How close are you to burning out?

What's the deal with burnout? 
Burnout is pervasive among working professionals and COVID-19 is making it worse. Ongoing surveys indicate that rates of burnout have increased from 61% of professionals in February 2020 to 73% in May. 

Job burnout is defined as: “a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job. The three key dimensions of this response are overwhelming exhaustion, feelings of cynicism and detachment from the job, and a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment.” 

Sound familiar? Too often, when it comes to burnout, we only realize that our time, energy, and health have dwindled away when it’s too late. What can we do to avert burnout before we reach that point?

What does the research say? 
The academic literature on burnout has demonstrated that both characteristics of the workplace environment and individual personality can contribute to burnout - sometimes additively. Here are a few interesting learnings that I've gleaned from reading research in this area. 

Aspects of the workplace that contribute to burnout include: 

• Inequity
• Incivility
• Role conflict and role ambiguity
  
  

Individual characteristics that predispose one to burnout include: 

• An “avoidant” coping style (coping with stressors in a passive, defensive way) 
• High work-home interference (when job stress interferes with home life)
• A mis-match between employee and employer values

What can I do to address burnout?
​Many of my clients, when we first start working together, are overwhelmed, overworked, and exhausted. I’ve found 3 areas that have helped them, drawing from the academic literature that I cited above as well as my own experiences with burnout.

1. Define your values. What’s important to you about your job? What aspects of it energize you? What aspects of it drain you? 
2. Set intentions and regain control. What do you want your day to look like tomorrow? How can you make that a reality? 
3. Establish and enforce clear priorities. What is your highest priority area of focus? What can wait until tomorrow or next week?    
   
   

Let me know how these solutions work out for you in the comments (or feel free to let me know if they don't!)

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My Request from You
I’m honestly truly fulfilled when I see overburdened clients make a few small changes and take back control of their time and energy.  

Know anyone at risk of burning out? Willing to introduce us?

I’m offering a free 30-minute coaching session for you in exchange for 1-3 email introductions to your friends, relatives, or colleagues who could benefit from coaching focused on averting burnout.

Make an e-introduction