Read more of Stephanie’s contributions to AllMomDoes here.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, most office workers were forced to become full time telecommuters. We are now months into this way of life and it seems suddenly the negative effects are strongly outweighing many of the initial positives when it comes to no longer leaving your house to go to work. At first, it seemed like a nice break. No commute, no office drama, no having to look professional. Even if you are on a webcam, you can likely get away with being business on top and joggers on the bottom. But as the days turned to weeks and then months, we find ourselves in this weird new reality and facing the negative impacts that come with your home also being your office. For many of us, our kids have been under our roof non-stop and their classroom is now in the living room. This means zero boundaries from work, school and home life.
It has all been muddled together in one Coronavirus concoction.
I came across some videos and resources on CBS I found to really ring true regarding the work burn out that this pandemic has given us.
Would you believe an overwhelming number of people actually miss having a commute? At first I was confused but when it was explained that a commute can be a time for emotional processing, it actually made sense. Working from home leaves us zero time to decompress from our day. My commute is only about 20 minutes but I have come to realize I actually value that time. I never thought I would say that!
People are exhausted, have low energy and often a negative mood when they think about their job. Sixty-nine percent of people polled were experiencing these feelings defined as work burnout. That is an increase of 35% pre-pandemic.
All of us working parents probably agree there is absolutely no balance with work and parenting demands. Likely because there are no boundaries given our home is our office and classroom. Most reported working longer days as well. Even for those who already worked from home pre-pandemic likely were not also used to having their kids being remote learners or having summer camp options be few and far between. Telecommuters used to, likely, at least have a quiet house during the day. Now, it is all combined and it has left us feeling like we cannot succeed at any of the demands being thrown our way.
It also turns out many of us enjoy being able to talk to peers and co-workers because they are often able to give us a different perspective than family and friends. That was abruptly taken away and talking via email or instant chat just simply is not the same as water cooler conversations.
You don’t have to be part of the working population to understand many of these effects. I think everyone has suffered from the lack of things like human contact/interaction or feeling like there are no boundaries with kids in our house 24/7 without even the slightest break.
I love finding resources like the ones linked below because it’s so clear that many of us are experiencing the same struggles. There may not be an actual end in sight but we know it will come. I have found dozens of articles and videos on not only things like work burn out, but also tips on working from home and how maybe, just maybe, we can make this whole thing a little more bearable. I’d encourage you to check them out!
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/psychiatrist-discusses-work-burnout-and-fatigue-symptoms/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/work-from-home-burnout-coronavirus-pandemic/
Related:
If You Dream of Being a Work-at-Home Mom, Here’s Everything You Need to Know
