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It finally happened—you’re burnt out. After many weeks, or even months, in the virtual classroom, your days are starting to feel longer, and your nights not long enough. You find yourself dreading the following day, and the Sunday “Scaries” are no longer restricted to Sunday alone. What do you do?
We went over the importance of a regular sleep schedule and filling your personal time with new activities in part one of this blog. What’s next? Time to isolate the problem. One of the best ways to go about this is to track your feelings. There are plenty of ways to do this, and it can be done with as little as one quick sentence, or even hitting a few buttons in an app. Journaling is a classic way of tracking your emotions and can be as thorough or as frequent as you like—if it’s consistent. That way, you can look back at your entries and figure out what seems to be triggering moments of frustration or anxiety, and how you managed to sooth yourself during (or beyond) the workday. If journaling isn’t for you, apps like How We Feel can be an excellent (and free!) tool for tracking your emotions. It even puts together the data to tell you which parts of the day you most commonly feel energized and productive (and when you feel sluggish or down).
What about your environment? Are you working too much in the same place? For those of us who do most of our work in the virtual classroom, our setup doesn’t often allow the same mobility as other remote workers. When you’re able to take a project “to go,” do it! One of my favorite tricks is to bring my laptop to a coffee shop where I might be friendly with the barista or other patrons. I say my hellos, grab some fuel, and tell myself that as soon as I finish the project I’m working on, I can hang out and socialize with the folks around me. Having the reward directly in front of you can be excellent motivation.
Now, what if the issue is not necessarily within your control? As much as these tricks can help alleviate stress and monotony in your remote work, they can’t always eliminate it. In-class hours are different from a standard workday—being on for eight hours, five days a week is nearly impossible. If you’re finding your class load is getting the best of you, it might be time to have a conversation with the people setting your schedule. It can be scary to admit when you’re overwhelmed at work, but it’s better for everyone involved if you advocate for yourself. Most of the time, your managers may be under the impression you’re doing just fine with your current workload—they’re not mind readers. A good team leader will want you at your best and will help you achieve this goal.
Burnout is all too common in the learning and development industry, and it’s time we address it. What tips do you have for overcoming burnout?