Know How to Fight Work From Home Fatigue in 2024
Working remotely can cause physical and mental fatigue, but you can take these steps to combat it.
Working from home offers many potential benefits, from increased scheduling flexibility to increased productivity. But virtual work can also lead to overwork due to prolonged sticking to the screen and infinite start and stop times.
These habits can eventually lead to work-at-home fatigue that manifests as physical and mental symptoms. Physically, you may experience neck and shoulder muscle tension, headache, wrist pain, or eye strain. Mentally, you may feel drained, distracted, and less productive.
The following strategies address overcoming the physical and mental fatigue of working from home.
Let’s know How to Fight Work From Home Fatigue
Tips for Beating the Physical Fatigue of Working from Home
One of the best ways to combat the physical effects of remote work fatigue is to get some low-intensity exercise, shares George Ching, ergonomic expert and editor-in-chief of Ergonomic Trends, an ergonomics and office wellness blog.
Ching adds that the types of movements involved in the low-intensity exercise, such as walking and yoga, have proven to be very effective, Ching said.
“Moving can be counterproductive when you’re tired, but science tells us that’s exactly what we should be doing,” Ching said. “When you’re working from home, the logistics are already in place.”
To incorporate lower-intensity exercise into your routine while working from home, Ching recommends the following:
Get up and walk around while on the phone. “For example, taking the stairs for ten minutes has been shown to boost your energy more than caffeine,” says Ching.
Move your laptop to the kitchen counter. Using a height like a countertop for your laptop, you can get up and work from time to time. “Then, just walk around or use accessories like rocking boards for more creative practice,” says Ching.
Keep going during the virtual meeting. Ching recommends making the most of boring Zoom meetings by exercising body parts you can’t see, like your hands or legs. One of his favorite leg exercises is seated leg abduction. “Just wrap the resistance band around the leg at the knee and slowly open and close the legs a few times,” explains Ching.
Combine with some yoga. “A lot of times, fatigue is a symptom of stress or depression,” Ching said. So he recommends taking advantage of one of the best low-intensity exercises to improve your mood: yoga. “Many yoga also poses gradually strengthen your core and back, reducing your chances of developing back pain from prolonged sitting,” says Ching.
Take advantage of text-to-speech applications. Text-to-speech apps allow you to exercise while documents and reports are read aloud to you. Ching noted that Windows 10, Apple, and Android devices now have text-to-speech.
Tips for Overcoming the Mental Fatigue of Working from Home
When you’re feeling distracted, unproductive, and tired while working from home, it’s time to break out these tried-and-true strategies to tackle your mental fatigue:
Put your work on hold for now. You can take a break from your mental fatigue when your mind isn’t flowing. Make it a habit to stop at your desk and computer regularly and frequently.
Go into another room and do something else for five to ten minutes every hour or two. You can use the ideas discussed above when taking a break, such as a brisk walk down the block or some yoga.
Don’t skip meals and snacks. Without energy fuel, your brain won’t work properly, and you’ll feel sluggish and tired, adding to your work-at-home fatigue.
With this in mind, plan ahead of time when you will have breakfast, lunch, and – if you work late – dinner. Don’t wait too long and refuel with nutritious snacks like apples, carrot sticks, nuts, yogurt, or cheese skewers.
Practice mindfulness or meditation. It can be challenging to fit in another to-do list on a busy day, but a 10- to 20-minute deep breathing or meditation practice can help you overcome work fatigue.
Research has proven that meditation and mindfulness can improve your concentration and memory. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Take a few minutes to sit away from your work and focus on breathing air into and out your lungs.
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Spread out activities throughout the day. If you’re tired of working from home, mixing what you do during the workday can help you overcome work-from-home fatigue.
Whether planning a jog, chatting with colleagues online at lunchtime, or taking a break with family or roommates, ensuring you’re doing more than completing company tasks throughout the day will help you stay mentally energized and productive.
