From the extended isolation to the overwhelming amount of video calls and change in routines, our work and personal lives have taken a hit during the past year. In fact, one study suggests that a proportion of adults who reported a clinically significant level of psychological distress increased from 20.7% in 2019 to 29.5% in April 2020. If you and your business are experiencing pandemic fatigue and need to find a way to get motivated and re-energized, take a look at some of these tips.
Carve more time out of your work day to relax and take a moment to reset. Now that we are home almost all the time, a lot of what we do to pass the time includes being in front of a screen, whether it’s our phones, laptop or TV. This can cause us to feel drowsy and doesn’t give us the much needed break from the constant flow of notifications on our devices. If you feel like you lose energy quickly, take a moment to step away from the screen.
Go read a book, bake your favorite dessert or go for a walk at your local park. Whatever you decide, just take a moment to not worry about the next incoming email or what’s on the news so your brain can start to relax and get you re-energized for work.
The great thing about working from home is that we’re all able to still connect about projects through video conferences. The downside to that, however, is video fatigue has started to take a hold on many people. 38% of workers say they’ve experienced video call fatigue since the start of the pandemic. But why is this? Video calls require our brains to work harder to process non-verbal cues like facial expressions, tone of voice and body language; which all consumes more energy.
Try limiting your video meetings to a minimum by only using video for the most important calls. If things can be discussed over a few short messages or emails, then do it that way. Some companies have even adopted a “No Meeting Friday” to allow teams to organize and work on what they need, and relax a little more. This also gives your brain less time to insert energy into meetings, so you don’t have to get drained as quickly and can focus better.
Being in our house for most of quarantine has made us desperate for socialization. Since the pandemic, socialization has decreased for the majority of older adults by 79.3%. Make time to casually talk to coworkers or friends throughout your day (not to be confused with the scheduled formal video meetings mentioned above). This can be through text, instant messaging, calls or whatever works best for the both of you. With a lack of socializing, our batteries get drained quickly and makes tasks in our jobs and personal lives harder to accomplish. Finding the time to communicate will alleviate some of the fatigue of your day and get you recharged to work on tasks with team members and focus on projects that you’ve been putting off.
Part of your pandemic fatigue may be coming from an unstructured remote work environment. If your team is constantly feeling out of sync and are unable to focus on projects, then it may be time to reconsider how your team operates. To fix this, try to find a purpose to your operations and create a faster, more flexible organizational structure. This can be through more valuable business tools and assets, more thorough schedules for meetings or new apps and methods that help your team feel more organized and focused.
One tool that can help your team get organized is Desktop.com - a platform that provides both instant messaging and video conferencing, as well as organized workspaces for each team or project so that everyone can have secure and instant access to all your key tools and resources.
From taking more breaks, reducing video calls, socializing, and improving your workplace, there’s several ways to help combat the ongoing fatigue we’ve been facing during this pandemic. Whether you need a reset to your personal or business life, these tips can help fuel your motivation.
Finally, consider a service such as Desktop.com to consolidate all parts of your remote work life into one unifying hub, which will provide you with added benefits such as less digital clutter, ease of access and device independence. Check it out!
