You dread the days you go to work. Your work feels meaningless and ultimately unfulfilling. Motivation evades you day after day and you feel like you have nothing left to give. If this sounds familiar, you may be experiencing burnout at work. Burnout is a state of mental and physical exhaustion brought on by chronic stress in the workplace. Your work may be overwhelming, monotonous, or demanding which causes stress to continually build. As a result, your motivation decreases, your sense of fulfillment decreases, and you lose interest.
Once you feel burnt out, it’s common to feel stuck and unsure of what to do or how to fix it. You may blame yourself and try to push past it without success. The good news is that you can help yourself with burnout and help prevent it in the future. In this blog, I address the causes of burnout, how to recognize burnout, tips to counteract burnout, and preventing burnout.
Causes of Burnout
Anyone can experience burnout. With burnout, various factors can come into play and this greatly depends on your work environment and your lifestyle. One 2017 study concludes that low job control, high demands from the job, high workloads, low rewards, and job insecurity all can lead to burnout. So let’s take a closer look at these causes.
- Feeling a lack of control in your job. If you find your job inflexible or you find resources to complete your job difficult to attain, this could lead to burnout.
- Constant focus. Whether you work in a job that’s chaotic or monotonous, both require constant focus. In a chaotic job, you’re required to juggle different tasks constantly, requiring your focus to accomplish each task. In a monotonous job, you feel bored and distracted, causing you to focus on your tasks to accomplish them.
- Lacking clear expectations. If you’re unsure of what your job responsibilities are, what you have authority with, or what’s expected of you, this unclear work style can wear you down.
- Dysfunctional work environment. If your workplace demands too much from you or if the work environment is toxic in any way, this situation can emotionally, mentally, and psychically exhaust you.
- Work-life imbalance. If you find yourself always bringing work home, thinking about work at home, or working odd hours then you may be worn out.
- Lacking support. If you’re feeling isolated in work or your personal life, this leads to increased stress.
Recognizing Burnout
Knowing the causes of burnout will help prevent it in the future. However, it’s also important to learn to recognize burnout. Some common symptoms of burnout include:
- Feeling cynical and negative about work
- Lacking the motivation to care about your job and/or personal life
- Feeling fatigued
- Finding yourself either overwhelmed at work or bored most days
- Feeling underappreciated for your work
How to Help with Burnout and Preventing Burnout
First, see if any of the causes are familiar to you as they will help you to pick your next step forward. Based on the causes, you can go through this list and get a better idea of what may help you. These steps can also help prevent burnout and frankly, are good to implement whether you’re experiencing burnout or not.
Connect with Those Close to You
Discussing your emotions and concerns with others can immediately relieve some stress. Friends and family are more often than not, willing to listen and support you. Sometimes just having someone listen can make a huge difference.
Connect with Co-workers
If you’re feeling isolated at work, try to engage with your co-workers. By developing friendships at work, you have people to socialize with which can decrease the daily stress of your job. Having friends at the office also gives you something to look forward to at work.
Find Meaning in Your Work
If you’re struggling because you feel like your work is meaningless, try to find meaning in your work. This can be especially difficult, but your job exists for a reason. Focus on who your job helps and the positives that come from it. You can also focus on what you enjoy at work like chatting with co-workers.
Speak Up at Work
Let your boss or bosses know that you’re feeling burnt out. If you can recognize the cause, your boss will most likely want to help in alleviating burnout. Whether the cause is too much work, unclear expectations, or boredom, most employers will work with employees to ensure they’re satisfied with their job. They may also have resources available that may help you.
Set Boundaries
If you find yourself bringing work home physically or mentally, then it’s time to set some boundaries. Set time aside to be present with yourself, your family, or your friends and leave work behind. When you find yourself thinking about work, gently push those thoughts away, and focus on the present moment. Creating this separation is essential for preventing burnout.
Practice Self-Care
Take time for yourself every day to recharge and relax. Everyone practices self-care differently, but find something you enjoy that helps you to feel re-energized whether it’s reading, meditating, working out, and the list goes on and on.
Should I Leave My Job if I’m Experiencing Burnout?
This is the big question, isn’t it? Only you can really answer this question. If you don’t want to leave your job, then try out the steps above to see if they help. If you’re feeling especially stuck in burnout, seek out therapy. Professional counselors are trained to help individuals who are dealing with burnout. Depending on what’s causing your burnout, it could be that you just need more balance in your work and personal life or it could mean you need to talk to your boss to clear up what is expected of you in your job.
However, if you’re in a toxic work environment, it may be time to change jobs. If you’re not finding the right support at your office to help you with your duties, then examine your work environment and ask yourself if you want to stay in this environment. A toxic work environment is not on you to fix and if it’s bringing you down, then walking away will be better for your mental well-being in the long run.
Dealing with burnout is unpleasant, but there are ways to help get rid of burnout and prevent it in the future. Burnout doesn’t have to mean the end of your job. By finding the right help, you can feel more fulfilled at work and in your personal life.