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What is Burnout?
“an extended period of time where someone experiences exhaustion and a lack of interest in things, resulting in a decline in their job performance.” “In those situations, the demands being placed on you exceed the resources you have available to deal with the stressors.”- David Ballard.
Certain amounts of stress can be positive resulting in peak performance. However, eventually more stress does not result in more productivity. There is a point where excess stress results in a decrease in productive resulting in fatigue, discouragement and Burnout.
Symptoms of Burnout
Social
Withdrawing from others
Cynicism about self, others, work
Lowered frustration tolerance
Interpersonal Problems
Cognitive
difficulty concentrating
forgetfulness (long term and short term memories)
Physical
Health; blood pressure, tight muscles,
Exhaustion, Loss of energy
Getting sick more often and easier
Work
Withdrawing from responsibilities
Lack of Motivation
Feeling of failure vocationally
Reduced sense of satisfaction or reward for hard work
Sense of helplessness
Belief you are no longer effective
Generally Decreased Satisfaction
Falling behind with an inability to catch back up, resulting in being more behind
Sense of Shame (feeling of failure)
Feeling helpless, trapped and defeated
What to do
Recognize – Watch for the warning signs of burnout
Reverse – Undo the damage by seeking support and managing stress
Resilience – Build your resilience to stress by taking care of your physical and emotional health
Some Things to help reverse symptoms of burnout. If you can’t imagine having the energy to do any of these things seek help from a counselor, coach or friend.
Take rest/relaxation seriously- do the things that rest our body, mind or soul
Margin/Boundaries – say no to things. The challenge with this is sometimes saying ‘no’ results in feelings of shame “I’m not good enough”. Don’t buy in, burnout happens from overextending one’s abilities
Cultivate a rich non work life – church, friends, family, community
Sleep– good, restful sleep. It might even be helpful to monitor your sleep for a week and see how many hours of quality sleep you are getting.
Organization – it may be worth not doing other things in order to plan out a day, week or month in a way that seems more sustainable
Physical health; eating right, sleeping enough and well, getting exercise
Social Awareness – Know when its you, and when its them
Find new friends.– Perhaps your networks is small, unavailable or negative