Workplace burnout is nothing to take lightly. The World Health Organization classifies burnout as a syndrome caused by chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.1 The three major signs of burnout are:
1.) Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
2.) Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
3.) Reduced professional efficacy.2
Burnout also comes from feeling a lack of control in your work, and the feeling that the end-goal is unaligned with your personal goals or beliefs.3 As Carl Jung wrote in Modern Man in Search of a Soul:
“About a third of my cases are suffering from no clinically definable neurosis, but from the senselessness and emptiness of their lives. It seems to me, however, that this can well be described as the general neurosis of our time.”4
As can be deduced from the above definition, the key to combatting burnout is proper stress-management, seeking and maintaining purpose.
Each career field has its unique group of stressors, and each industry has its own way of handling workplace burnout. A good leader, supervisor or manager, will seek to mitigate the risk of staff burnout. More often than not, you will have to monitor and mitigate your own stress-levels; sometimes against the wishes of management.
Listen to your body and pay attention to your mind. You are not weak for experiencing burnout. If you are feeling overwhelmed at work, try to have a meeting with your management. Use your vacation time. Reach out to friends and family. Find a therapist. Whatever you need to do for you well-being, don’t feel selfish for doing it.
If you find yourself unable to create a work-life balance, unable to set boundaries at work or consistently forbidden to take off time for self-care, then it may be time to find another job. All of this is easier said than done, I know, but life is short and your health is important. One final quote for thought from Abbot Evdokimus of Xenophontos: “My poor man, work never ends. We end. Even Methuselah who lived for so long left unfinished work behind when he died.”
Sources
1. World Health Organization, Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases, Accessed April 23, 2024: https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
2. Ibid.
3. Psychology Today, Burnout, Accessed April 23, 2024: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/burnout#:~:text=Burnout%20is%20a%20state%20of,%2C%20caretaking%2C%20or%20romantic%20relationships.
4. Jung, C. G. Modern Man in Search of a Soul: Transl.by W.S.Dell and Cary F. Baynes. Harcourt, Brace and World, 1966, pg. 61.