Back about a year ago, the World Health Organization said the round-the-clock pace of our always-on workplace culture was turning burnout into a medical condition.
And that was before the pandemic.
These days, when our work, our families, and our personal lives are all sharing the confines of the round-the-clock workplaces now known as our living rooms, the lines seem permanently blurred between work…and not. Not surprisingly, pandemic-related burnout is a thing.
“In short,” wrote the BBC, “we’re being exhausted in a whole new way.”
A big problem is the downtime – there isn’t any. Back pre-pandemic, the simple act of leaving the office made it least possible (if not necessarily probable) to end a workday with unfettered work-free time to recharge. These days, the office is everywhere. And that, it turns out, is the secret to avoiding burnout. It’s not working too much that pushes us over the brink. It’s never being allowed to not work that does us in.
The High Cost of Being Tethered
We all sense the always-on mentality is bad. But turns out there’s actual science behind it. In one study, scientists asked a bunch of people to sit by their phones after work for four nights to wait for customer requests. Then they compared physical and emotional results to four nights the same employees took time off.
What happened? On the days employees were on call, cortisol (that little chemical that responds to stress) rose; moods sank – enough to ruin their nights and the next mornings. People didn’t even have to actually get any calls to feel the pain. It was enough just to be on guard. Picture the dad trying to corral his kids while keeping one eye on the phone.
And that was just a few days. Multiply that by five days a week, 52 weeks a year, then add in weekends and you have the reason why pre-pandemic, burnout was already costing employers billions in healthcare. True leisure time, wrote the scientists, cannot include time spent on call for work.
That begs the question; at a time when work is always open, what do we do to get our people off the treadmill?
For starters, lay the ground rules: If you don’t expect people to be tethered to their desktops, say so. The relief will be palpable.
Don’t send emails at night: Sure, it sounds captain obvious. But change starts from the top. If you as a manager don’t want your people answering emails at night…don’t send them. Even emails that say, “Do not respond tonight.” People will feel compelled to answer anyway. Instead, schedule important emails you don’t want to forget for morning.
Define “hair on fire:” Just about anything can be declared an emergency worth wee-hours work until you officially declare what actually is. Is there a client that always gets an immediate reply? A system fail that can’t wait ‘til morning? Whatever “it” is, clarify it in a communication and stick to it.
Go low tech: The words “I just have to answer one email” might as well be “open sesame,” because they magically open the vacuum into which entire evenings are sucked. In the same way checking the time on a wristwatch (instead of your droid) can save you from getting swept into Instagram, writing reminders on an a plain old pad of paper – versus Word or a note app -- can save hours in an online rabbit hole. Encourage people to do so.
Some final thoughts: a lot of real change will come down to simply kicking the tech-at-night habit. And never underestimate a manager’s role in that: once the boss dials back, employees will, too. It’s especially important as employers consider whether to re-open offices, and what that will mean for employees on both sides of the phone line.
Finally, remember, family-friendly strategies may depend on flextime. But real anti-burnout strategies may depend more on whether or not your people can turn off their phones.
