Back in February 2020, we were hearing about the outbreak happening in China. Since no one, even U.S. officials, seems to worry about the outbreak, I had never thought that we would be closing the whole town. In June, our president announced that all of the U.S. must work from home. By June, there were hardly any commuters near our office, so that I saw deer sleeping in our office courtyard. I was happy to convert to a remote environment because I never liked losing my time commuting. I still went to my office a few times per week because not all jobs can be completed remotely.
I can maintain a work and personal life balance better now; however, it was not always like this. I felt exhausted more from working from the office. When I completed the project at the beginning of October, I started feeling ill. I did not realize what was happening to my body. I began to have stomach and sleeping problems soon after I completed the project. I started having so many issues that I spent most of my thanksgiving day’s holiday in bed. After the last thanksgiving days, I was wondering why I was so exhausted.
I realized that I was not the only one feeling some remote fatigue. Stratton (as cited in Younghans, September 02, 2020) explained that many remote workers have experienced fatigue and burned out because many of us rely solely on technology to stay in touch with others (para. 3). Some of our customers, vendor, or auditors mentioned that they also observed their remote employees burning out. Some found remote work too challenging. Some auditors reported working harder in the remote environment because they lost traveling time to their clients. In virtual environments, auditors had no breaks between different projects. Some felt stressed from needing to relearn how to work virtually. Many reported that it was challenging to train subordinates.
Any change is stressful, but we must adapt to changes. Besides, I also saw significant benefits in working remotely. So, I thought the best way to deal with this problem was to do a root-cause analysis to identify the potential causes of my exhaustion. Then, I would come up with corrective action and preventative action.
Issues
(1) As a remote worker, I felt my working environment invaded my personal life because I did not draw a clear line between work and personal life. Your home office (personal space) is also an office space when you are working remotely. – caused by mobile phone or emails after working hours. – no change of physical environment.
(2) I felt like people expected me to work more hours since I was not at the office. I sometimes worked on the weekends because I was leading a big project. – stress created by me. Does my manager expect me to work long hours?
(3) Some people demand phone calls or video conferences on short notice, which can interrupt my work. – caused by mobile phone or emails
(4) It can be challenging to manage people virtually. People miss their emails, task requirements, or phone calls. Some tasks are interdependent to my tasks or part of the project activities, which affected my work. – ineffective virtual communication
(5) Since the pandemic started, I had an unhealthy lifestyle. – lack of exercise, sleep, and too much stress.
Since I have the list of the problems, I should be able to develop the solutions. Some are preventative, and some are permanent solutions.
Solutions
- I put away all my office equipment after working. I also turned off my mobile and P.C. after working hours.
- I became selective about taking on projects. Now I accept projects which only I can do. I handle projects which increase benefit to the company. I delegated some work that others could perform.
- I had requested my boss give feedback on my performance and clarify the job assignments and expectations, which helped because my boss thought I was working too much. No one expected me to work harder. I was stressing out myself from self-created pressure.
- To avoid sudden interruption of work, I blocked out 3 hours of my morning completely. I turn off my Email and Mobile phone. During these three hours, I complete essential tasks. Since all critical tasks are completed, I did not get stressed out even when I get a sudden phone call or video conference during the rest of the day.
- I made a commitment to exercise, sleep, and eat well. I take a frequent break.
- The 4th problem was a little tricky because it involves other people who were working remotely. Initially, I was dealing with them by communicating or following up with them more than others. When my boss decided to implement a 15-minute morning meeting, it seemed to work out because I use the meeting to remind others of the tasks a few days before the due date.
I was busy moping about the new environment; however, these corrective actions permanently resolved the problem. In addition, changing my lifestyle prevents the recurrence of undesirable events such as becoming ill.
I prefer remote work because I have started to see significant benefits from a remote work environment. Although, it took me several months to figure out how to work remotely without getting remote work fatigue. I found myself to be more productive when I am working from a home office. I got a much better review than in previous years because I could complete multiple additional projects. Additionally, I started to use the extra time for exercising, family time, and skill improvements.
I suspect more companies will offer remote work after this pandemic. Just like I did, I noticed more people started seeing more benefits in remote work environments. According to PwC (January 12, 2021), the shift in positive attitude toward remote work increased to 83% from 73% in June 2020. 55% of employees prefer to work remotely at least three days per week. 87% of executives expect to make changes to their real estate strategy, and there will be more satellite offices. Some companies are started to invest in remote work (para. 4-9). According to Zurich North America Insurance poll conducted in May 2021 (as cited in Murray, June 2021), 53% of CEO views 2-3 days of remote work per week the best (p. 41). I was not surprised at these findings. There are some benefits for both employers and employees in remote environments. Eliminating commuting time is one of the benefits people will point out. Employers can change their real estate strategy by having employees working from home. Employers can save salary by hiring people from areas where the cost of living is much cheaper.
The main benefit I earned from this experience was that I am confident in working remotely. As a result, I am seriously considering finding permanent remote work.
References
Murray, Alan. (Jun, 2021). The CEO Outlook: Upbeat in the C-Suite. Fortune. 183(3), 4.
PWC. (January 12, 2021). Business needs a tighter strategy for remote work.https://www.pwc.com/us/remotework?WT.mc_id=CT10-PL102-DM2-TR1-LS3-ND30-PR4-CN_ViewpointHighlights-
Younghans, Johanna. (September 02, 2020). 6 Ways to Relieve Your Work from Home Fatigue.https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/health-management/6-ways-to-relieve-your-work-from-home-fatigue