Burnout is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. It is most commonly experienced when under long term stress at work.
Common signs of burnout include:
Feeling tired and drained all the time
Self-doubt
Negative outlook on life
Feeling trapped
Feeling alone
Feeling overwhelmed
Feeling hopeless
Not being productive
In 2019 WHO (the World Health Organisation) officially recognised burnout as and occupational phenomenon. With the lines between work and home life increasingly blurring during the pandemic with up to 46%(1) of people working from home and losing most of their social interaction.
Burnout is not something that will just go away. The root of the problem must be addressed, and support given.
Shockingly in a report done by Mental Health UK 1 in 5 people felt unable to manage stress and pressure in their workplace!(2)
The pandemic brought with it a lot of uncertain and sometimes sary times and as such increased many people's stress levels.
Some of the biggest factors that contributed to burn out throughout the pandemic were:
Money worries
Working from home
Worries about job security
Isolation
Sleep
Homeschooling children
Caring for others
According to a study supported by WHO conducted by Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter there are 6 key areas where you can experience imbalance in the workplace that can lead to burnout(3)
Huge workloads – Your workload is too much for you to complete to a high standard.
Perceived lack of control – You feel as though you lack autonomy, access to help or resources and control over your work life that begins to affect your personal life.
Lack of reward – You don’t receive recognition or reward that matches the effort and time you put into them.
Lack of community at work – You are not surrounded by supportive and trusted colleagues who communicate well.
Fairness – You don’t receive fair treatment or get acknowledged for the things you do.
Mismatched values – You do not agree with the companies’ values and no longer feel motivated to work hard for them.
If you feel a number of these things are accurate within your workplace and you find yourself feeling regularly stressed it is important that you address some of the issues as you could be on the way to reaching burnout!
Mind give the following advice for people suffering from or who are on the verge of burnout(4)
Take some annual leave – as we haven’t been able to take holidays for a long-time people have not been taking well deserved breaks away from their work
Get some more sleep
Try to finish work on time – work life balance is very important to maintain
Schedule in some of your favourite activities
Always ask for help!
Since 2017 google searches for symptoms of burnout have increased by 41%(5) that is a huge leap and is a prime example of why the conversation around stress and burnout in the workplace should be open and honest.
People need to become aware of what burnout is, how it becomes a problem and how they can avoid it! Employers need to know how to spot the signs and look out for their employees.
If you would like some more information or some help with burnout and how to spot the signs and prevent it please use the website to book a free consultation for your company!
(3)https://hbr.org/2019/07/6-causes-of-burnout-and-how-to-avoid-them
(4)https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/coronavirus-and-work/dealing-with-burnout-when-working-from-home/