When the thought of work gives you bouts of anxiety and makes you restless, chances are it’s burnout. Prolonged work-related stress leads to mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion and eventually burnout. It is a constant state of fatigue, tiredness, irritability, apathy, and social isolation due to several conditions at work.
Burnout makes you feel not good enough, unappreciated, and unaccomplished and triggers a sense of failure and self-doubt. It results in low morale, decreased engagement, poor performance, and frequent delays. A person going through burnout neglects their personal needs, family, friends, and social life.
Let’s look at the factors that cause burnout and their coping strategies.
Workload
A reasonable and manageable amount of work is good to stay focused and engaged at work. However, when you have so much on your plate it becomes difficult to handle. A workload that goes beyond your capacity to cope will lead to mental fatigue, pressure, and physical strain. You lose opportunities to rest, recover, and sleep well. It disturbs your work-and-life balance, well-being, and quality of work.
Coping strategies
Consider the following to better manage your workload.
- Prioritize your tasks according to urgency and importance
- Delegate deliverables to your team members
- Only agree to work on projects that you can manage
- Dedicate blocks of time to practice deep work
Pressure
The constant pressure to get things done right away is a major contributor to burnout. The pressure usually stems from top to bottom. The more levels in a hierarchy, the greater the pressure on employees to meet stringent deadlines. Enduring the pressure likely converts occasional stress into habitual burnout. It is vital to look out for signs of burnout and take suitable action.
Coping strategies
Consider the following ways to work your way out of pressure.
- Manage your stakeholders and get on the most important tasks first
- Take quick mini breaks to regain energy
- Reach out to peers and team members for support
- Discuss with your manager and ensure your concerns are heard
Poor communication
The absence of frequent, structured, and transparent communication at work leads to uncertainty and confusion. It causes problems such as unclear goals, job expectations, team conflicts, cross-functional communication issues, and misunderstanding. Poor communication is a major reason for disagreements and a lack of healthy work relationships. The inability to communicate with authenticity at work puts the workforce at risk of burnout.
Coping strategies
The following strategies can help establish healthy communication.
- Show gratitude to your manager, team members, and colleagues for their contribution
- Ask relevant questions and get your facts straight before reaching a conclusion
- Take your stakeholders onboard prior to making an important decision
- Show empathy and try to understand other’s opinions
Misaligned values
Values are your personal beliefs that you hold and abide by. It is vital to connect the organization’s values to your own. Values lead to building company culture and defining the work environment. If you find it hard to align yourself with the company values, you will hit burnout sooner or later.
The reason being misalignment with organizational values creates inner chaos and triggers a lack of purpose. It is not easy to sustain a purposeless job for a long time.
Coping Strategies
The following tips may help to build the missing connection.
- Think of why you decided to take on the job to find inspiration
- Talk to your colleagues to know what motivates them about their work
- Consider ways to make your work meaningful in your capacity
- Take up hobbies outside work to fill the gap
Poor Relationships
An average person works eight hours a day for 5 days a week. We spend a major chunk of our life at work, with our colleagues. A positive work environment calls for healthy and interactive relationships among peers. The lack of communication and community leads to fatigue, social isolation, and burnout.
Coping Strategies
Strengthen your relationships at work using the following techniques.
- Take time to know your peers on a personal level
- Volunteer to offer support at work
- Reach out to colleagues who seem distant and aloof
- Organize interactive employee engagement activities
Final Thoughts
Prolonged periods of work-related stressors cause burnout. A person going through burnout faces several mental and physical symptoms. It not only affects work performance but also disturbs family and social life. Workload, pressure to meet deadlines, poor communication, misalignment between personal and organizational values, and poor relationships are among the major reasons.
Early detection of signs can help navigate through burnout appropriately.
I hope this article helped you to understand if you have burnout and how to deal with it. I encourage you to take a look at other articles on burnout and coping methods.
