It begins with a notification.
A quick email after dinner. Managing the work till midnight. Setting reminders on the calendar for the presentation submission on Monday. Initially, all of these little actions seem adjustable and harmless. However, with time, the individual is expected to maintain this rhythm and stay connected even during their leisure time, outside of their office hours.
While the digital era allowed flexibility, it unknowingly blurred the line between personal life and professional life. Today, individuals in the corporate world are expected to be highly productive, available 24/7 and manage their work either by overtime or by working on Sundays. In such an environment, burnout has become extremely common among working individuals, and the question that arises is whether digital burnout is becoming the new workplace crisis.
Read More: Building Community in Remote Work: Supporting Mental Health in the Digital Workplace
What is Digital Burnout?
When an individual is exposed to digital work demands for a prolonged time, they start feeling emotionally exhausted. This exhaustion is termed digital burnout. Digital burnout is different from physical exhaustion. It is created due to the psychological pressure to remain connected and available at all times.
The digital world has introduced more stressors associated with emotional burnout by unconfining work to office hours. Studies have concluded that many employees feel an urge to respond immediately to work-related messages. This phenomenon is termed workplace telepressure. Due to this, individuals fail to disconnect themselves, even during their leisure time, increasing the potential risk of digital burnout (Barber et al., 2019).
Read More: The Rise of Digital Therapy– Boon or Burnout?
Manage Everything, or You Are Nothing
The COVID-19 pandemic normalised the use of platforms like Zoom and WhatsApp in the workplace. While these tools strongly improved collaboration, they also contributed to increasing the expectation of quick responses and continuous availability. The human brain is efficient in processing selective information; the constant exposure to instant messages, project updates, virtual meetings and organisational announcements heavily contributes to employees feeling mentally exhausted.
While technology is designed to enhance productivity, it might also result in the opposite. Recent research has concluded that the fear of missing out on an important update makes an employee anxious and contributes to higher stress and emotional burnout (Marsh et al., 2024).
Read More: Screen Fatigue and Academic Stress in the Age of Digital Education
The Cost of Digital Burnout
Digital burnout is not the same as feeling tired after a long day. It is a state of exhaustion that potentially affects how an individual thinks, feels and interprets. Employees experiencing digital burnout have been recorded to experience a sense of detachment from their work (Maslach & Leiter, 2016). The pressure to constantly be connected and not miss an update is one of the most common reasons for employees feeling emotionally exhausted.
The persistent state of alertness has an adverse effect on an individual’s mental recovery (Barber & Santuzzi, 2017). Gradually, over time, an individual feels trapped in a loop where work is the must and the only thing that matters. This not only affects their productivity but leaves them with negligible emotional energy for their family, relationships and self-care. However, alongside psychological issues, digital burnout also results in physical issues (Salvagioni et al., 2017). Some of the effects of burnout on physical health are listed as follows:
- Disturbs an individual’s sleep cycle
- Affects their body’s circadian rhythm
- Results in headaches and fatigue
- Heightens the risk of health issues such as cardiovascular problems
- Weakens the overall immune system of the individual, etc.
When the body experiences stress and anxiety for a prolonged time, the individual’s psychological as well as physiological condition is affected.
Read More: The Connection Between Emotional Stress, Depression, and Cardiovascular Health
Productivity Is Not About Working for Long Hours
Many organisations hold the belief that the more time employees stay connected, the more productive they will be. However, researchers have strongly opposed this belief. Studies have shown that burnout due to prolonged connectivity has a negative effect on the individual’s job performance (Maslach & Leiter, 2016). Digital overload results in cognitive fatigue. A constant need to multitask affects the individual’s efficiency. Alongside, employees who are mentally exhausted are also more likely to make errors and take wrong decisions.
Wealth Cannot Buy Health
Freshers often enter the organisation with enthusiasm, motivated and passionate about their career and future. However, the unbalanced work-life culture transforms their enthusiasm into exhaustion. Research has supported the idea of psychological detachment from work for the mental recovery and well-being of individuals (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). This can be achieved by establishing certain limitations; some of them are as follows:
- Avoiding work-related notifications after work, unless very crucial
- Taking regular breaks from the screen
- Practising relaxation techniques like meditation and yoga
- Prioritising sleep, relationships and self-care
Although these actions are trivial, collectively abiding by them can help one restore their control over their digital environment.
Read More: The Essential Guide to Achieving Work-Life Balance
Organisations Must Respect Their Employees
While individuals must prioritise their well-being, organisations must also take responsibility for developing a better workplace culture to solve digital burnout (Maslach & Leiter, 2016). Respecting an individual’s mental well-being is equally important as rewarding their constant availability. Research has shown that disconnection policies like encouraging employees to unplug outside working hours have helped individuals reduce telepressure (Barber et al., 2023). Some of the techniques organisations can adopt to build a better workplace culture are as follows:
- Limiting unnecessary meetings
- Encouraging regular, systematic breaks
- Respecting non-working hours
- Evaluating performance based on outcomes and not on the basis of the hours they were active
When an organisation respects their employees and understands their necessities, employees feel motivated and empowered to perform better and be loyal.
Read More: Is There Space for Humanistic Practices in Performance-Driven Workplaces?
Conclusion
Technology has been extremely beneficial. However, expecting individuals to always be flexible and available harms their well-being. While digital tools have enabled higher efficiency and innovation possibilities, using the tools wisely is also crucial. It is important to remember that humans need rest to recover and perform better. One must not blur the boundary between one’s personal life and professional life. Digital burnout shows that limitless connectivity is not a good thing. While organisations support the hybrid work culture, they must also take care of the well-being of their employees. Because in the end, the most valuable asset of an organisation is the employees.
References +
- Sonnentag, S., & Fritz, C. (2015). Recovery from job stress: The stressor-detachment model as an integrative framework. Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 36(S1), S72–S103.
- Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Burnout. In G. Fink (Ed.), Stress: Concepts, cognition, emotion, and behaviour (pp. 351–357). Academic Press.
- Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103–111.
- Salvagioni, D. A. J., Melanda, F. N., Mesas, A. E., González, A. D., Gabani, F. L., & Andrade, S. M. (2017). Physical, psychological and occupational consequences of job burnout: A systematic review of prospective studies. PLOS ONE, 12(10), e0185781.
- Barber, L. K., & Santuzzi, A. M. (2017). Telepressure and college student employment: The costs of staying connected across social contexts. Stress and Health, 33(1), 14–23.
- Barber, L. K., Conlin, A. L., & Santuzzi, A. M. (2019). Workplace telepressure and work-life balance outcomes: The role of work recovery experiences. Stress and Health, 35(3), 350– 362.
- Barber, L. K., Santuzzi, A. M., & Hu, X. (2023). Workplace telepressure and employee well-being: The role of organisational disconnection practices. Group & Organisation Management, 49(2), 345–377.
- Marsh, E., Pérez Vallejos, E., & Spence, A. (2024). Mindfully and confidently digital: A mixed methods study on personal resources to mitigate the dark side of digital working. PLOS ONE, 19(2), e0295631.
