The Japanese have a word for “death by overwork” — karoshi. There’s no direct English translation, though, because: is there such a thing as working too much in the West? As it turns out, the answer is a resounding “yes,” and it’s more common among remote workers than you think.

吨他日本有“被过劳死”一词-过劳死。 但是，没有直接的英语翻译，原因是：在西方，有太多工作要做吗？ 事实证明，答案是肯定的“是”，并且在远程工作者中比您想象的要普遍得多。

Rather than a medical condition, the World Health Organization (WHO) describes burnout as an “occupational phenomenon” or “syndrome” stemming from chronic, unaddressed work stress.

世界卫生组织 (WHO)将职业倦怠描述为源于长期，未解决的工作压力的“职业现象”或“综合症”，而不是疾病。

If you’ve felt exhausted, ineffective, or more negative and stressed about your job since you started working remotely, you may be burned out. But you’re not alone.

自从您开始远程工作以来，如果您感到精疲力尽，效率低下或更加消极，并对工作感到压力，您可能会精疲力尽。 但是你并不孤单。

Work-from-home burnout is quickly becoming the next societal health crisis. A July Monster.com survey found that 69% of respondents have experienced burnout since the pandemic started, up from 52% in May.

在家工作倦怠正Swift成为下一个社会健康危机。 七月Monster.com的一项调查发现， 自大流行开始以来，有69％的受访者经历了职业倦怠，而五月份的这一比例为52％。

Meanwhile, NordVPN found that workers across the U.S., Canada, and Europe have added two to three extra hours to their workdays. In other words, people are replacing their commutes with more time at their desks.

同时， NordVPN发现，美国，加拿大和欧洲的工人在工作日上增加了两到三个小时。 换句话说，人们在办公桌上花费更多的时间来代替通勤。

Although remote work appears to offer more flexibility and better work-life balance, that’s not always the case. It can be far too easy to replace the stresses of the office with overwork, anxiety, and an inability to disconnect.

尽管远程工作似乎可以提供更大的灵活性和更好的工作与生活平衡，但情况并非总是如此。 用过度劳累，焦虑和无法断开来代替办公室的压力可能太容易了。

“[Burnout] syndrome is now an epidemic.” — Dan Schawbel, Director of Future Workplace

“ [爆发]综合症现在是一种流行病。” — 未来工作场所总监Dan Schawbel

After complaining to a remote work colleague last week about having a “work hangover,” he served me a stark reality check. “Sounds like burnout to me, Wilson,” he retorted.

上周向一个偏远的工作同事抱怨说有“工作宿醉”后，他为我提供了一份严峻的现实检查。 “威尔逊对我来说听起来像是精疲力尽，”他反驳道。

If you suspect you’re at risk of burnout, here are the top three warning signs, plus solutions and suggestions for setting work-life boundaries.

如果您怀疑自己有倦怠的危险，这里是最重要的三个警告信号，以及设置工作与生活界限的解决方案和建议。

倦怠的三个方面 (The three dimensions of burnout)

“Burnout refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.” — WHO

“职业倦怠专门指的是职业背景下的现象，不应用于描述生活中其他领域的经历。” — 世卫组织

1.能量消耗或耗尽的感觉 (1. Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion)

According to Dr. Richard Heron, co-chair of the International Occupational Medicine Society Collaborative, an excessive work-load coupled with high expectations is a recipe for burnout.

国际职业医学会合作组织联合主席Richard Heron博士认为 ，过度的工作量和很高的期望是导致倦怠的良方。

How much work is too much?

多少工作太多了？

That’s for you to decide. But I know I’m overdoing it when:

那是你决定的。 但是我知道在以下情况下我会过度使用：

• I feel guilty about not being productive enough.我对效率不足感到内。
• I work more than eight hours per day.我每天工作八小时以上。
• I can’t fall asleep because I’ve been working at night.我无法入睡，因为我晚上一直在工作。
• I skip lunch or eat at my desk.我不吃午餐或在办公桌前吃饭。
• I’m too tired to exercise.我太累了不能运动。
• I ignore calls from friends or family because I’ve been in one-too-many Zoom meetings.我忽略了来自朋友或家人的电话，因为我参加过太多次Zoom会议。

If you’re regularly putting in marathon work-from-home days, it’s no surprise that you’re tired. Start turning things around by setting a non-negotiable cut-off time for work each day (more tips at the end of this article).

