The pandemic has brought with it increasing conversations around things like mental health, healthy levels of productivity and burnout. This is all well and good, but sometimes these can just feel like buzzwords. What exactly is burnout, and how do you go about handling it?
What is burnout?
German-American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger first recognised the problem of burnout in 1974, noticing that the volunteers at a clinic for addicts and homeless people were feeling demotivated and emotionally drained. He borrowed the term ‘burnout’, usually used to describe the side effects of heavy drug use, and used it to describe a state of exhaustion caused by prolonged overwork. He identified 3 key elements of burnout:
Feelings of exhaustion
Mental detachment from one’s job
Poorer performance at work
Burnout can range in severity from being unable to switch off from work to intense feelings of depression. The sooner you catch it, the sooner you can take action to prevent it from going too far.
What are the symptoms of burnout?
How do you know when you’re burnt out? What exactly does burnout feel like? There are some typical symptoms of burnout that you can look out for:
Lack of motivation to do work
Difficulty concentrating
Irritability with coworkers
Being cynical or critical at work
Lack of satisfaction from your achievements
Lack of energy
Physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea or other complaints
If you find yourself experiencing these burnout symptoms, don’t panic! There are ways to handle it.
How to cope with burnout
Reach out
First and foremost, this isn’t something you have to deal with alone. In fact, it’s better if you don’t! Communicate your situation to your family, friends and coworkers so that they know to look out for you and give you a bit of extra support when necessary. The people who care about you can’t help you if they don’t know that you need help.
By speaking out about it, you can alert other people to the problem and they may be able to take steps to help you. For example, if it is an intense workload that is contributing to your burnout, communicate this to your manager. They may be able to adjust your workload to make it more manageable. Alternatively, if you open up about your burnout to your coworkers they may be able to help out with certain tasks to keep you from being overwhelmed. It can be scary to be vulnerable in the workplace, but remember, all your coworkers are only human too, and they may well understand exactly how you feel.
If for whatever reason reaching out to people in your workplace does not feel like a viable option, reach out to your loved ones so that they can give you that extra support outside of work.
If you don’t have anyone who you would be comfortable opening up to, or if you feel that your burnout is sliding out of control, do not be afraid to ask for professional help. There is zero shame in needing help.
(mind.org.uk offers many useful resources for looking after your mental health, and a list of useful contacts for seeking support can be found here.)
Better work/life balance
Working too much without time for socializing or relaxing can be a cause of burnout. It can be extremely hard to clock out these days; even if you leave the office bang on time, thanks to phones and laptops you can never fully leave work at the office. This is even more true now that working from home has become so prevalent, with the work day increasing by 3 hours as a result. It is crucial to ensure that you are maintaining a life outside of your job.
This can take the form of socializing, whether with family or friends. Try to find time to catch up with old friends, whether over coffee or dinner, and enjoy quality time with family members, even if this is as simple as sitting down to watch a film together. Studies have found that being social is good for our mental health, so don’t neglect this!
Of course, socializing can be its own kind of tiring, and it’s important to include some quality you time in your work life balance, too. Research has found that people with hobbies are less likely to suffer from stress, low mood and depression. Whether your hobbies are creative, athletic, or anything else, having an outlet is really beneficial, and is a good way to remind yourself that your job is not the be all and end all of your life.
You can even merge the two by picking up hobbies that are easy to do in a group, such as team sports, killing two birds with one stone!
Take regular holidays
In 2019, 40% of UK workers only took a maximum of half of their annual leave. It can be scary to take a large amount of time off work, as there is a fear of mountains of work piling up while you’re gone. But neglecting to make the most of your holiday time has costs for your mental health.
That’s not to say that one big two-week holiday will magically cure your burnout and make everything better. In fact, it’s actually better for your mental health to take regular, shorter holidays rather than one big one a year. The point is, try to take regular breaks from your work to prevent burnout before it even happens and stop the work stress from becoming overwhelming to the point where you suddenly need a whole month off to recover.
Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness has become a bit of a buzzword lately, but what does it mean? The American Psychological Association defines it as ‘a moment-to-moment awareness of one’s experience without judgement’. It is all about being present while remaining calm and at peace. Practicing mindfulness is a good way of preventing your early feelings of burnout from escalating into something more serious.
So how can you practice mindfulness at work?
You could try some breathing exercises. These are a great way to centre yourself and keep yourself grounded in the present moment. They are useful in moments of stress, helping you to relax in the face of a daunting task or terrifying deadline, but it is a good idea to build breathing exercises into your daily routine as well, even when you aren’t feeling particularly stressed. Check out this list of breathing techniques to find out what works best for you.
Taking regular breaks throughout the day is another way to practice mindfulness. When you’re stressed and feeling overwhelmed by your workload, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you can’t afford to take a break. But actually, research has found that regular breaks can help you to be more productive as well as manage your stress levels. Read our blog post here for advice on how to effectively incorporate regular breaks into your work day.
Get a good sleep schedule
One of the signs of burnout is exhaustion. Adults need between 6 and 9 hours of sleep every night, which can be hard to achieve when you’re overworked and overstressed. Fixing your sleep schedule can help you to deal with this particular aspect of burnout. Here are some tips for balancing out your sleeping pattern:
Make sure to wind down before bed. Avoid screens (whether that means your phone, your laptop or your TV) as the blue light in these screens blocks the hormone that makes you sleepy, meaning it will take you longer to fall asleep. Instead, you could have a warm bath, read a book or doing some light yoga to help you relax and feel ready to sleep.
Go to sleep at regular times. This will set your internal body clock so that you get used to falling asleep and waking up at the times you need to, improving the quality of your sleep and making it easier to get up in the mornings.
Avoid eating heavy meals or drinking caffeine or alcohol right before bed. The former can cause discomfort and the latter have stimulating effects, both of which can interfere with the quality of your sleep.
Have a good sleeping environment. People sleep better when their bedroom is optimized for light and noise levels, temperature, and comfort. The ideal bedroom temperature is 18.3 degrees Celsius, and the optimal noise level is, of course, low. Loud noises disrupt your sleep: if it’s impossible to avoid them altogether, it may be wise to invest in some earplugs so that you are not disturbed when you’re sleeping. Another worthwhile investment is a high quality mattress (or a mattress topper) and comfortable bedding.
Burnout can affect anyone, and it is nothing to be ashamed of. There are steps that can be taken to prevent or recover from it, such as those we have suggested. However, if these are not enough, or if your burnout is particularly severe, we strongly recommend seeking professional help. Mind.org.uk has a list of useful contacts that can be found here.