How Do You Reverse Burnout — 10 Ways To Handle Burnout From Work
You might be thinking, I love my job. Why would I experience burnout from work? It is most probably the stress. The feeling will go away once I take a good night sleep…
But did it?
Many people could relate to these red flags of burnout from work as normal work stress. In fact, it almost seems like a pretty normal part of working life — a little bit of frustration, anxiety and exhaustion.
But you should never ignore the signs of burnout from work. Burnout from work can show up as mental, physical and emotional illness — can lead to some pretty devasting impacts if left unchecked.
What Does Job Burnout Feel Like…Seriously?
Job burnout is a special type of work-related stress.
There is a burnout at work quotes saying:
“Burnout is a byproduct of a dysfunctional work environment.”
There are three main symptoms of job burnout is characterized into:
1. Lack of pleasure in your job — a sense of exhaustion or depletion
2. Lack of motivation — mental distance from or negativity about work
3. Lack of belief in your ability to complete tasks — reduced effectiveness at work
If you start getting annoyed easily with your colleagues or loved ones, struggle to complete a simple task, and find yourself shutting off most of the time, you may be experiencing burnout.
3 Types of Burnout:
Neglect Burnout
Without a sense of purpose and meaningful work, it is very easy to feel hopeless. Especially for ambitious individuals. It is hard to stay engaged if you feel you do not add value to the job.
Overload Burnout
This is the most perception of burnout. Continuous work pressure at an unsustainable pace in pursuit of financial freedom, success and achievements
Under-challenged Burnout
The opposite of overload burnout. A lack of challenging work can also lead to burnout. This is usually the case where there is no job satisfaction.
People need to be intellectually stimulated and engaged in order to feel fulfilment. Otherwise, they would lose interest and feel disconnected.
5 Stages of Burnout:
There are five stages of burnout from work:
1. Honeymoon stage
This stage usually occurs when you first take on a new role at work or your first job. You are thrilled and excited with the work — feeling creative, enlivened and inspired.
You are very productive and take on every opportunity given at work to perform your best. To an extent, you do not mind skipping lunch and working late.
Like in every relationship, the honeymoon phase is temporary. This stage is wonderful because you feel empowered. However, you should be careful to not overwork and develop patterns that will be difficult to escape in later stages.
Takeaways:
- Get rest regularly
- Do not overwork and take the breaks that you deserve
- Adopt healthy boundaries — no meetings or phone calls after working hours
2. Balancing Act
Things are still fine but you start losing the initial excitement about the job. Some days are more stressful than others. You are lacking personal time with friends and family. Even if you want to maintain your work performance, it sucks out more energy from you than before.
Some early stress signs may bother you — inability to focus and think, change in appetite, more frequent headaches and anxiety.
3. Chronic Stress
The frequent experience of high-stress levels leads to chronic stress. Now, you feel resentful towards work and people, even at home.
This stage will affect your mental and physical health. You might not notice that you are having more cups of coffee than usual, you procrastinate more, you do not care about job performance. Depressed, exhausted and cynical that things can change.
4. Burnout
Now, this is the stage where most people start to question, if this is just normal stress or am I really experiencing burnout at work?
If you do not address the previous stages, you will experience a critical exhaustion level that is hard to cope with work demands. You skip work by taking more medical leaves, missing deadlines and procrastinating.
And here, you also experience withdrawals and sleep A LOT more.
5. Habitual Burnout
At this stage, burnout from work has become a new default setting. You do not do things that you once loved. Always sad and depressed. You may be diagnosed with depression or anxiety before you recognize burnout as the underlying issue.
10 Ways To Handle Burnout From Work:
Now, you must be wondering how to fix job burnout? Continue reading below to get some ideas…
- Pay Attention To Your Feelings
It may seem confusing between feeling stressed or burnout, but they both have a common factor — emotions. Emotions are powerful clues for you to realize something is going wrong.
Start paying attention to how you feel, when does the feeling arise, and your responses toward it. Take notes of these events to help you better manage resentment and frustration before they turn into burnout.
2. Set Your Boundaries At Work
It is very common to over-commit to our busy work schedule, especially at a new job. A too-busy workload is when you have a hard time saying “NO”.
A good practice is to learn to reject unnecessary workloads that could potentially take up your personal time and needs. If you have more control over your time, then you will less likely feel unmotivated and tired.
3. Have Interest Outside of Work
A very important aspect in life is to have a work-life balance. Work brings in financial security and achievements. If you jeopardise your health (whether physical or mental), you will not have the luxury to even enjoy financial freedom.
Enjoy badminton? Book a court and schedule a timing with your friends.
Are you a food-lover? List down all the cafes and restaurants that you have been wanting to go to.
Love skincare? Plan out a self-care routine for your weekdays and weekends.
Having a positive outlet can help you get through a stressful time in your career.
4. Create Meaningful Relationships With Colleagues
Developing relationships at work can give you a sense of community and belonging. Just like how you have a circle of friends outside of work to mingle with.
Work would feel much easier when you are working with a group of colleague-friends — no office politics. In fact, you might not even feel dreaded thinking of going back to work on Mondays.
5. Have A List Of Small Tasks To Accomplish
One of the types of burnout is the lack of ineffectiveness. What you can do is build up your efficacy.
A small win in your life can change your whole mood — almost seems like an achievement. It could be as simple as finishing a book, attending that course you have always wanted or doing a spring cleaning.
6. Leave Work At Work
When you are at work, focus on working and finishing the tasks of the day. You could set a priority list or a work schedule to help you handle the important tasks first.
Try to set healthy boundaries with your manager or colleagues that reduces the conversations about work during your off-time and on the weekends.
Examples:
Stop checking and responding to emails after working hours.
Inform your colleagues that you will only reply on the next day unless it is for urgent matters.
Turn off your group chat notifications and put on a “not available” sign.
7. Self-Care
Burnout is also because of the lack of self-care. When you are always occupied, you may start to lose touch with your inner compass.
Ensure that you spend enough time on basic needs and reconnect with your inner peace.
8. Share Your Concerns With A Manager And Examine The Options
A great leader shows compassion and understanding. Your leadership team can make a critical difference in your workplace and provide you with essential support to grow and flourish at your workplace.
Discuss your concerns with your superior and set goals for what must be done and what can wait.
9. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness — an act of focusing on your breath flow and being intensely aware of your senses without judgment.
Be mindful of your time and schedule. If you have a back-to-back meeting, set a reminder to take a couple of minutes of break.
10. Seek For Help
When you have done almost everything, but still feel depressed. It is time to seek help.
Ask your friends, family, mentors and coaches for help. They will be more than willing to give you the support you need.
After reading this, I hope you gain some understanding of what burnout from work feels like and how to fix burnout from work. It is an aspect of life that everyone will go through someday — thus, practice burnout work-life balance.
