When working from home, boundaries between work and personal time start dissolving over time. Before you know it, you have an army of employees who are burnt out, frustrated, and working throughout the day while their productivity keeps dwindling.

According to Zippia’s report from 2023, 89% of American workers experienced burnout within the previous year.

A recent report by Flair HR states that around 40% of employees leave their companies due to burnout. Some of them, i.e. 28%, are so exhausted they decide to leave before finding a new position.

If this happens, you will need to hire one substitute employee at a cost of $4,700. Training costs will add another $986. These are just the major expenses.

Luckily, you can avoid this scenario by training your employees to better avoid and handle the stress that comes with WFH.

This article lists go-to mindfulness techniques that have proven beneficial for reducing employee stress and preventing burnout. You can also find out how employee monitor software can assist you in dealing with employee burnout and avoiding employee turnover expenses.

What is Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the practice of maintaining full awareness of the present moment. It is often cultivated through meditation, breathing exercises, or mindful movement. This approach helps reduce stress, improve mood, and enhance creativity.

Mindfulness in the Workplace

For some time now, companies have been implementing different mindfulness programs. They aim to foster employee well-being and productivity.

By being fully present and aware of their thoughts, emotions, and surroundings, employees can better manage stress and stay focused. Reduced stress and increased focus lead to improved efficiency and a better workplace atmosphere, and reduce the occurrence of burnout.

Benefits of Mindfulness Practices in the Workplace

Once you start offering mindfulness programs and coaching, you can expect to see the following improvements within your remote teams:

1. Better Focus: Mindfulness practices help workers stay focused on the task at hand and help them avoid distractions or multitasking.

2. Reduced Stress: Practicing mindfulness promotes relaxation and lowers stress. This mental clarity results in fewer stress-related errors.

3. Improved Emotional Regulation & Conflict Resolution: Mindfulness helps your employees better manage their emotions. This leads to improved interpersonal communication and more constructive responses to conflicts.

4. Increased Creativity & Problem-Solving Skills: Practicing mindfulness fosters an open mindset and enhances the ability to think outside the box, which leads to innovative ideas.

5. Enhanced Efficiency: Improved focus that comes from mindfulness practices enables people to deliver work that is accurate, high-quality, and finished before the deadline.

6. Better Work-Life Balance: Regular mindfulness practices help workers create clear boundaries between work and personal life. This reduces burnout and improves overall well-being.

7. Decreased Financial Costs: Practicing mindfulness reduces burnout and employee turnover. The fewer replacement recruitment processes—the lower the company’s financial loss.

How to Help Remote Employees Practice Mindfulness & Avoid Burnout

Help your remote employees stay energized and avoid burnout through these proven strategies:

Implement a Burnout Detection Software

Burnout detection tools are on the market, but they are most often sold as a part of an employee monitoring package. This software collects employee activity data, analyzes it, and detects signs of burnout, like longer idle periods or productivity decline.

Implementing software like this can help you react on time and provide the necessary well-being support for your employees. This way, you help employees get back on track instead of watching them struggle and, eventually, leave your organization.

Suggest Mindful Mornings

Talk to your employees about how they start their days. Encourage them to take a few moments for themselves before jumping into their daily tasks. A couple of minutes of meditation, deep breathing, or yoga, can help them slow down and focus. Simply, they can easily start their day on a positive note.

Advise Choosing a Designated Workspace

Having a separate space for work is vital for focus and work-life balance. Explain to your employees that it’s important to select one quiet and tidy corner of their home for “office space”. This will help them more easily focus during work hours and unplug at the end of the day.

Support Creating a Clear-Cut Schedule

Talk to your workers about planning their days. Starting each day with a list of priorities and a realistic schedule gives them clear daily goals. Encourage them to also sign off after their shift ends. Fighting the “always-on” mentality and setting up clear boundaries between work and personal time needs to start with you.

Recommend Mindfulness Exercises Between Tasks

Switching from one task or activity to another can be challenging sometimes. Here’s a mindfulness tip to share with your employees: take a few moments to realign your thoughts. Suggest they take a few minutes to do deep breathing exercises or stretch. This will help them move on with better focus.

Caution Against Multitasking

Don’t request your employees to multitask. This way of working only breaks their focus and makes it more difficult to regain it with every task switch.

Instead, train your employees to set aside time for deep work whenever they need it. Advise them to consciously keep their focus only on the task at hand.

To resist the urge to multitask, suggest they:

• Use Pomodoro Technique: Scheduling short bursts of undistracted work followed by short breaks.

• Try Time Blocking: Blocking longer periods in their schedule for deep work.

• Jot It Down & Let It Go: When a new task or an unrelated idea comes up during their focus periods, instruct them to write it down and get back to it after their focus time ends.

Propose Digital Detox

Encourage your employees to really use their breaks. Eating in front of the computer is not a break that will help them recharge for the upcoming tasks. Instead, advise them to unplug and take time to enjoy their meal, take a walk, meditate, or enjoy their hobby.

Encourage Taking a Breather

Discuss with your employees the techniques they can use when they start feeling overwhelmed. Taking a few moments to practice mindful breathing can be of great help. It means closing your eyes and taking deep breaths. The trick is to focus only on your breathing during this session. This will help your workers release stress and regain calmness and focus.

Start a new era in your company! Introduce these mindfulness techniques to boost your employee engagement, retention, and productivity, and finally gain control over turnover costs!