Feeling Fried? Let’s Talk About Burnout and How To Manage It
Hands up if you’ve felt some burnout at some point in the last two years! Burnout is exhausting, irritating, and overall draining to live with. A remedy for burnout can be elusive when we’re constantly dealing with stress, challenges, frustrations, and what feels like stagnancy and stuckness. If you’ve recently felt the tension and stress that burnout brings, read through this blog post to identify some ways to get yourself back to feeling invigorated, passionate, and excited!
What Is Burnout? How Do I Know If I’m Burned Out?
According to the ICD-11 (International Classification of Diseases-11), burnout is described as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” According to the ICD-11, burnout has three key components:
Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
Reduced professional efficacy
Burnout is not thought to be a medical condition, but an experience related to employment and one’s profession. It can be considered a pattern of intense fatigue, feelings of overwhelmed, and negative thinking resulting from chronic stress. The APA Dictionary of Psychology describes burnout as
“Physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance, and negative attitudes toward oneself and others. It results from performing at a high level until stress and tension, especially from extreme and prolonged physical or mental exertion or an overburdening workload, take their toll.”
Some common symptoms of burnout might include:
Cynicism and negative thinking about your job, your life, the world, and other people. An example might be waking up and thinking that every day is going to be a horrible day.
Feelings of dread, overwhelmed, apathy, dissatisfaction, detachment from others, loneliness
Inability to experience satisfaction, happiness, or pleasure
Intense fatigue
Heightened irritability and patterns of taking that irritability out on others
Procrastination
Avoiding certain responsibilities such as work and roles in which we may help others
Tension headaches
Heartburn and other gastrointestinal issues
Ineffective use of alcohol, drugs, or food
Fluctuations in eating or sleeping patterns
Worse immunity and becoming ill more frequently
Burnout sounds a lot like depression. How do they differ?
Well, burnout more often stems from stress rooted in one particular situation or setting, such as perpetually tense workplace relations or putting in constant overtime. Depression, alternatively, can be a more generalized occurrence that encompasses your entire day-to-day experience. One way to tell if you’re burned out versus depressed may be to get an escape from the stressful workplace and see how you react. If you’re able to detach from work, enjoy the escape, and relax, then you may be experiencing burnout. If not and the feelings of dread, detachment, apathy, or negativity continue, you may be experiencing depression.
Who Gets Burnout And What Causes It?
Anyone is capable of developing burnout given the “right” circumstances. If going by the ICD-11 definition of burnout, any worker who experiences the symptoms stated above could qualify for the “burnt out” label. The APA Dictionary of Psychology states that burnout is
“Most often observed in professionals who work in service-oriented vocations (e.g., social workers, teachers, correctional officers) and experience chronic high levels of stress. Burnout is also experienced by athletes when continually exposed to stress associated with performance without commensurate rewards or rest.”
So, nurses, physicians, social workers, lawyers, teachers, and even therapists are susceptible to experiencing high rates of burnout. Often, we hear about burnout in these fields by another name, “compassion fatigue.” A frequent experience of compassion fatigue is a loss of empathy and numbness to the pain and suffering of others.
While the ICD-11 states that burnout is purely related to work experiences, there is general consensus that roles we take on beyond “worker” may leave one at higher risk of experiencing burnout. Other such roles include parents and caregivers. Parents frequently experience burnout when focusing the majority of their attention on their children with little engagement in self-care. Similarly, caregivers (whether for parents, grandparents, nieces, nephews, friends, or other important people in one’s life) who hold the responsibility for another’s well-being are at heightened risk for experiencing burnout as well.
Individuals may experience burnout for a multitude of reasons. Below are some common causes of burnout.
Feeling a lack of control, influence, or predictability at work or in a role
Being asked to engage in responsibilities that conflict with your values or character
Engaging in a task that does not feel important, meaningful, or supported by others
Lacking balance and boundaries between your professional and personal lives, including unmanageable workloads, working longer hours, or working at home when “off-the-clock”
Having a lack of support or communication from supervisors, partners, or other important relationships
Feeling unstimulated or uninspired in your job or role and lacking opportunities to learn or grow
What Do I Do About It Now That I Know I’m Burned Out?
You may be thinking…...okay, this sounds a bit like me. So, what do you do about it to reverse the burnout? Here’s some great starting points to managing burnout.
Check in with yourself throughout the day to see how you’re feeling (both emotionally and physically) and where your stress levels are at. By checking in with yourself, you can start to build more awareness of your burnout and when you might need take breaks or engage in relaxation activities to counter the burnout.
Create and maintain boundaries with work. The maintaining part is often the hardest part. Often, the pressures and responsibilities of one’s job will creep back in and motivate you to check your emails one more time at night, finish that one piece of paperwork, or return one more phone call at the end of the day. However, clear, distinct boundaries can be helpful to creating space for one to get a break from work or responsibility. Change your work hours if possible, delegate responsibilities if necessary, and take frequent breaks when at work or in a role that brings high stress.
Exercise! Get physical movement into your day can help to reduce stress, increase the release of endorphins, build a sense of productivity, and improve your immunity to illness.
Practice mindfulness and self-compassion. Take time to pay attention to your thought patterns. Are your thoughts filled with negativity and cynicism? Are you beating up on yourself? Do you find your thoughts laced with irritability towards others? Engaging in mindfulness and self-compassion exercises can help you to stay aware of where your thinking is at and build compassion for your handling of stress.
Relax and engage in self-care! Doing yoga, massage, deep breathing, meditation, using guided imagery, taking a bath, watching your favorite movie, walking, or stretching can help to counteract some of the physiological symptoms of burnout like muscle tension, headaches, or restlessness.
Discover a new hobby or reconnect with an old one. Having things to look forward to when we’re dealing with stress is vital and can build excitement, hope, and enthusiasm!
Attend to important relationships to build a sense of connection and support.
Reflect on if you’re engaging in your true calling. Do a pros and cons list of if it might be beneficial to leave your occupation or stressful role. Contemplate if what you’re doing mirrors your values. Consider if your job or role brings you a sense of fulfillment, meaning, and gratification.
And of course, find a therapist! A therapist can help you to unearth your patterns that contribute to burnout, change behaviors and thoughts to increase satisfaction and pleasure, set and maintain important boundaries, and improve your quality of life.
If you would like other ideas for managing burnout, be sure to give CPGR a call today to set up an appointment!
