Online Work and Burnout: Why You’re Miserable

Written by Otaku Apologist

I have been working online for five years now, and seen several business partners go through burnouts. Some of them quit hentai entirely, one almost killed himself. As I’m coming out of my most recent burnout, I have been forced to really think about what happened and why. Online work is a very recent phenomenon, and we are not yet aware of the impact it has long-term on people. While very similar to normal office work, online work has some unique dynamics.

We’re the first generations to be exposed to the current new technologies. Research papers are coming out all the time discussing the negative psychological effects of social media usage, and smartphone usage. It’s becoming a proven fact that technology affects people in hidden, insidious ways.

Online work is done on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. You’re usually working from home. This list contains factors that impact your emotions and hurt your quality of life. Reduce the damage with various strategies.

1 – Creative work is mentally exhausting. Online work is usually creative work, where you create media, fiddle with complex software, constantly making decisions. This is highly mentally taxing.

2 – Long hours. If you want to make a living online, you have to put in the hours. It’s a lot of fucking work to earn even $1500-2000, which is the minimum required for decent living in a western society.

3 – Low income unless you’re popular. If you’re the average online freelancer, you’re competing with the entire world who has access to the internet. Your salary will often be the lowest number that companies can pay you.

4 – Loneliness. Long hours and mental exhaustion leave you with little energy for real-life social interaction. If you work from home, you have no physical co-workers, or customer contacts. Your interactions will feel hollow. Studies have proven that loneliness and isolation are like a disease that deals real physical damage to you.

5 – Uncertain future. If you’re a freelancer, you’re always chasing gigs. Very few gigs turn into long-term things. If you’re a business owner, you always deal with risks, disloyal customers, and all kinds of trouble. Growing your income is not easy, as you deal with plenty of competition. Your financial future is never completely solid.

6 – Exposure to toxic media. The world is full of problems and people who exploit the problems. Governments, corporations, and news companies are constantly producing manipulative propaganda. News media and propaganda outlets hyper focus on unsolved social problems, and hype the problems into insane proportions. People are constantly sharing shocking, potentially fake news stories in forums and social media. You are exposed to lies that poison your mind.

7 – Static work. You’re sitting on your ass all day staring at a screen. Human biology is not designed for being stationary, we are designed to be moving, exploring, and doing things with people. If you lack free time for physical exercise, your body will be constantly nagging at you to get up, go out, and do something else.

8 – Difficulty separating work hours and free time. Your work and your off-time entertainment are on your computer. You can’t switch off so easily if your computer is next to your bed. You probably go to sleep after watching some internet videos. You take your stress to bed, and you may not sleep.

The solutions to aforementioned problems are mostly simple. Solving even a few issues affecting your moods helps a ton. Toxic media is easy to avoid if you choose to. Getting up from your chair to stretch your limbs and have a walk is easily done. Loneliness can be reduced by scheduling social time with friends and family, or just getting internet friends. Some things, like increasing your income, require more advanced strategies.