如果您经常参加马拉松式的在家工作，那么您累了也就不足为奇了。 通过设置每天不可商议的截止时间开始扭转局面(更多技巧在本文结尾)。

2.增加与工作的精神距离 (2. Increased mental distance from your job)

“Burn-out is also associated with increased absenteeism and turnover, which disrupts organizational function, reduces team efficiency and causes a loss of institutional knowledge.” — WHO

“倦怠还与旷工和离职率增加有关，这会破坏组织功能，降低团队效率并造成机构知识的流失。” - WHO

If you find yourself particularly plagued by procrastination lately or calling in sick more often, it could be a sign of burnout.

如果您发现自己最近特别受到拖延困扰或经常请病假，这可能是倦怠的迹象。

Some tendency to procrastinate is normal. But the WHO cites “increased feelings of negativism or cynicism” as a primary indicator of the syndrome.

有些拖延的倾向是正常的。 但是，WHO将“消极情绪或玩世不恭的情绪增加”作为该综合征的主要指标。

3.专业效能降低 (3. Reduced professional efficacy)

“Quality suffers where staff are unable to cope.”

“如果员工无法应付，质量就会受到影响。”

— Professor Min Zhang

— 张敏教授

Remote workers are typically more productive than their office counterparts. Until they aren’t.

远程工作者通常比办公室同事生产力更高。 直到他们不是。

“There’s a price to pay” for extra work-from-home productivity, warns the Editor of Toptal’s tech blog. Devoid of distractions, remote workers tend to focus all their energy on work, and very little on anything else.

Toptal科技博客的编辑警告说 ，要为在家中提高工作效率付出“代价”。 在没有分心的情况下，远程工作者倾向于将所有精力都集中在工作上，而很少专注于其他任何事情。

Remote workaholics like to skip breaks and avoid human interaction. But humans aren’t robots. We need time to reboot and recharge.

远程工作狂喜欢跳过休息时间并避免人为干预。 但是人类不是机器人。 我们需要时间来重启和充电。

So if you find yourself making a lot of mistakes, taking longer to accomplish tasks, or producing lower quality work, it could be a sign of burnout.

因此，如果您发现自己犯了很多错误，需要花费更长的时间来完成任务或进行质量较低的工作，则可能是倦怠的迹象。

Don’t sacrifice yourself in the name of productivity.

不要以生产力为名牺牲自己。

公司如何应对WFH倦怠 (How companies can address WFH burnout)

“There has been too much focus on the individual in addressing the burnout problem.” — Advik Gupta

“在解决职业倦怠问题上，人们过于关注个人。” — Advik Gupta

The first step in solving workplace burnout is recognizing that it’s a problem. The WHO has taken the first step by classifying the syndrome as an occupational hazard. But official guidelines might not be ready until 2022.

解决工作场所倦怠的第一步是认识到这是一个问题。 世卫组织已采取第一步，将综合症分类为职业危害。 但是官方指南可能要到2022年才能准备就绪。

In the meantime, there is much that companies can do to prevent burnout and protect employee retention.

同时，公司可以采取许多措施来防止职业倦怠和保护员工留任。

Christine Sinsky, MD, the Vice President of Professional Satisfaction at the American Medical Association suggests that “burnout is primarily related to [one’s] environment, such as when there is a mismatch between the workload and the resources needed to do the work in a meaningful way.”

美国医学协会专业满意度副主席克里斯汀·辛斯基(Christine Sinsky)医师认为，“倦怠主要与一个人的环境有关，例如，工作量与在有意义的工作中所需的资源不匹配时，方式。”

Health professionals have proposed improving work conditions, reducing employee workloads, and minimizing task switching. Monitoring, early diagnosis, and risk prevention programs are also necessary, as is providing adequate healthcare and insurance coverage for workers.

卫生专业人员已提出改善工作条件，减少员工工作量并最小化任务切换的提议。 监测，早期诊断和风险预防计划也很必要，为工人提供足够的医疗保健和保险。

Elaine Cheung, PhD, suggests that “interventions should focus on improving the relationship between an individual and their work.”

张爱玲(Elaine Cheung)博士建议：“干预应着重于改善个人与其工作之间的关系。”

In one example, the Ministry of Health in Togo installed an occupational psychologist and an occupational nurse to help detect and prevent burn-out in the workplace.

