Burnout. Many of us have experienced feelings of exhaustion, stress, overload, and feel unmotivated at work as a result of employment.
While many of us may relate to emotions of burnout, relatively few of us have openly expressed how we are affected. We want to demonstrate our work ethic; we don’t want to disappoint others; and we’re fearful that speaking up may damage our careers.
As a result, we grit our teeth through exhaustion, which ultimately harms our job in the short and long term.
Burnout is a very regular occurrence. According to a Gallup research, 23% of employees report experiencing burnout on a more often basis than not. Additionally, 44% report, experiencing occasional burnout.
The last two years have been a true testament to our country’s businesses and workforce’s adaptability and resilience. We’ve seen firms rapidly adapt to remote work, people find ways to work from home while cohabiting with spouses/roommates/children.
While this has been a great undertaking for many, it has also had a major impact on employees. According to a Monster poll reported on CNBC, 69 % of workers are experiencing burnout symptoms.
Are you suffering from burnout?
Recognizing burnout’s signs is the first step toward prevention. According to the Mayo Clinic, three unmistakable indications are exhaustion, cynicism, and dissatisfaction with your employment. When you combine these, you have the perfect recipe for misery and resentment toward your career. Because the downhill spiral can occur quickly, it is critical to be aware of and recognize the warning symptoms. The symptoms may emerge in seemingly innocuous ways, such as impatience, inability to concentrate, restlessness, frequent headaches, and increasing absenteeism. These are all indicators that you may be suffering from burnout.
I discovered after reading The Bouncebackability Factor that burnout can be caused by both internal and external factors. Internal burnout arises as a result of issues that are unique to each person, such as a lack of appropriate boundaries, a negative mindset, perfectionism, or a history of trauma. External burnout is a product of a company’s culture and can arise as a result of excessive workloads, a lack of control, a lack of acknowledgment, a lack of community, perceived injustice, or misaligned values.
You are burned out. What now?
If you have been nodding your head in agreement and recognizing yourself in the above burnout symptoms, you are not alone. Even the most accomplished individuals occasionally experience burnout, and there is no shame in acknowledging that you require a reset. Several things you can take to kick-start the recuperation process include the following:
The critical point to remember is that burnout does not indicate weakness or incompetence.
How can a leader avoid burnout?
Understanding the symptoms and signs of burnout is critical for a company’s leadership, and the shift to remote work makes this even more critical. Given that the National Bureau of Economic Research reports that employee’s workdays have increased by an average of 48 minutes since the pandemic began, managers must be cognizant of their employees’ time and responsibilities.
Preventing burnout requires maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Additionally, I learnt from The Bouncebackability Factor that managers may leverage the power of affirmations to help their team members avoid burnout. Managers can guarantee their team members feel valued and significant by delivering five affirmations for every criticism or critique.
As leaders, it is critical that we take a proactive approach to employee burnout. Developing a healthy work culture — one that prioritizes work-life balance — is critical for avoiding burnout. We can accomplish everything perfectly and still experience burnout during these exceptional circumstances. If you observe signs of burnout among your employees, there are several things you may do to assist them:
Take care of yourself and your team, and keep in mind that we are all trying our best.
