We all have days when we struggle to get out of bed and start our day or when we are stressed out to execute an important project.
But what happens when those days seem normal, and you can’t remember the last time you felt inspired at work? That’s burnout.
While we all experience bad days at work, burnout doesn’t have to be inevitable. To help you along the way at work, we’ll take a look at some of the signs of burnout and ways to avoid burnout.
How Employers and Managers Can Prevent Burnout
What is burnout?
Burnout is a form of work-related stress that manifests in physical and emotional exhaustion. Mayo Clinic.
Burnout is not a medical diagnosis; However, researchers and experts believe that other conditions, such as depression, or circumstances such as family life and personality traits, may influence burnout.
Whatever the cause, job burnout can have a negative impact on your mental and physical health, so it’s important to be mindful of its common causes, which we’ll explain below.
Common Causes of Burnout
Below are the most common causes of job burnout.
1. Heavy workload
Overwork is one of the main causes of burnout and can lead to many health problems, such as weight loss, body aches, exhaustion, and more.
one discovery found that working 55 hours or more per week was associated with a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from heart disease.
2. Feeling Unhappy
It is essential to pay employees what they are worth, but adequate pay is only part of the equation. Without positive feedback, rewards, and recognition among peers, it’s easy to feel like your hard work is going unnoticed.
Feeling unappreciated or underappreciated at work can lead to resentment toward your job, which can lead to burnout.
3. Micro Management
in a survey, 59% Employees said they worked for a micromanager. And of those, 68% reported a decrease in morale, and 55% said it hurt their productivity.
It’s hard to feel any motivation or passion for your work if your employer is constantly trying to control your every move.
Feeling like your manager or employer doesn’t trust you to do your job without looking over your shoulder adds to the stress. And stress is just one step closer to feeling tired at work.
4. Poor Relationship or Lack of Support
Feeling part of a community and having a support system are essential to maintaining mental health. a study shows 48% employees Lack of emotional support while managing challenging tasks.
Without camaraderie among coworkers, it’s easy to feel isolated—especially when deadlines and big projects create stress.
symptoms of burnout
Burnout can sometimes sneak up on you before you even realize what you’re feeling. To help you fight burnout, here are some signs you need to pay attention to.
1. lack of energy
No matter how much you love your job, there will be days when the last thing you want to do is get out of bed and go to work.
There will be times when you have to push yourself extra hard to complete a project or when you are counting down the days until the weekend.
However, the lack of energy associated with burnout goes beyond those moments. Burnout-related exhaustion tends to be more chronic and less tied to a specific job or project. And it doesn’t go away after a vacation or a relaxing weekend.
2. Cynical about your job
If you question whether your work matters or have become disinterested in your job, it could be burnout rearing its head. This is especially true if you remember that you are more enthusiastic about your work.
3. Changing Sleep Habits
Everyone has their favorite time to wake up or go to bed, but if your sleeping habits change drastically – you could be experiencing burnout.
For example, let’s say you’re a morning person who has no problem getting dressed and out of the house by 7:30 in the morning.
However, lately, you may find yourself hitting the snooze button more often, or you just don’t feel energized for the day because you spent all night staring at the ceiling. This is a sign of burnout.
4. Decreased work performance
Perhaps you were always punctual in the past, but you’ve recently started missing deadlines. Or, you struggle with aspects of your job that you handle with ease.
Exhaustion, disinterest and disorganized sleeping habits can cause a decline in the quality of your work.
how to avoid burnout at work
I reached out to professionals from a variety of industries to hear their approaches to fighting burnout. Here are some tips they recommend:
1. Know what energizes you and what drains you.
female health professional Margaret Ruvoldt She says she feels at her best when the energy she puts into work is less than what she gets. She says burnout happens when that equation doesn’t work.
“So I keep track of what energizes me at work and what tires me out. The answer is different for everyone — which is great because, on teams, we can balance each other out.” Roovoldt explained. on teams
“If I’m solving complex problems, I’m learning, and I have the opportunity to grow people — I’m getting a lot back,” she said. “If relationships are bad, direction isn’t clear, or I’m in a role that doesn’t allow me to learn—I’m exhausted.”
Ruvoldt says that if she feels burned out, she looks for ways to gravitate toward the things that give her energy and away from the things that drain her.
