Burnout Is About Your Workplace, Not Your People

When we think of burnout, we typically think of the emotional and physical toll it takes on the individual. But burnout can also be a problem at the workplace level. For example, employees may feel like they're being pushed too hard and that they have no time to enjoy life outside of work. When that happens, the employee may become frustrated and start to feel a little burned out.

What Is Burnout?

Burnout is an overwhelming sense of distress or emotional fatigue resulting from chronic overwork or stress. You may experience burnout after working long hours on your job, dealing with a demanding customer or family member, dealing with too many responsibilities at home, dealing with a relationship that has hit rock bottom, or even when dealing with a stressful vacation.

Burnout is a serious problem, affecting millions of people around the world. According to the World Health Organization, between 10 and 15% of all adults have experienced some form of burnout, with the majority of cases occurring in the United States and Canada.

It can affect anyone, but women are most likely to experience it because they are often expected to be the caregivers for their families.

Burnout Is About Your Workplace, Not Your People

Burnout is about your workplace, not your people. It is a state of mind. The word burnout describes a state of mind in which the worker has lost interest in their work. They feel exhausted and burned out and often feel like giving up. Burnout happens when one works too much and becomes emotionally drained.

Burnout can happen to anyone working at a job with long hours of intense stress. Burnout can also occur when someone works at the same job for a long time.

Burnout is a psychological condition, not a disease. Symptoms may include: feeling tired, irritable, or depressed, having difficulty concentrating anxiety; headaches; sleep problems; stomach upset; frequent headaches; and decreased interest in personal relationships. In severe cases, people may have physical symptoms, such as muscle pain, insomnia, or skin rash.

Burnout is different from being stressed out at work. Being stressed at work can lead to burnout, but burnout does not always cause stress. For instance, if someone gets fired, she may become stressed out but not burnout. A person's attitude toward work causes burnout. If a person doesn't like their job and doesn't feel appreciated or valued, they can experience burnout.

What Causes Burnout?

Burnout is a state of mind that differs from being stressed out at work. Being stressed out at work can lead to burnout, but burnout doesn't always cause stress.

The leading cause of burnout is a person's attitude toward work. If a person doesn't like their job and doesn't feel appreciated or valued, they can experience burnout. Burnout also occurs when a person is overworked, which means they work too many hours. People who are overworked don't have time to relax, take breaks, or do anything else besides work.

Burnout occurs because of emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion happens when a person experiences constant stress over a long period. After experiencing emotional exhaustion, a person may feel tired, irritable, and depressed. It is the first sign of burnout.

What Are The Signs That You Might Be Suffering From Burnout?

The symptoms that you feel may be completely different from those of someone else. They may also be harder to notice. So, you might not even know that you have burnout.

Here are some of the signs that you might be experiencing burnout:

1: Feeling Exhausted All The Time

Many people say that burnout can make them feel exhausted all the time. You might have been doing well at work, but now you feel so tired and exhausted that you hardly have any energy left for anything else.

You might be having a hard time sleeping. You might feel that you can't fall asleep until you are so exhausted that you can't even remember the last time you had a good night's sleep

2: Not Being Able To Cope

When you're feeling burned out, you might feel like you are going crazy. You might think that you can't handle anything anymore. You might feel like you can't even cope.

You might feel like your brain is overloaded with too many thoughts and can't process anything.

3: Getting Angry All The Time

Burnout can often lead to anger. It might start with simple things, such as forgetting something at home or missing the train. It might begin with more significant things, such as feeling like you're being mistreated.

You might get angry at your coworkers, boss, or even yourself. You might even get angry at a situation that has nothing to do with what you are experiencing.

4: Losing Your Confidence

When you're suffering from burnout, you might start to lose confidence in yourself. You might begin to believe that you're not good enough.

You might start to think that you aren't smart enough or pretty enough or that you aren't capable of doing anything.

5: Feeling Like A Failure

You might start to feel like a failure when you begin to experience burnout. This feeling might take a while to develop, and you might not even realize it.

You might not even know that you have started to feel this way. All you will learn is that you are feeling unhappy and can't seem to get better.

6: Becoming Very Irritable

Your mood might start to get worse over time. You might become so irritated that you can't stand yourself anymore. You might feel like you're losing control over your emotions. You might feel like a total emotional mess.

7: Going Through A Crisis Point

When you start to experience burnout, you might be forced to confront a lot of your problems. You might have to face things that you've been avoiding for a long time. You might have to deal with situations that have made you uncomfortable for a long time.

8: Feeling Depressed

If you're going through burnout, you might start to feel depressed. It can make it hard to deal with your situation. It might make you think about ending your life. If you're going through depression, you might even feel like committing suicide.

