Burnout: What Is And How To Prevent

You may have occupational burnout if you miss your energy or exhausted when thinking of going to work. Mentally distanced yourself from your work, or felt cynical or negative toward your job. Ineffective fillings, unsupported, or inefficient in your role. In this article, we’ll explore what is burnout and how to prevent and avoid it.

If so, you’re not alone. A Gallup study of 7,500 workers concluded that 23% of employees reported feeling burned out at work very often or always, while an additional 44% reported feeling burned out sometimes. So, that’s nearly two-thirds of the workforce.

What is burnout?

Coined by the psychologist, Herbert Freudenberger in the 1970s. Burnout describes a severe stress condition that leads to severe physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. Much worse than ordinary fatigue, burnout makes it challenging for people to cope with stress and handle day-to-day responsibilities.

People experiencing burnout often feel like they have nothing left to give. May dread getting out of bed each morning. They may even adopt a pessimistic outlook toward life and feel hopeless. Moreover, burnout doesn’t go away on its own and, if left untreated, it can lead to serious physical and psychological illnesses like depression, heart disease, and diabetes.

How to Avoid Burnout?

When feelings of burnout start to occur, many people focus on short-term solutions such as taking a vacation. While this can certainly help, the relief is often only temporary. You also need to focus on strategies that will have a deeper impact and create lasting change. Let’s look at specific strategies that you can use to avoid burnout:

Find Your Purpose

Do you feel that your career has a deeper purpose, other than just earning a paycheck? Most of the time, rediscovering your purpose can go a long way towards helping you avoid burnout and keeping stress at bay.

Look at the deeper impact of what you do every day; how does your work make life better for other people? How could you add more meaning to what you do every day? These are important questions, so spend time thinking deeply about them. You could also use the PERMA Model to bring more meaning and happiness to your life. If you think that you’re in the wrong role or career, develop a career strategy to help you plan for a career that’s better for you. Or, use job crafting to shape your role, so that it fits you better.

Analyze Your Tasks To Prevent Burnout

When you experience work overload day in and day out, you can start to feel as if you’re on a treadmill and that you’ll never catch up. This is demoralizing, stressful, and often leads to burnout. so you can clarify what’s expected of you, and what isn’t. This tool will help you identify what’s truly important in your role so that you can cut out or delegate tasks that aren’t as essential.

If you feel that your boss is assigning more work than you can handle, then schedule a private meeting to discuss the issue. Let him or she knows that your excessive workload is leading to burnout. Come prepared with some options that could be considered for shifting certain tasks or projects to someone else.

You can also make life easier by learning how to manage conflicting priorities and deal with unreasonable demands. Moreover, one quick and easy way to add meaning to your career is to give to others or to help them in small ways. When you do this, it makes you feel good. Even the smallest act of kindness can re-energize you and help you find meaning in your work.

Exercise Regularly

Exercise can help alleviate stress and create a sense of well-being. You will also experience increased energy and productivity when you exercise regularly. What’s more, regular exercise will help you get a good night’s sleep.

Take Control To Prevent Burnout

You can avoid or overcome burnout by finding ways to create more autonomy in your role. Try talking with your boss to see if he is willing to let you have more control over your tasks, projects, or deadlines.

You’ll also feel more in control of your work if you manage your time effectively. Learn prioritization techniques, and make use of To-Do Lists or an Action Program to take control of your day. Then tie these in with daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly personal goals.

Please do not try to face things alone, talk to your family and most importantly, you doctor about it.