How to Deal with Burnout

You have a long list of projects to complete at work—more than enough to fill an entire workday for you and your team. Despite this, requests keep coming in, and more are added to your plate daily.

When chronic stress leads to exhaustion, burnout rears its ugly head. It impacts everything we do, including our motivation and level of engagement with work. This article will explore the signs of work burnout, including easy-to-implement strategies for maintaining your well-being to avoid burnout.

What is Burnout?

Recent research has shed more light on what factors contribute to burnout, what we can do to reduce its likelihood, and how we can rebound from it. According to the WHO, burnout is an occupational phenomenon, not a medical condition.

They define burnout as “... a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; reduced professional efficacy.”

What Causes Burnout?

Awareness is essential to addressing and preventing burnout. There are several work factors that, when out of balance, could contribute to disengagement, reduced effectiveness, overextension, and ultimately burnout.

• Workload: Having too much on your plate, feeling overwhelmed, unreasonable time pressures
• Control: Lacking autonomy, resources, or voice
• Reward: Feeling like the payoff (intrinsic or extrinsic rewards) are not worth what you are giving up (time, effort, etc.)
• Community: Lacking a sense of support and camaraderie
• Fairness: Feeling like you are unrecognized or treated poorly while others receive recognition, resources, or special treatment
• Values: Going against your values or not having them met
• Clarity: Unclear expectations, lack of role clarity; poor communication; uncertainty

How to Recover from Burnout

Although preventing burnout is not a one-size-fits-all formula, most people will gain valuable anti-stress benefits from the following tactical strategies.

Shift Between High Cognitive Tasks and Low Ones

Rather than try to perform a series of tasks that require complex thinking back-to-back, try to insert a task that requires less mental exertion in between. By shifting between intervals of higher and lower cognitive demands, our brains can experience ‘down time’ while still feeling that they are progressing toward a goal.

Compartmentalize

It is often challenging to keep stressful thoughts about a project or work situation from spilling into your personal life (and vice versa). One way to improve your relationship with even the most stressful bits is to identify the aspects of the situation you enjoy. Looking at your situation from the position of enjoying it—even just parts of it—may help you keep it in perspective when you aren’t working on it.

Take Time to Rest

It can be difficult to schedule relaxation and self-care into our already-busy schedules, but it is vital to do so. Schedule time each day to do something that will help you relax, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

Get Comfortable Saying No

If you find it difficult to refuse a request, practice saying ‘no’ more often. What activities make you feel stressed or harm your wellbeing? Try creating a ‘not do’ list of these activities, and then...don’t do them.

Pay Attention to Your Body

We hold stress in our bodies in the form of physical tension. To decompress and diffuse this concentrated stress, pay attention to how your body feels and frequently engage in techniques like deep breathing, muscle tensing and relaxing, jumping in place/shaking, and light stretching.

Lean into Your Interests

If you neglect your interests, you might begin to feel a bit hollow inside. This emptiness, paired with stress at work, is a real recipe for burnout. If you find it difficult to make time for your interests, try getting creative: listen to a podcast during your commute, cook up some gourmet lunches for the week, etc. Devote your free time to a hobby or activity that excites you. Doing something you enjoy helps to reduce stress, and having something to look forward to (beyond simply not working) can help you manage stress at work more easily.

A Final Note on Burnout

Burnout is real and it’s not something to be taken lightly. You can take control of your wellbeing and avoid or rebound from burnout with some awareness. Take time to regularly pause and assess—paying attention to any warning signs, taking steps to reduce stress, and recognizing when you are not sufficiently challenged (or overly challenged). Equipped with the tools to reduce burnout, you can focus on improving your productivity.