In this informative blog post, discover the top four burnout triggers that could affect your mental and physical health.
If you feel utterly drained, helpless, tired, and lost all the time, you might be paving your way toward burnout. Burnout is the state of being emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted due to excessively long periods of stress and trauma or, well, a lot of mental and physical work!
Herbert Freudenberger made the term’ burnout’ famous in 1974 in his book Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement. He defines burnout as “the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where one’s devotion to a cause or relationship fails to produce the desired results.”
Certain people believe they tend to perform well under pressure, but imagine being constantly under pressure, always struggling to prove oneself. As a result, we sometimes become exhausted, empty, and unable to cope.
People mostly confuse burnout with stress, but there is a difference between the two. For example, over-engagement in work characterizes anxiety, whereas burnout is disengagement from work.
Stress can lead to urgency and hyperactivity, whereas burnout can cause helplessness and hopelessness. Therefore, burnout is a condition much worse than anxiety or stress, so you must understand it.
What Is It and How Does It Happen?
As I suggested, burnout is having a void in life where one doesn’t know where to go, what to do, and how to overcome this emptiness, loneliness, and hollowness. Burnout happens among employees who work either full-time or multiple part-time jobs. Now, let’s look at some factors that may contribute to mental and physical burnout.
Discover the top four burnout triggers affecting your mental and physical health in this post. #mentalhealth #burnout Share on XWhat Causes Burnout?
Too Much Pressure
Working with a demanding boss, assigned tasks to be unattainable, late-sittings now and then, or software that you don’t know how to use, all of these situations can be stressful, and too much of that stress can lead you to the road of burnout. Burnout shares symptoms that are similar to Depression but differ from it in many ways. One of the most significant differences is that burnout doesn’t last long. It can be easily alleviated with some self-care and much-needed relaxation.
Going to work daily from 9 to 5 in a stressful environment means exposing yourself to constant pressure, which increases the chance of burning out.
Stay mindful during those situations and CHOOSE how to respond instead of relying on your automatic reactions, which can often stress you out!
Deadlines Over Deadlines
Cutthroat deadlines can be fun and motivating for some people, as they find a thrill in completing such a task. Once they complete the job, those challenged with a deadline sigh of relief.
Now, imagine that you are barely at the finish line of your first task and have been assigned another one. If your supervisor/boss is only piling up deadlines over deadlines for you, it can eventually lead to it, even if you love working under pressure. That’s why part of avoiding burnout includes learning how to properly manage your time and be proactive in prioritizing your work.
Where is my Appraisal?
Remember when your mother rewarded you with your favorite food for completing your homework on time or when you scored 10/10 on a test and received a star? We learned to expect a reward for our hard work, whether it be materialistic, monetary, or appreciation. However, most companies that employ many workers believe payment is a sufficient stimulus.
Nevertheless, the thought and notion of living paycheck to paycheck and working a 9-5 job is often stressful and can, thus, lead to symptoms of classical burnout. If that’s the case for you, talk with your colleagues and the higher authority figures in the company to set up better reward systems based on working performance!
When such systems are implemented, you and your colleagues will find burnout less often and may be motivated and happy to work.
No-way Out!
People who are unhappy or satisfied with their workplace tend to look for other jobs, but it’s not easy to find employment in the market, and they find themselves stuck with their current employer.
In fear of losing their job, they can’t discuss the issues with their employer and feel left out. The feeling of no way out makes people depressed and less focused, thus increasing the probability of burnout and even a breakdown!
Final Thoughts
Our society is built in a way that demands workers to focus on a task for at least half of their wake time, with little to no rest.
Unfortunately, most positions you can take do not consider attention span & rest times between working sessions. This, in combination with a variety of other factors, can make you exceed your working capacity, thus leading to a state of burnout.
Nevertheless, there are ways to deal with this, so stay tuned for our second article on this series, where we will give you actionable tips to keep on top of your productivity game!
So many will relate to a lot of this, I work in radio journalism which means there’s a colleague burning out every 4.5 seconds. Have a great, supportive boss but the nature of news means it can be difficult to switch off, I’m much better at it now than I have been in the past
Sarah,
I got my degree in Journalism and steered clear from the industry because I saw how quickly burnout occurs in the media, and I was only a student. So I’m happy to hear that you’ve learned how to manage burnout and have a supportive boss.
I think I’ve come to realize that I am dealing with prolonged emotional burnout. I spent a while fighting against it (unknowingly) and now that I have been more intentional and aware of my feelings/thoughts I am better at noticing my triggers — thank you for sharing this!
Molly,
Emotional burnout is the worse because sometimes it’s hard to notice when that’s even happening. Thank you so much for sharing, and I’m happy to hear that you’re working on identifying and dealing with emotional burnout.
I remember when I was in college and working a job in customer service, I got burned out. I remember feeling constantly dried and my mental health was at it’s worst. I remember needing to take a break. I’m happy I did because I totally needed it.
Hey,
I felt this! I worked at those piercing kiosks in the mall, and I experienced constant burnout before I left the company. I’m happy you took some time off for yourself.
Perfectly written and really something I relate to at times. Its something we forget when we wont face the burnout and learn to take in to recover from it. Its always GO GO GO and no breathing in and out.
Miss Farah,
YES! We live in a world of constant movement and forget to sit down and breathe all the time. We need to start remembering it more.
Informative post – helpful to know the difference between stress and burnout.
Trish,
Thank you! I hope this helps someone.
This is a great article. I have experienced a few burnout in the past. They are not fun. My last burnout was when I was in my last job. I was getting to the point where I couldn’t get out of that job. I was lucky enough to get a new job before anything serious happened to me. Thank you for this reminder.
Charlotte,
I’ve been in this position before at my previous job, before the pandemic. I’m glad you were able to get out of that situation and can better take care of yourself now.
Looking back, I can easily see how I suffered from burnout in a previous job. I did such a great job that I was rewarded with doing everyone else’s job. I was paid well, that wasn’t an issue. But it got to be tedious. Then the one time I needed help, they couldn’t be bothered, and I ended up quitting. The burnout became too much for me and I needed a change. It is much easier to recognize the symptoms of a burnout after that, and I pay a lot more attention to it now, and make changes when they are needed. I feel like that is so important to recognize when it is happening for all of us.
Erica,
You’re not alone in this. At my old job, I would be rewarded for taking on more responsibilities and then punished when I needed time or requested help. I was expected to give up myself without regard to my mental, emotional, or physical health. I’m glad we both were able to get out of these situations before something serious happened.
Deadlines over deadlines over deadlines brought me to being burn out in a year or so. my whole working experience back then was a huge queue of deadlines with no (actually really) no time to take a breath. after that I left my 9 to 5 and started working for myself
Lyosha,
I’m glad to see that you left that situation. Having constant and neverending deadlines sounds horrible.
When I was younger I worked too many hours for far too long and got completely burnt out. Now I am much better at managing both my time, pressures, and stress to avoid it. Knowing your limits is so important.
Hi,
When we’re younger, we experience burnout more, especially in working and learning time management. Knowing your limits and what you can handle is essential, and I’m glad you’ve realized that.