Do you get the morning dread? Or even worse, the night before the morning dread? Does ‘how will I get through this’ float through your brain when you look at your diary for the week? Is fun an activity other people do because you’ve lost track of what brings you enjoyment?
Having the sense that life is passing by, that everything is futile or the job you do is slowly killing you is not how life is supposed to feel. If this sounds like you, stop right now and acknowledge the grief you’re feeling for the happy and motivated person you once were. The emotions you are feeling are a sign and they are saying – something is not right with this situation! Believe me, I have been there. More than once. And eventually, I was forced to admit I was truly burnt out.
I used to work freelance as an arts producer and after every project, I would feel exhausted. Producing festivals and shows is intense and pressurised with tight deadlines and long hours so it was reasonable to feel this way. I used to remark how ‘burnt out’ I was after every project. Thankfully, as a freelancer, I usually had some time to recoup before the next gig started.
We are incredibly resilient beings who can overcome times of stress and exhaustion but if these states continue over a prolonged time, without time to recover, then they can turn into burnout.
When I went from freelance to full-time employment I continued working in the same way but without the long breaks to recover. Exhaustion turned into an inability to keep up with the workload, focus on tasks or remember pretty much anything. Anxiety took over and in the end, I couldn’t set foot in the office without having a panic attack. I was unfit to work or do much else for 6 weeks and it took another 2 months to build up to being able to work again. I now recognise the slippery slope between feeling overworked and depleted and being seriously burnt out.
What’s the Big Deal About Burnout?
Despite it being around for a long time, Burnout has recently been recognised as a medical condition. The World Health Organisation defines it as “a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”. They describe its three main symptoms as feelings of exhaustion, mental detachment from one’s job, and poorer performance at work.
Stress is a natural response to a threat, it helps you react to and survive threatening situations. We all know that way back when stress helped us to survive being chased by lions. Nowadays, getting through that challenging project and hitting the deadline is helped out by a good dose of stress. So, it does have its benefits but stress is supposed to be a short-lived thing to help you survive. If stresses continue day in day out for a long period then they become toxic and before you know it you’re heading for trouble.
Feeling the Burn
The key to avoiding burnout is recognising the signs and symptoms and intervening before it’s too late. By preventing long-term stress you can avoid soul-sucking, anxiety-inducing, life-changing burnout.
There is an assumption that when you’re showing symptoms of burnout it’s simply due to excessive workload. It can actually be caused by any one of these six factors:
- Work overload
- Lack of control or autonomy
- Insufficient reward
- Lack of a sense of community
- Absence of fairness
- Lack of meaning or a conflict in values
The burnout I experienced was caused by a combination of a few of these. Prolonged work stress made it impossible to switch off and prevented me from sleeping. Two to three hours of sleep a night for months snowballed into crippling anxiety, lack of focus, concentration, and memory problems. I was overwhelmed, disinterested in my work, and no longer felt I could do my job. Over time, stress and anxiety compounded until I was simply trying to survive each moment and was too sick to realise how bad it had got.
Kicking Burnout’s Ass
If you have been under stress for a while now, you need to step away from what is stressing you out. It can be difficult to notice when stress is taking its toll but if you identified with the first few paragraphs of this article then you’ve passed the point where stress is helping you. In fact, it’s hindering you. Not just in your work but in your life. Once you’ve accepted this, for the sake of your health and future do the following:
Identify What’s Causing you Stress
Stepping away from the stress first requires you to realise that you are stressed and then to figure out why. Ask yourself some of the following:
Are you in a toxic work environment? Are you being treated unfairly by management? Is your role unclear? Do you have an unmanageable workload? Are you putting too much expectation on yourself to be perfect? Do you feel a sense of achievement or any reward from your work? Are you at odds with the work and values of the company? Are you lacking in support?
Feeling like you can’t do your job anymore is a symptom of the burnout and work situation you are in. There is no need to feel like it’s something you have caused by doing or being something. With this in mind go and speak to the right person at work about what you’re experiencing and why.
If the issue is your boss – speak to HR. If it is the pressure you’re putting on yourself, consider getting some therapy or coaching to help you stop. If the company’s values are against yours then pursue something outside of work that fits with your values, or start looking for another job.
Make exercise your best friend
Once you have dealt with what is stressing you out you need to deal with the feelings of stress you are holding onto. It has been widely proven that exercise is one of the best relievers of stress. I’m not saying you have to become a marathon runner or cross-fit junkie, simply take a walk around the block, play a game of squash or dig out your garden. Whatever it is, as long as it’s getting your heart rate up then it is helping you shed the stress.
Do exercise whenever you feel stress building. After a heavy day at work walk home instead of taking the bus or if you’re boss has been impossible again, go for a run. I guarantee you will feel better, less stressed, and be able to sleep more soundly.
Cut yourself some slack
Understand that burnout can happen to anyone, so be kind to yourself and give yourself some space. Exhaustion can be a symptom of burnout so take annual leave or a few sick days and rest. If it feels like work will fall apart if you take a few days off that is proof you’re working in an unhealthy, pressurised situation that’s likely causing you the stress. Fully-fledged burnout will eventually make it impossible for you to work for weeks or months. Taking a few days now could save you a lot of pain and prevent you from having to take a prolonged period of recovery in the future.
Prioritise yourself and your self-care now before it’s too late! Rest, take baths, go for walks, meditate and read that book you’ve been putting off. Also, consider getting a coach or therapist to help you deal with your emotions and the issues you’re having at work.
I learned a lot from my experience of burnout. It took 6 weeks of being unable to do anything, like getting dressed and leaving the house, for me to realise that I needed to make my job work for me, not the other way around. Renewed boundaries and mindset have helped me get through the time since and I’m so fearful of getting that ill again that my boundaries stay strong. I stick up for myself more, work fewer hours, take lots of breaks, go for lots of walks, and do my best to spot and avoid difficult people or toxic situations.
If there is just one thing in this article that you should take away with you it is that work is not worth sacrificing your health for. Burnout is no joke. If you take precautions now by setting boundaries and learning to deal with your stress you shouldn’t have to learn the hard way.