Overcoming Burnout in the Work From Home Period

The COVID-19 pandemic is a hot, ongoing global issue. The existence of this pandemic has forced most workers to carry out activities from their homes. This policy is of course reasonable because the spread of covid is increasingly worrying. Government policy boils down to "locking up" the workers from seeing each other directly. Everything is done online. This policy certainly has implications for many things. The impact is not always visible. When viewed from a workers' point of view the effect is not only explicit. However, it could be a kind of iceberg that is "latent" and does not come to the surface. The shadows of work stress continue to haunt amid uncertainty in the business world. Will it sustain or stop here? In addition to uncertainty, changes in habits that have been undertaken are quite a cause of stress, especially at home. This kind of work stress condition can trigger burnout during work from home. Pull the analogy, usually workers interact with many people, then can meet with coworkers, either just chatting or just exchanging opinions. Now, workers must be at home and cannot meet or simply “wash their eyes” because social activities are restricted. This accumulation of saturation can trigger burnout.

How important is it to overcome burnout?

Burnout is a term to indicate feelings of boredom and lethargy due to work. Everyone experiences burnout symptoms of different intensity. This goes back to the basic psychological state of the person. Some people are able to control it, but the rest convey it in emotional situations. For example, being sad for a long time, wanting to be angry, moody and so on. But actually this is reasonable and one form of stress release. This emotional state cannot be sustained. In fact, it needs to be reduced because it tends to be not good for one's emotional control. The solution is to provide another outlet to dampen everything that may occur due to burnout.

Burnout is very important to overcome in order to give a better feeling and revive the ethos of the workers. If left alone for a long time, not only performance problems will be affected but also emotional health problems both short and long term. The psychological health of a person must be a concern among workers. This needs to be considered by employers and workers.

The position as an employee who must comply with company rules and superiors plus the saturation due to staying at home and limited facilities makes it necessary for workers to find solutions to overcome this. Millennials are born as a generation that is blessed with a million technologies. In dealing with burnout, of course, millennials have their own way. To kill boredom, technology provides many options. The choices can also be adjusted to your hobbies and needs. So what are the options that can be done to overcome burnout? In fact many things can be done as long as you have to "be forced" to stay at home.

Doing a hobby in between busy. Forget about doing homework. Reviving old hobbies can be a solution. Of course a hobby that can be done without leaving the house. For example, his hobbies include gardening, playing musical instruments, reading books, watching movies, writing articles, or even doing simple research. Everyone certainly has their own way to relieve burnout syndrome. Why does a hobby not eliminate burnout? Because stress release occurs but not completely. Normal circumstances are unable to relieve stress as a whole, especially in limited circumstances.

Technology and Stress Release. For workers in the millennial era, things that are done to reduce feelings of burnout are not far from technology. Existing technology can be used as a medium to break down lethargy while working. Various applications are provided to entertain. For example the TikTok application for those who like to do body movements to music, or the Netflix, Iflix, Viu, Line TV application and an equivalent application for those who like to watch movies. For workers who like to travel, they can do cycling activities but still within the limits according to health protocols.

Me Time and Reward Yourself. Despite having to struggle with the same work continuously, workers still provide me time to reduce the burnout syndrome that occurs. This time alone provides enough stress release to relieve fatigue during work. The available free time is used to give pleasure to yourself. Workers can also reward themselves for what they have achieved. The existence of rewards can trigger enthusiasm in doing work. Every target to be achieved, there should be a reward to replace it. This balance in work can maintain a better condition in the psychology of workers. Even though the reward may be limited during a pandemic, it is enough to give something simple in nature.

Contacting family and colleagues. In-person meetings may no longer be possible during a pandemic, but virtual meeting technology is possible. Just meeting through a virtual meeting can release fatigue while working. Symptoms of burnout, which is fatigue, can be relieved by meeting up (online) or simply chatting with friends and family. Allocations for this activity need to be in addition to time and reward. Because, relieving fatigue can be done by lightly discussing random topics. For some people talking to other people is a way to unwind.

Develop a routine schedule every day. Some stress is triggered by a pile of unfinished or unfinished tasks. Scheduling for each day at home can be done to find out when to do what and for how long. With a neatly arranged schedule, the above activities can be carried out and are already scheduled.

The pandemic that occurred in the technological era does not allow us to live in boredom. Technology always gives a new color. Even though its existence is still like a double edged knife. We might benefit from technology because information can be obtained quickly. Information must also be filtered so as not to make it even more stressful.