Organizational support decreased workplace stress, which brought about feelings of hopelessness. Work stressors in terms of high workload and job insecurity amplified work–life conflict, intensifying psychological strain and decreasing perceptions of social support. These findings are corroborated by , who underline that of a lack of perceived social support contributes to elevated emotional strain and deteriorated well-being.

Working Longer Hours

The truth is that the flexibility remote work offers can also make it harder to switch off, leading to increased mental strain. Applying best practices for remote workers benefits both you and your employer. It improves productivity, lowers stress, and strengthens your connection with your team.

• Don’t let the pajama bottoms and 2-foot commute fool you — remote working is draining.
• Workplace well-being initiatives are reflections of broader organizational culture and exert a measurable influence on company success .
• A dedicated space helps your brain separate work from personal life, keeping you focused throughout the day.

When we don’t have transitions, that is when our cognition goes into overdrive,” says Tarr. “Then we have a problem because our attention lags, we start making mistakes, and if we start doing it chronically, that’s where burnout happens.” These neurons are also responsible for producing empathy, which translates into trust, safety, and belonging—feelings that may be missing from remote and hybrid office settings.

Check in on your team.

This approach encourages accountability, helps managers lead effectively, and strengthens trust, a key best practice for working remotely. Use a calendar to plan your tasks, schedule breaks, and focus on challenging tasks when your energy is at its highest. By sticking to your routine, you’ll stay motivated, manage stress, and boost your overall productivity. Download our work-life balance guide to learn more about what your company can do to improve the work-life balance of your remote team. The most important thing a company can do, says Morris, is practice kindness.

How to Handle Remote Work Fatigue

Guided by PRISMA principles and supported by VOSviewer for network visualization, this review encompassed 65 articles published between 2000 and 2024 and indexed in the Scopus database. Its primary objective was to identify core patterns and thematic clusters that inform the academic exploration of remote work’s psychosocial impacts, particularly those relating to workers’ mental health and organizational productivity. Workplace well-being initiatives are reflections of broader organizational culture and exert a measurable influence on company success . These practices are closely linked to individual performance, motivation, and engagement . According to , several factors directly affect employee well-being, including team relationships , effective communication by human resources , routine virtual meetings , and the presence of programs supporting physical and emotional health. Promoting the physical, emotional, and social well-being of employees is thus not only a strategic priority but also a corporate responsibility that reinforces and generates positive outcomes across all operational dimensions.

Maintain Social Connections

Constant isolation and the pressure of managing multiple responsibilities can contribute to mood swings and irritability. Without the clear division between work hours and personal time, it’s easy for the workday to spill into evenings or weekends. Remote work fatigue is a complex condition that goes beyond long working hours. It results from the challenges of working from home, where the boundaries between work and personal life are blurred.

How do we regain our control and draw a line in the sand separating work and free time? First, we need to understand what fatigue is in the context of remote work, and then we can build systems that create balances in our lives. Commuting to and from work pre-pandemic was a good way to clean your mental slate. Work-from-home burnout and Zoom fatigue are much more complex than they appear. You need to implement a wholesale strategic shift to reframe your company culture and policies from the “emergency mode” of working from home to remote work being the new normal. Our work with RemotePass is a partnership based on trust and credibility we are proud to have.

Preventing Remote Work Burnout

Sometimes, simply talking through your challenges can help provide clarity and relief. Theoretical models employed across the analyzed studies were reviewed and systematized, as presented in Table 6. The predominant framework identified is the Job Demands–Resources model , which offers a comprehensive lens through which remote work fatigue to examine the effects of loneliness and isolation in teleworking.

• Another underexplored area involves the systematic evaluation of organizational practices aimed at mitigating isolation and enhancing engagement, such as virtual well-being programs, online rituals, and digital leadership initiatives.
• In office settings, informal information exchange often occurs spontaneously during casual encounters, such as coffee breaks.
• Ref. classifies the impacts of loneliness and isolation in teleworking on productivity into direct and indirect effects.
• Remote work intensified tensions of work–life balance among employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, but such conflicts could be alleviated by instrumental leadership and by a sense of social belonging, resulting in lower levels of burnout.
• These findings are corroborated by , who further argues that team collaboration and problem-solving capacities may be impaired under remote working conditions, ultimately leading to decreased work output and efficiency.

Remote Work in 2025: How to Beat Digital Fatigue and Stay Focused

Loneliness can cause stress, and prolonged feelings of stress are considered one of the main causes of burnout. Research suggests roles with constant virtual meetings, high cognitive load, or customer-facing tasks (e.g., IT, education, healthcare) experience higher rates of working from home burnout . Consider suggesting Meditopia for Work to your managers in the formulary above to gain professional support for your mental wellbeing. Moreover, according to the World Health Organization , burnout is a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress not successfully managed. A syndrome is a cluster of related symptoms that appear together and indicate a specific problem.This means it can become chronic condition, and affect not just your work performance, but also your personal relationships.

This can lead to decreased staffing levels, which can impact the ability of the organization to meet deadlines and deliver on projects. Remote work burnout not only impacts individuals but also has a significant impact on organizations. Burnout can lead to reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, and high turnover rates, all of which can have a negative impact on the bottom line of an organization.

If a company doesn’t prioritize kindness, it becomes difficult for workers to be kind to themselves. You can’t expect workers to practice self-care if the organization doesn’t encourage a culture of self-care. This also means leaders should be practicing self-care for themselves, and modeling what self-care looks like for their teams. Some people may use that day for a spa treatment, some might read, and others might do a physical activity like hiking. Encourage your team to share photos from their day with the rest of the organization so that everyone can see how their colleagues took care of themselves. When life happens, such as personal emergencies or appointments, flexible hours mean your team can handle it without stress.

You may need to ask for time off, fewer responsibilities, or to set boundaries about the time you’re spending at work. Have you ever heard the saying, “If you don’t take a day off, your body will take a day off for you? When your body is constantly flooded with adrenaline, and you aren’t well-rested, you’re more likely to fall sick.

Blurred boundaries, isolation, increased workload, and lack of structure are some of the causes of remote work burnout. Organizations also have a responsibility to prioritize the well-being of their employees. When organizations fail to address the causes of burnout, it can lead to a culture of overwork and stress. This can lead to a negative reputation, making it difficult to attract and retain top talent. When employees experience burnout, they may become disengaged and lose motivation. They may also have a decreased ability to concentrate and make decisions, which can lead to errors and poor performance.

When employees experience burnout, they may begin to look for other opportunities or leave the organization altogether. This can result in a loss of valuable talent and institutional knowledge, which can be difficult and costly to replace. Burnout can also lead to increased absenteeism, as individuals may need to take time off to recover from physical and emotional exhaustion.