在一个例子中， 多哥卫生部安装了一名职业心理学家和一名职业护士，以帮助发现和防止工作场所的倦怠。

Meanwhile, health officials in Sri Lanka are testing an occupational health, well-being, and safety program for medical workers.

同时，斯里兰卡的卫生官员正在测试针对医务人员的职业健康，福祉和安全计划。

It’s also worth re-defining the concept of high performance in distributed organizations. Does your company reward long hours or discourage overwork?

同样值得重新定义分布式组织中的高性能概念。 您的公司奖励长时间工作还是不鼓励过度工作？

Researchers recommended that organizations “lead by example” in helping staff slow down. But the best solutions depend on your company’s culture and internal policies.

研究人员建议组织“ 以身作则 ”帮助员工放慢脚步。 但是最好的解决方案取决于您公司的文化和内部政策。

“Burnout takes many forms,” Jason Fried, the CEO of Basecamp, told me. “Give people plenty of time to themselves, lots of autonomy to make decisions, ample time off, sabbaticals every three years, [and] outlets to discuss stress.”

Basecamp首席执行官Jason Fried对我说：“爆发有多种形式。” “给人们足够的时间，给他们足够的自主权来做决定，给他们足够的时间，每三年放假，并让人们讨论压力。”

Setting expectations regarding job roles and output is also important, he added.

他补充说，设定关于工作角色和产出的期望也很重要。

员工如何保护自己的健康 (How employees can protect their health)

“The human body is the weakest link in a distributed workforce infrastructure.”

“人体是分布式劳动力基础架构中最薄弱的环节。”

— Nermin Hajdarbegovic, Toptal

— Nermin Hajdarbegovic ， 托普塔尔

Employers don’t bear the full burden of mitigating burnout. The WHO points out that preventing and solving WFH burnout requires a “meaningful response” from both companies and employees alike.

雇主没有承担减轻倦怠的全部负担。 世界卫生组织指出，预防和解决WFH倦怠需要公司和员工都做出 “ 有意义的React ”。

In my experience, when it comes to reversing burnout, it’s best to take a less is more approach.

以我的经验，当涉及扭转倦怠时，最好采取少即是多的方法。

Rather than adding “fix burnout” to your to-do list, ask yourself what you can eliminate.

与其问自己可以消除什么，不如将“修复倦怠”添加到待办事项列表中。

Which activities (and people) drain your energy the most?

哪些活动(和人们)最消耗您的精力？

Which tasks can you outsource or delegate?

您可以外包或委托哪些任务？

Once you’ve determined what you want to stop doing, here are some tips to help regain control of your well-being.

确定要停止的工作后，这里有一些提示可帮助您重新控制自己的健康。

• Set consistent work hours: If you’re a remote employee, speak with your boss or supervisor about when you’ll be available each day. If you’re self-employed, set expectations with clients and stick to them.

  设置一致的工作时间：如果您是远程员工，请与老板或主管讨论每天何时有空。 如果您是自雇人士，请与客户建立期望并坚持下去。

• Sleep more: Sleep is the foundation of health and wellness. Allowing your body and mind sufficient time to rest and recover will help you cope better with work stress. Set a cut-off time for work at least a few hours before bed. Add buffer periods to your calendar with nothing to do in case tasks take longer than planned.

  多睡：睡眠是健康的基础。 允许您的身心有足够的时间休息和恢复，将有助于您更好地应对工作压力。 设定至少在睡觉前几个小时的工作截止时间。 如果任务花费的时间比计划的要长，则可以在日历中添加缓冲时间。

• Limit communication: You don’t need to be available on every platform all day, every day. Check email once or twice per day and close communication apps when you’re in deep work mode. Try keeping work and personal communication separate. Buy a second phone and remove remote work apps from your primary device.

  限制沟通：您不必每天都在每个平台上都忙碌。 每天处于深度工作状态时，每天检查一次或两次电子邮件，然后关闭通讯应用程序。 尝试将工作和个人沟通分开。 购买第二部手机，然后从主设备中删除远程工作应用程序。

• Adopt slow mornings: Start your day with a morning routine that supports your physical and mental health. Read, journal, exercise, eat breakfast, listen to a podcast, and reflect before exposing yourself to email, news, and messages.

