What is burnout?
“I’m tired.” This phrase is one that many working parents and caregivers say when someone asks, “How are you?” You feel tired all the time no matter how much sleep you get. Burnout is a feeling of exhaustion that affects a person both physically and mentally. It happens when a person experiences long-term situations that are emotionally demanding causing the person to be in a constant state of frustration. Some people may equivalent burnout to feeling like they are in a “rut.”
Signs a person is heading to burnout:
- Easily irritated by family members and work colleagues.
- Arriving to work or your workspace and wanting to immediately leave or shutdown.
- Feeling like your work is never appreciated or recognized.
- Isolating yourself from loved ones and colleagues.
- Calling in sick more than usual.
- Having trouble sleeping or wanting to constantly sleep.
- Not caring about your quality of work.
- Becoming a toxic attitude at work – you become more negative.
- Your physical health starts to deteriorate – you have more headaches and muscle pain.
- You start to job search or contemplate quitting.
Causes of burnout
Burnout happens for a variety of reasons. A common cause is a lack of motivation due to too much happening in all aspects of a person’s life. For example, a working mom sometimes juggles children, a partner, a household, work and more – all at once. She feels like she is failing everyone and even herself. She feels like she is just doing an “ok” job at everything and is constantly being pulled in different directions. Slowly, she becomes numb to all the demands and starts to not really care of her own well-being. She wishes to quit her job or dreams of running away for a weekend alone. She is experiencing burnout.
Factors that contribute to burnout:
- The same schedule that happens day-after-day.
- Not feeling appreciated for everything you do at home and on the job.
- Working with a poor leader who does not voice job expectations or goals.
- Working for disorganized organization or dysfunctional team.
- Lack of employer support.
- Excessive workload both at home and at work.
Tips to avoid burnout
“I just need a vacation.” Yes, a vacation can reenergize a person’s focus. But if you come back from vacation and within twenty-four hours feel the same as you did before vacation – you may want to try a few other healthy strategies:
- Ask for help. At home, who can help with daily chores and tasks? If you have no direction at work, go ask for it!
- Find meaning in your work and home. Train your thought process to see positive meanings in your work on the job and at home.
- Talk to your management team/leader. Chances are your boss doesn’t understand or even know how you feel. Do you want more responsibility at work? Do you feel like you can contribute more? Do you think your talents are being wasted? Is a hybrid workspace available? The only way to find out is if you have a conversation.
- Exercise. Even if it is just a 15-minute walk. Exercise has the same effect as caffeine and can give you a mental boost.
- Positive management of stress. Keep a journal. Discover which situations increase stress. Learn healthy coping techniques such as “cleansing breaths.”
- Take control. Burnout can make you feel like you are paralyzed and have little control. You may not be able to control other people and their work ethics, but you can control yours. Create a list of priorities. One for your job and one for at home. Crossing off completed tasks throughout the day gives a since of control and accomplishment. You got this!
Think you might be experiencing burnout? CLICK HERE to take a self-test.