Pro Tip: Keep a list of the aspects of your job that you enjoy and the aspects that tire you out. When you feel tired, look at that list to see if you can shift your focus to less draining tasks.
2. Keep the ending in mind.
Consultant and HubSpot Admin John Martin The ending asks to keep in mind and consider the bigger picture.
“In 25 years, what will matter – that you took your wife on a date, went to your son’s basketball game, or finished producing a killer HubSpot report?” Martin said.
He continued, “When we allow daily and weekly tasks to override our long-term investments, we begin to find value in short-term things.”
Martin says that the job is important, but only because of what it allows.
“A job is not an end in itself,” he explained. “A job matters because it allows you to learn new things, earn money, and work for organizations you care about. All of those things pale when you put them into perspective over time. “
Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to use your PTO to take time off to focus on things like family or your mental health.
3. Feel your feelings.
hubspot partner Trish Lesser It is said that to deal with burnout there is a need to physically get out of the body. For Lesser, that physical release might be through laughter, screaming into a pillow, or crying over a sad movie.
“Give yourself the permission you need to heal yourself by feeling,” Lesser said. “After release, I usually find myself looking for some inspiration.”
To find inspiration, Lessard would head to a bookstore or call up some friends. The key, according to Lessard, is to encourage the brain to release everything it’s designed to do.
“Burnout happens because we are human. We need to remember that being superhuman is not real,” she said.
Pro Tip: Consider keeping a journal to reflect on your day and express your feelings.
4. Set boundaries.
client engagement associate carter warren Says boundaries are key to avoiding burnout.
“An example might be not responding to email after a certain amount of time,” Warren said. “This can be a powerful threshold for preventing burnout.
It’s also important to be transparent with co-workers or customers, Warrens said, so they have reasonable expectations for how the communication will take place.
Pro Tip: Have designated “focus” or “no meeting” days on your calendar so your coworkers don’t disrupt your week with meetings or last-minute tasks.
5. Regularly assess your goals.
As you delve deeper into work or take on new responsibilities, it can be easy to lose sight of your goals. When this happens, the data systems strategist calen smith suggests regularly reviewing what’s important to you.
“I review my personal and professional goals periodically to make sure that what I’m doing is in line with what I want to do, what I see and where I want to go,” Schmidt said. align with.”
“If they do – I recommend,” she said. “If not – I re-align. Every time I do this, I get a jolt of enthusiasm, focus, and always prosperity. A goal today keeps burnout away!”
Pro Tip: Establish SMART goals to keep yourself on track, and refer to those goals whenever you feel like you’ve lost track.
6. Have a designated work area.
Working from home has its benefits, but it can often blur the line between work and home life. And that imbalance can result in burnout.
“I think it’s important to separate your work area in the era of hybrid work and work-from-home so that at the end of each day, you’re not tempted to plug back in and send another email,” HubSpot Academy Instructor trygve olden Said.
Olden suggests keeping a clear and distinct line between closing the work door and enjoying your personal time before going back to work.
Pro Tip: If your home is too noisy or not equipped to be productive at work, look into co-working spaces around your area, or consider meditating at your local library or quiet cafe.
7. Ask for help.
You may feel alone when dealing with burnout, but that’s not true. diego silva The SendPulse executive said that when she experienced burnout, getting help made a difference.
“I used to feel exhausted at work because of the overload of activities,” he recalled. “To deal with the condition, I sought medical help and made significant changes to my lifestyle and diet.”
Silva says he also sought professional coaching guidance to redefine his goals and create a growth plan within the company.
“Today, I feel happy and inspired in my career – inspiring my colleagues to do the same,” he said.
Pro Tip: You don’t need to wait until burnout is causing significant problems at work, such as missing a major deadline or a drastic change in performance.
As soon as you feel overwhelmed or stressed – talk to your manager or employee to make a plan.
How Employers and Managers Can Prevent Burnout
The onus of preventing burnout doesn’t fall solely on employees; It is also the responsibility of employers and managers.
As the head of a team, an employer or manager must create an environment or workplace culture that empowers employees to speak up when overwhelmed.
Leaders must recognize the signs of burnout and encourage employees to take time off to recharge. They should also create a company culture code that promotes trust and transparency.
Burnout happens to all of us, but it shouldn’t be the end of the world. Now you know the symptoms of burnout and what you can do to avoid or remedy it.
From here, you can create a plan to help you stay focused and healthy as you work toward your goals.
