Current trends and problems in times of remote work

In order to improve the daily life of their employees, but also to please them, some companies offer their employees the possibility to work remotely, and this is not without displeasure; however, for remote workers, this can be a problem in some respects. Here’s the lowdown.

Working from home has practically become the “new model” for managing your professional and personal life. Indeed, with new technologies, it has become almost a normality. But does this have its drawbacks?

Increasing notifications and distractions are making it more difficult to keep your focus as remote workers.

When you work from home, you can easily be distracted by the smallest of things around you, such as your phone, social networks or even the constant urge to move. Receiving alerts on smartphones or push notifications always manages to arouse our curiosity, and therefore distracts us. This can lead to procrastination and prevent you from achieving your goals. To work, you need to be able to concentrate. But distractions have always been a problem for knowledge workers.

Teleworking, which was once considered a privilege, is now widely practiced and even mandatory. And with this transition, employees, teams and entire companies have to learn to focus again. After all, work changes depending on where, when and how it is done.

To succeed, you can follow some recommendations. For instance, keep your belongings within easy reach, so that you don’t have to get up more than you need to. Also try to work in a noise-free environment, whether at home, in a cafe or in a coworking space, to avoid distractions.

On the other hand, you can learn to use the Pomodoro technique, which is an effective way to focus on your tasks by setting a timer for yourself. Silent your notifications or even turn off your phone. This will allow you to pay attention to your tasks and complete them without distraction.

Silentus app can help you achieve all of the above through their easy-to-use features. Download it here.

Burnout is a more common issue among workers

Burnout is a set of reactions to chronic work stress situations in which the commitment dimension is predominant. It is characterized by 3 dimensions:

• emotional exhaustion: feeling drained of emotional resources,
• depersonalisation or cynicism: insensitivity to the surrounding world, dehumanization of the relationship with others (users, clients or patients become objects), negative view of others and of work,
• the feeling of personal non-accomplishment at work: feeling of not being able to respond correctly to the expectations of those around you, depreciation of one’s results, feeling of waste.

Burnout symptoms:

The majority of remote workers who suffer from burnout continue to work; especially during the Covid-19 period when remote workers suffered from pandemic burnout.

The symptoms of burnout are as follows:

• constant demotivation in relation to work;
• marked irritability, spontaneous anger, frequent crying;
• cynical attitude and feelings of frustration;
• a feeling of incompetence;
• a desire to isolate oneself;
• sense of failure;
• reduced self-confidence;
• anxiety, worry and insecurity;
• difficulty concentrating;
• memory loss;
• difficulty exercising good judgment;
• indecision, confusion;
• suicidal thoughts, in the most severe cases.

Many occupations require significant personal and emotional investment. Remote workers in these occupations may be at risk of burnout when they come to feel that there is too great a gap between their expectations, the representation they have of their job (supported by values and rules) and the reality of the work. This situation, which exhausts them and drains them “emotionally”, leads them to question their initial investment.