  采用 缓慢的早晨 ：以有助于身体和精神健康的早晨开始新的一天。 阅读，日记，锻炼，吃早餐，收听播客并进行反思，然后再向自己发送电子邮件，新闻和消息。

• Prioritize: If you constantly find yourself “too busy” to function, figure out what you’re spending your time on. Set priorities then decide to do, delegate, or eliminate. Ask yourself what would happen if you postponed something for later or assigned it to someone else.

  确定优先顺序：如果您经常发现自己“太忙”而无法工作，请弄清楚自己在花时间在做什么。 确定优先级然后决定做，委派或消除。 问问自己，如果您推迟某些事情以待以后再分配给别人，将会发生什么。

• Get outside: Even if your area is under lockdown, that doesn’t mean you have to stay in the house all day. Put on your mask and go for a walk. Immersing yourself in fresh air and nature will boost your mood and well-being while reminding you that you’re human.

  出门在外：即使您所在的区域处于封锁状态，这也不意味着您必须整天呆在家里。 戴上口罩，去散散步。 让自己沉浸在新鲜空气和大自然中会增强您的情绪和幸福，同时提醒您您是人类。

• Move more: Make time for daily exercise. If you’re on the phone a lot, take calls while walking or join Zoom meetings from your standing desk or kitchen counter rather than an office chair.

  多动一点：腾出时间进行日常锻炼。 如果您经常打电话，请在走路时接听电话，或从办公桌或厨房柜台而不是办公椅上参加Zoom会议。

• Stay hydrated and eat well: If you’re putting in long hours at the virtual office, you need to fuel your body with plenty of water and clean foods. It’s going to be a lot harder to concentrate if you’re subsisting on coffee, carbs, and takeout. If you don’t have time to cook, sign up for a local or national food delivery service.

  保持水分充足并吃得饱：如果您要在虚拟办公室里长时间工作，则需要用大量的水和干净的食物为身体加油。 如果您要依靠咖啡，碳水化合物和外卖，集中精力将变得更加困难。 如果您没有时间做饭，请注册当地或国家的送餐服务 。

• Set aside time for exercise and self-care: If you don’t put it in your calendar, you might not do it. Make exercise and self-care non-negotiable each day.

  留出时间进行运动和自我保健：如果您没有将其放在日历中，则可能不会这样做。 每天都要进行运动和自我保健。

• Practice mindfulness: You’ve heard it before, but meditation is good for you and helps you cope with the rollercoaster of life.

  练习正念：您之前已经听说过，但是冥想对您有好处，并且可以帮助您应对生活中的过山车。

• Get an accountability partner: There’s always someone to turn to for help if you need it. Hire a therapist to talk to or book a telemedicine appointment with your doctor or nutritionist if you need guidance. Or, recruit a friend to help you stay accountable. Commit to texting or calling him or her when you close your computer for the day.

  获得问责制合作伙伴：如果需要，总有人会寻求帮助。 如果需要指导，请雇用治疗师与您的医生或营养师交谈或预约远程医疗约会。 或者，招募朋友来帮助您保持责任心。 当您关闭计算机时，承诺发短信或给他或她打电话。

• Take a vacation: There might be a pandemic raging, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take time off. Whether you unplug for the weekend, plan a staycation, or go on a quick road trip, time away from work is necessary.

  休假：可能会大肆肆虐，但这并不意味着您不能休假。 无论您是在周末拔出电源，计划住宿还是进行快速公路旅行，都需要抽出时间上班。

• Get a new job: If your employer is unwilling to make accommodations so you can heal your burnout, it may be time to go. I understand that times are tough and unemployment is at an all-time high, but there are more remote jobs available than ever. It’s worth taking a look and seeing what’s out there. My free Remote Jobs Guide has eleven strategies to get started.

  找一份新工作：如果您的雇主不愿安排住宿，以便您可以治愈倦怠，也许是时候了。 我知道时代很艰难，失业率达到历史最高水平，但是远程工作比以往任何时候都多。 值得一看，看看那里有什么。 我免费的《远程作业指南》提供了11种入门策略。

No one’s perfect and life can be stressful. Despite your best efforts, you might work too much sometimes.

没有人会完美，生活会充满压力。 尽管您已尽力而为，但有时您可能会工作过多。

Everyone makes mistakes, but let’s take care of ourselves. Remote work is work and it’s here to stay.

每个人都会犯错，但我们要照顾好自己。 远程工作是工作，它会留下来。

For more work-from-home tips, check out my weekly remote work and travel podcast.

有关更多在家工作的提示， 请查看我每周的远程工作和旅行播客 。