About Burnout

Burnout is totally a thing, and it’s become more recognized in the past few years. As people have become more entrenched in work, they become more stressed - and this chronic stress can lead to burnout.

“Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
- 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.”
— World Health Organization

So, what can burnout look like?

  • Loss of passion

  • Lack of focus

  • Frustration

  • Cynacism

  • Demotivation

  • Disengagement

  • Impatience

  • Disillusion

  • Lethargy

  • Changed sleep habits

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

  • A myriad physical and mental health issues

Who is susceptible for getting burnt-out? Well, there is no one answer because really it can be anyone BUT some warning signs are:

  • People who identify so strongly with work, that they don’t have a clear line between work and their life outside of work. Typically when there is time to invest in their life outside of work, they are so exhausted it’s hard to be motivated to do so.

  • Anyone with high work loads, which includes those who have to work overtime. This can also include extremes of activities - maybe during a busy season there is barely time to breathe, and then during slow season time doesn’t seem to be moving.

  • Those who try to be everything to everyone, the ones who find it hard not to help others, regardless of what they have on their plates already.

  • People who have little to no control over their work - whether it’s that they aren’t set-up for success or simply aren’t able to make decisions around their work, such as the schedule, assignments or workload.

  • Dysfunctional workplaces are detrimental for anyone to flourish; this could be a micromanager, an office bully or feeling undermined by colleagues.

  • People who have unclear job expectations. Maybe they are unclear about how much authority they do or do not have, or what’s expected of them by their supervisors.

  • Anyone who has a monotonous job. To be clear, this could be monotony based on what the actual job is, or simply people growing out of their job and feeling unchallenged in their day to day.

The above is adapted from the Mayo Clinic.

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