9: Having A Breakdown

Burnout is very stressful. Your body and mind can be overwhelmed by all the stress that you're experiencing. At this point, you might be able to handle even the most minor things barely. Your body might start to feel physically ill.

10: Giving Up

You might give up on the idea of trying to change the situation. You might think that there is nothing more you can do. You might tell yourself that you're done.

How Do We Prevent Burnout At The Workplace?

The causes of burnout are varied. Some of the leading causes are stress, fatigue, overwork, bullying, lack of control, and lack of social support. You can also avoid burnout by working smartly. The more productive you are, the less likely you will be to experience burnout. The tips we present here will help you reduce the risks of burnout at work.

Tips To Prevent Burnout

1: Stay away from workaholics

A common misconception is that working hard is good. It is not. If you want to reduce the chances of burnout, you should try to work smartly. When you work hard for a longer time, you may be forced to ignore essential things in your life. Instead, you should prioritize what matters.

2: Take time off

Taking a break is essential to preventing burnout. You may feel that you can't take time off because of your responsibilities at work. However, there is no harm in taking time off. You don't have to be a workaholic to succeed. You can take regular breaks.

3: Do something fun

We often think that the only way to relax is to go home and rest. However, we often feel better after spending time with our friends, family, or even pets. Try to find ways to engage in fun activities and make sure you don't spend too much time on your computer.

4: Get enough sleep

When you don't sleep well, you can feel stressed. It can lead to burnout. If you want to prevent burnout, you must get a good night's sleep. You should get at least seven to eight hours of sleep every night.

5: Eat right

Eating healthy is the first step towards achieving success in your career. But, eating healthily isn't accessible if you are working long hours. Make sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables while cutting back on junk food.

6: Stop procrastinating

It's okay to procrastinate once in a while. But, if you find yourself procrastinating a lot of your work, you're not confident in what you're doing. In this case, you need to take action by getting started on the project.

7: Exercise regularly

Working long hours doesn't mean you shouldn't exercise. Try to do some form of regular exercise to have energy for what you do. Also, it helps to reduce stress.

8: Set realistic goals

If you want to be successful in your career, you need to set realistic goals. You may want to consider saving for a down payment, saving money for a vacation, or saving for retirement.

What Are The Five Stages Of Burnout?

Here are five stages of burnout.

Stage 1: Depersonalization

In the beginning, you probably thought that it was just stress. You would get angry, frustrated, annoyed, and so on. You'd also get into arguments and fight with people, thinking they are just being stupid or unreasonable. But when it happens repeatedly, you begin to depersonalize them.

You begin to think of people as objects. You start to think of them as just "there." You don't feel anything for them. They become just another thing to be done.

Stage 2: Exhaustion

When you reach the second stage, you notice that you are just plain tired. You don't have any energy left. Even after a night of sleep, you feel drained. You feel like you have no strength left. You feel like you don't care anymore.

Stage 3: Decreased productivity

Next comes the stage where you start losing your productivity. When you get started, you are motivated and excited, but then you get to the end; you can't seem to keep it up. You're starting to lose your enthusiasm. You begin to feel like you're wasting your time and that no one cares about your work anymore.

Stage 4: Decreased motivation

Stage four is when you lose your motivation and your drive to work. It becomes a chore. You start to look forward to leaving work. You no longer enjoy the work that you are doing. You don't care about it anymore. You don't even want to do it anymore.

Stage 5: Loss of interest

The final stage of burnout is when you give up. You can't handle any more of it. Your enthusiasm, excitement, and joy for your job have entirely vanished. You're no longer willing to put in the effort that you used to. You feel like you're making yourself sick because you feel so bad. You can't get motivated. If you could, you would. You don't want to go back to work.

How Do You Identify Employee Burnout?

Here are five ways to identify employee burnout.

1: Is the employee constantly complaining about work?

Employees may complain about their work in many different ways, such as the workload, the lack of pay, a lack of recognition, or too much responsibility.

2: Is the employee overly emotional?

The employee may cry for no reason, show extreme anger, or have outbursts of rage. They may feel trapped in their job and often seek an escape from the situation.

3: Has the employee stopped taking pride in work?

If the employee has lost interest in their job, they may become lazy and disinterested.

4: Does the employee put off work tasks?

If the employee seems to put off tasks, they know they should complete, you may be dealing with burnout.

5: Does the employee sabotage work?

If an employee starts sabotaging their work, they may suffer from burnout. It could be as simple as throwing away important files or making changes to your site.

Back To You

In conclusion, the most important thing to remember when you're feeling burned out is that you are not alone. Everyone experiences burnout at some point. Even the most successful people have experienced burnout.

The Strategic Advisor Board is designed to help you get over, around or through so you can reach your next goal. That is what we were built for and we are really good. Just reach out and touch us here to setup a call and have a quick conversation with our team today.

Written and Published By The Strategic Advisor Board Team
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