I teach remote workers how to maintain boundaries. This is one thing I get clients to do each day.

Ali Pruitt found remote work was no quick fix for burnout.

Ali Pruitt

• Ali Pruitt suffered burnout working an office job, but found remote work was no instant fix.
• She now makes her living teaching other remote workers how to build a work-life balance. 
• Pruitt shares how she gets clients to use a virtual messaging board to mark the end of the workday.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ali Pruitt, a 41-year-old remote-work coach from Florida, who's now based in Ajijic, Mexico. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I experienced extreme burnout when I worked in an office. I used to think it was because I hated commuting and was working for too long.

I decided to take a remote job in 2017 because I needed an escape and I didn't want to be tied down to a single location — but it wasn't the instant fix I'd hoped for.

I was a people pleaser who needed constant external validation, and that didn't go away when I started working from home.

I found out the hard way that remote work can't cure burnout by itself – but I still think it's a valuable first step

I started out working remotely in project management, but I lost my job when the pandemic hit. At that point, I realized that people wouldn't want to give up remote work once they were able to move beyond COVID-19 — and I also knew that transitioning to working remotely wasn't always easy, even if you'd planned for it. 

That's why I decided to become a remote work coach. 

Now I earn my living teaching remote workers how to unplug at the end of the workday. It took a lot of self-reflection and practice to create a sustainable work-life balance and I get a lot of fulfillment from helping others do the same.

I charge $125 an hour for one-on-one coaching. Most of my clients have weekly sessions for about three months, but I've worked with some people for up to a year.

I'm definitely not a therapist, but I've gone through this myself and I try to use my own personal journey to help others.

Whenever I first meet a new client, I try to figure out exactly what they want from their lives — and what's making them feel so stressed.

For many, the problem is simply thinking there's 48 hours in day. I try to help them set realistic expectations. Sometimes people just need someone to tell them they can't do everything at once — and that they'll actually work better if they take a break.

Boundaries are also a big problem. Commuting used to mark the end of the workday, but remote workers need to set their own lines now.

One way I help people tackle this is by hosting a "daily recap" with my clients. We have a virtual messaging board where each person writes a message outlining everything they've done just before logging off for the day. Everyone sends their messages at different times because we're based all over the world, but it's a shared routine that's now a subconscious signal to stop working.

This is something companies and individuals can easily implement themselves. It helps you feel accomplished about what you've done and — most importantly —  it helps you dump out all of the work-related information that's on your mind.

The pandemic was a wake-up call

Americans have always been overworked, but I think the pandemic forced everyone to slow down and finally realize what was happening to them.

I've coached people from around the world, but about two thirds of my clients have been in the US — and I don't think that's a coincidence. The constant grind can feel like part of the culture.

I'm a consultant as well as a coach. I charge companies $250 an hour to help them keep their remote workers calm, happy, and productive. Most of the companies I work with are based abroad. American companies haven't caught up with their international counterparts when it comes to supporting workers.

Remote work gave me a chance to heal

Despite its challenges, I'm still passionate about remote work. It's definitely been the biggest catalyst for my own growth and healing.

I try to personally apply all of the lessons that I teach my clients. I use calendar-blocking to allocate my free time and I always take a lunch break for more than an hour.

I also don't have an alarm anymore. I'm at a point in my life now where I can wake up to the sun and spend the first couple hours of my day doing things for myself. 

I feel like I've reclaimed my life from my work.

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