If your job involves an office environment, there’s a good chance that you may be working from home. In fact, you’ve probably been working from home for quite some time now.

At the beginning, you might have enjoyed the freedom of working in your robe and slippers. But perhaps, over time, the line between work and home has started to blur a little too much. And you find yourself working more and more.

And now you find, to your mutual surprise and dismay, that you’re close to burning out.

Well, you’re not alone. There are others who also suffer from this malady. The good news is that there are steps that you can take to rectify the situation. Below are five such steps for avoiding burnout when working from home:

#1—Set definite work hours and stick to them.

When you’re working from home, it becomes easy for your work schedule to “expand.” Because there’s not commute, you start work sooner and you end work later. The time that you would normally take driving is now consumed by working.

#2—Set definite leisure hours and stick to them, as well.

The only way to make sure that you start relaxing and enjoying yourself is to make sure that you start relaxing and enjoying yourself. If you set definite hours for when work begins and ends, then you should also exercise the same vigilance in terms of setting your leisure hours.

#3—Be more deliberate with your social interactions.

It’s already more difficult to be social during the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeling burnout while working from home only makes the situation seem more difficult. As a result, you have to make a conscious effort to be social through whatever means are necessary. Not every video chat has to be related to work. If it is, then eventually every video chat will seem like a chore . . . even when it shouldn’t be.

#4—Remember that achieving balance is even more important now.

Achieving balance was important before the COVID-19 pandemic began, but it’s even more critical now. That’s because the existence of the virus itself has knocked the world completely out of balance, and that applies to all aspects of a person’s life, both personally and professionally. That means making balance a top priority should be an imperative.

Yes, if you still have a job in this environment, you should count yourself fortunate. However, you should also take the steps necessary to ensure that you remain at optimum levels of productivity . . . and well-being.

The Doepker Group has experience placing professionals in the Information Technology and Engineering fields, and we can place you, as well.

We invite you to search through our open positions. You can start the process by creating a profile and submitting your resume.