Workplace burnout was a growing problem in many professions well before the pandemic.
In 2019, the World Health Organization brought some attention to the issue by defining burnout as a syndrome associated with chronic stress at work that goes unmanaged. It is characterized by three aspects:
• Energy depletion or exhaustion.
• Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job (detachment).
• Decreased job performance or efficacy.
The most well-studied symptoms of burnout occur with you, the individual. These are proven, time and again, as clear signs that you’re in a state of active workplace burnout.
1. You feel emotionally exhausted: This usually looks like chronic fatigue, insomnia, difficulty concentrating, emotionally dysregulated, anxiety, depression, loss of appetite, physical illness, depleted energy.
2. You feel cynical and isolated: This is one of the lesser known but serious side effects of individual burnout. This can feel like the loss of enjoyment, pessimism, anger, isolation, detachment from personal or work relationships.
3. You are less effective at work: The standard of your productivity and performance is taking a hit, and you may not even have the emotional capacity to care. This can feel like apathy or hopelessness, loss of productivity, and poor performance.
If any of these stages of burnout sound familiar to you, it’s not too late to turn things around.
Whether you recognize all these burnout symptoms and stages or just a few, there are still things in your control that you can do to change for the better. Psychcentral offers these tips:
1. Rediscover your values:
It’s easy to put work at the centre of identity and self-worth. That’s why returning to your personal core values is critical. By figuring out your values, you can create better boundaries and build your version of work-life balance by zeroing in on what’s most important to you.
2. Talk to your supervisor:
If you’re feeling burned out at work, you could start at the source. Rather than fearing or avoiding your supervisor, see them as an important person in helping to bring about positive change. Approach your supervisor with that mindset and enlist their help in making your work more desirable.
3. Try learning a new skill:
While it could seem like learning something new is just another thing to add to your list, it could help alleviate your burnout. Better yet, reclaim a past hobby that you’ve long felt you don’t have time for such as painting or singing — and try to make it a priority. Local community college classes can also be an affordable way to spark your intellectual creativity.
If your feelings of apathy, depression and isolation continue to get the better of you, ask for help from a trusted medical professional.
