As a leader, the requirement to encourage self-care with your team hasn’t ended. If anything, you may need to increase your conversations and direction over how much work you want to be accomplished during a day, what breaks need to look like, etc.
What I am seeing right now are two camps of people. Both groups have mastered their “normal” day-to-day. But one group finishes that “normal day of work” and calls it a day. They take breaks throughout the day, spend time with family, exercise, and find ways to mentally decompress. The second group also finished their “normal day of work” but adds on more work. Instead of calling it a day, they take on more. They don’t get out of the house, they don’t spend time with family, they are working more than before.
As leaders, it’s our role to help our teams take care of themselves. Your challenge today is to think about each person on your team and assess how they are handling the remote work situation we are in. If they are taking mental breaks and pacing themselves, celebrate them so they continue on that path. For those that are taking on more, create a strategy to discuss your expectations about work hours, self-care, and work quality.