remote workers is a big challenge, but there are ways to manage it. Read our helpful guide on how you can help your team reduce stress and burnout.

5 ways to fight work-from-home burnout

There are many ways you can start to take care of yourself if you begin to feel like you are burning out at work. Most of these ways involve slowing down, building self-care into your schedule, and creating healthy work habits.

1. Consider taking leave to recover

If you’re facing burnout at work, it’s probably time to take a step back and take some time off. If you can, consider taking time off to recuperate. This doesn’t mean taking time off to take care of housework or other responsibilities. It means taking time off to take care of yourself. Do nothing. Your body and mind need a rest.

2. Take a staycation

You don’t need to go anywhere to take time off. You can just take a staycation — remain at home and relax there. This may be the best option for someone who’s facing burnout but wants to avoid the stress of traveling.

3. Block calendar slots for rest

Have you ever heard the saying, “If you don’t take a day off, your body will take a day off for you?” It’s true. When your body is constantly flooded with adrenaline, and you aren’t well-rested, you’re more likely to fall sick. You can also get injured if you’re not paying full attention to what you’re doing because you’re stressed. So, it’s important to take time off and block days off on your calendar to rest.

4. Speak with your line manager

If you’re burning out at work, it’s time to speak with your boss. They need to know you’re facing burnout. You may need to ask for time off, fewer responsibilities, or to set boundaries about the time you’re spending at work.

5. Carve time out for self-care

It’s important to take the time out to prioritize your own self-care. It can be hard to do when you are constantly stressed. Morris suggests thinking about an activity we enjoyed as a child. She reminds us that we all knew how to take time out when we were children — we simply played by doing the things we loved.

So, think about what made you happy as a child. If it was art, set aside some time to draw or paint, without worrying about the quality of your creation. If you enjoyed playing video games in your childhood, play a game, even if you haven’t seen Mario or Sonic in decades. Whatever it is that you enjoyed doing as a kid, do it now.

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How do you come back from total burnout from working at home?

If you’re experiencing total burnout at both work and at home, it’s time for you to take action. Speak with your manager and schedule time off immediately. If you find that you’re resisting the idea of time off, remember that burnout is a health issue.

You would take time off if you were physically ill; burnout is no different. Take some time off and do as little as possible — this means enduring a messy house or enlisting partners or family members to take on more chores while you recover.

You should also plan to talk to discuss the problem with someone you trust. It could also be a professional, like a therapist or doctor. Explain what you’re going through, and decide on the steps you can take to ensure you don’t burn out when you go back to work. Read on to find some practical ways to avoid burnout in the future.

How to avoid remote work burnout

Remote work burnout, like any burnout, can take a long time to recover from. So, it's better to nip it in the bud before it gets to the burnout stage. Here’s how:

Focus on a few tasks a day

At the start of the day, take some time for yourself to determine your top tasks for the day. Rather than trying to focus on several things, choose one or two things that must be accomplished and focus on those.

If those tasks feel too big, break them down into smaller, manageable steps. Not sure how to do that? Don’t worry, it happens to all of us. Try using the free MagicToDo tool from Goblin Tools — it automates the process so you can save your brainpower for important tasks.

Monitor your own signs and symptoms

According to Morris, your body will start to “whisper” to you, but if you don’t listen to your body, it will start to shout. If you need coffee to get moving in the morning, a glass of wine to wind down in the evening, or other habits start to creep in, says Morris, that’s the whisper.

A “shout” can look like health problems: headaches, flare-ups of preexisting conditions, or insomnia. If you still don’t listen, you may have bigger health problems later, so it’s important to pay attention to your body when you start to see the signs above.

Learn to say no

Saying no is hard to do, especially at work, but setting boundaries is essential. For example, you might choose to say no to a new project if you’re already overburdened with work. It might even be as simple as having hard boundaries around the time you spend working. If you clock out at 5pm, make sure you stick to that time. This isn’t always an easy thing to do, especially if you’re mid-project, but you do need that time to rest and recuperate before going back to work the next day.

Build processes that give you the ability to push back

It can help you to build processes at work that support your self-care, which helps you avoid falling into the same situation again. This could look like a buddy system with a coworker where you keep each other accountable for leaving work at a set time. Alternatively, you could set a specific work routine for yourself or make an agreement with your manager that you won’t take on more than a specified amount of work every month.

Develop a routine that includes self-care

Your self-care should be scheduled at the start of your day, just like any other important work task. In fact, Morris suggests that you treat the time taken for daily self-care like an essential meeting. Like you wouldn't skip a meeting with your boss, you shouldn't skip taking time out for your own self-care.

Find time to walk, exercise, or practice mindfulness every working day

Exercise is an easy way to clear the mind, even if you’re simply going for a walk. Mindfulness and meditation are also excellent stress busters. Schedule some time during the workday for a short meditation session, walk, or workout session. It may seem hard to get up from your desk at first, but you’ll find that your head becomes much clearer after a walk and work becomes easier too.

