Burnout is a state of emotional and physical exhaustion resulting from chronic, unmanaged stress. It’s often characterised by feelings of depletion, cynicism about work, and reduced professional efficacy. It can affect anyone, not just those in traditional employment. It’s important to understand that burnout is a serious issue and that it takes time to develop and resolve. It is not the same as depression or anxiety, but it can be mistaken for them.
Advice for Coping with Burnout at Work:
- Acknowledge the problem: The first step is to recognise that you’re experiencing burnout, and that it is not something you can simply “push through”. Recognise that burnout is a result of accumulated stress and a lack of self-care. It is not a sign of personal failure.
- Create Boundaries: Establish clear boundaries between your work and personal life. Try to leave the concerns and conversations of the day behind when your work is done. This may include setting specific work hours and avoiding work outside those times.
- Make time for yourself: Carve out time every day to recharge your batteries and detach from the day.
- Prioritise Self-Care: Ensure you are getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising. Reduce use of substances like alcohol, marijuana or social media.
- Recharge Regularly: Allow yourself regular periods of rest and relaxation to prevent your stress levels rising to a harmful level.
- Examine Your Work Environment: Reflect on the emotional demands of your workplace. A workplace that has consistent changes, lacks stability, or is overly demanding can contribute to burnout. Consider whether your workplace supports you, or if it is contributing to the problem.
- Seek Support: Talk to friends, family, or a professional about what you’re experiencing. Asking for help can be a key strategy to reducing stress.
- Consider Values: Reflect on what gives your work meaning. If your work doesn’t align with your values it can contribute to burnout.
- Manage Your Reactions: Identify and manage your emotional responses to stress. Explore what you do to avoid uncomfortable feelings.
- Challenge Negative Self-Talk: Address any self-criticism you may be experiencing. Use self-compassion strategies to be kinder to yourself.
- Reframing: Learn to reframe your anxiety so it becomes more manageable and less overwhelming.
- Acceptance: Practice accepting your anxiety, and realise it does not need to be avoided, or controlled. Learn to work with your anxieties.
Help to Ask For:
- Professional Help: Seek guidance from a therapist or counsellor who specialises in burnout and stress management. They can provide tools and strategies to help you manage and recover.
- Support at Work: Request adjustments at work if possible, such as a change in responsibilities, a more private workspace, or adjustments to deadlines. Share your concerns with a trusted colleague or supervisor.
- Coaching: An anxiety coach can help you develop mental freedom, and develop new ways of thinking and feeling about work. They can also help you identify your values, and take steps towards creating a more meaningful work life.
- Practical Help: Delegate tasks to others, both at work and at home.
- Training: Explore training programs that can teach you techniques to manage stress and build resilience. There are a range of tools such as Havening that can help.
- Supportive Practices: Develop supportive practices such as taking breaks during your day and connecting with other people.
What to Expect After Moving Beyond Burnout:
- Renewed Passion: You can expect to regain your passion for work, and for life in general. You can find ways to reframe your approach to work.
- Increased Resilience: You will develop greater resilience and the ability to manage stress effectively. You will learn how to use your own resources to cope with challenges.
- Greater Work Satisfaction: You can achieve greater satisfaction in your work, and find more enjoyment in the things you do. You may even find that your work can become a spiritual practice.
- Improved Mental and Physical Health: Your physical health will improve as you reduce your stress levels. Your mental health will improve as you become less reactive and more aware of your inner experiences.
- Ability to set and maintain healthy boundaries: You will find that your boundaries become clearer and healthier.
- Reduced Avoidance: You will no longer need to avoid the things that you once found difficult.
- Balanced Life: You can expect to find a greater balance in your life between work, rest, and other activities.
- Increased Confidence: You will have greater confidence in your ability to handle the challenges of work and life. You will be able to use your past experience of burnout as a way to strengthen yourself, and to inform how you move forward.
- Proactive Approach: You will learn to respond to stress proactively, and to take steps to ensure your emotional wellbeing. You will learn to take responsibility for your health and wellbeing.
Overcoming burnout requires acknowledging the problem, taking steps to reduce stress, and seeking support. By making key changes you can move from burnout to a mentally healthier place with greater passion, resilience, and life satisfaction. Key strategies include creating boundaries, prioritising self-care, seeking support, reframing your approach to work, and learning to manage your responses to stress.
Burnout, workplace stress, resilience, self-care, work-life balance, mental health, boundaries, seeking support, stress management.