Pro tip: When you hear “short,” you might think you need at least 10–20 minutes. That’s not true. If you’re really stretched for time, why not try meditating or working out for just 5 minutes? It may not seem like much, but a little movement every day beats doing nothing. And who knows? Once you start, you might enjoy it and keep going longer.

Consider a well-being bank account in spreadsheet form

Your energy is like money; you’ve got a finite amount of it at any given time. Create a spreadsheet to track your well-being, with columns for debits and credits. What tasks have depleted your energy? What activities did you do to give yourself more energy? By visualizing your energy levels on a spreadsheet, you’ll be able to see when you’re not doing enough to boost your energy levels and sense of well-being.

Here’s a simple example from former doctor and productivity enthusiast Ali Abdaal. It’s called “The Energy Ledger,” and this is how it works:

First, take a look at your week and estimate how long you spend on each activity. If that’s tricky, try using Goblin Tools’s Estimator. Next, sort each activity into one of the four boxes below.

With this new organization, focus your attention on doing more of the things in the top left quadrant: things that boost your energy that you have to do, while doing less of the things in the bottom right quadrant: things that drain your energy that you don’t have to do.

In fact, when it comes to the items in the bottom right quadrant, Abdaal recommends eliminating them altogether.

What can leaders do to identify and prevent work-from-home burnout

If you want your business to do well, it’s crucial to make sure that your workers are thriving. You need to create a sustainable remote work culture that makes employees feel valued and productive. The following are some ways that leaders can help prevent work-from-home burnout:

Look for signs of burnout

Make sure team managers know what to look for when it comes to burnout:

• Is the employee not communicating as much as they used to?

• Do they not seem like themselves during meetings?

• Is their work not up to their regular standards?

If managers think they’re seeing burnout, they probably are and should reach out to make sure the employee is okay. For more tips on managing remote teams, read our guide for remote managers.

Create agreements with teams about communication

Every person is different when it comes to communication. Tell your team it’s okay to:

• Turn off video for meetings

• Use the Do Not Disturb feature on communication platforms like Slack, or

• Schedule breaks and walks.

You can also decide to have Zoom-free days or choose to have video calls just for socialization. Talk to your team about their comfort levels around communication and agree on a plan that works for everyone.

Offer flexible work arrangements

Give your team the gift of flexibility. Let your team work when they’re most productive, whether that's at the crack of dawn or late at night. By focusing on results rather than clocking in hours, you’ll see more efficient and satisfying workdays.

When life happens, such as personal emergencies or appointments, flexible hours mean your team can handle it without stress. They can take care of what matters most without feeling like they’re falling behind.

Plus, flexible work arrangements fit different life stages and situations, like parenting, caregiving, neurodivergence, or going back to school. After all, not everyone's 24 hours are the same.

Schedule a company-wide self-care day

Workers don’t always take the days off they need. Encourage self-care by creating a self-care day for your entire company. On that day, encourage every person in your organization to do whatever they need to do for self-care.

Some people may use that day for a spa treatment, some might read, and others might do a physical activity like hiking. Still others might just take a nap. Encourage your team to share photos from their day with the rest of the organization so that everyone can see how their colleagues took care of themselves. The act of sharing also indicates employee accountability.

Self-care starts at the top

The most important thing a company can do, says Morris, is practice kindness. If a company doesn’t prioritize kindness, it becomes difficult for workers to be kind to themselves. You can’t expect workers to practice self-care if the organization doesn’t encourage a culture of self-care. This also means leaders should be practicing self-care for themselves, and modeling what self-care looks like for their teams.

“It has to be something you recognize in your superiors,” says Morris. “If they’re not practicing kindness for themselves, it’s hard for you to feel you have permission to practice kindness for yourself.”

Another reason it’s essential for leaders to practice self-care? It’s hard to be kind to others if you’re not being kind to yourself. “It’s a bit like putting on an oxygen mask on a plane,” says Morris. “You need to put it on yourself before you can put it on anyone else.”

Learn more about building a foundation for sustainable and healthy remote employee experiences in our guide to creating remote work cultures.

Managing work-from-home burnout is part of being a good team member

In the book Gift from the Sea, Anne Morrow Lindbergh writes about self-care in terms of pitchers: when you always pour out your pitcher and never stop to refill it, the pitcher will run dry. You’ll have no energy left to give to anyone, including yourself.

It may seem difficult or selfish to take time off to care for yourself, but if you’re experiencing burnout, you’re probably not being the best employee possible. It’s important to stop, take care of yourself, and refill your pitcher. Work will still be there when you return to it after a period of rest, but remember — you are a finite resource.

Download our work-life balance guide to learn more about what your company can do to improve the work-life balance of your remote team.

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