Burnout and a Trip to the Beach
A few months ago, I opened the Airbnb app and booked a weeklong stay at an apartment by the beach within minutes.
That decision happened quickly, but the build-up had been several months long. At the time I knew it would probably rain all week but thought, I need to be near the ocean for a few days. In hindsight, this should have sounded like a fire alarm in my mind - since childhood, whenever I felt overwhelmed, sad, or stressed I’ve always gone to sit by the water. But at the moment, I didn’t recognize that I was feeling any of those emotions.
Burnout can happen to anybody
In many ways, I felt that things had gotten better, so it was a surprise to find that I was struggling. For example, I had gone through several phases of transition with my kids' school situation. By mid-June, I was working from a quiet house and expected that it would be much easier to focus. It was disorienting to find that I still had a hard time concentrating, getting started on projects, or even deciding what my next steps would be.
Around then I also watched a webinar about burnout and the ways that the COVID-19 crisis is impacting the workforce. The path to burnout usually looks like workaholism, but the past few months have also brought additional stressors like fear of job loss, loneliness from isolation and social distancing, increased prevalence of insomnia, and pressure to up-skill or adapt to sudden changes in the work environment. I understood how this might be affecting people, but failed to connect it to myself at the time.
It wasn’t until I had taken a day off and stood with my feet in the ocean that I realized how relieved I felt. I was experiencing burnout.
I share this because I suspect that I’m not alone. Even before the pandemic began 2-in-3 employees experienced some form of burnout and 60% of employee absences were linked to chronic stress. The world that we’ve been living in since February has been deeply challenging. Even as we adjust to the newest version of life, a lot of uncertainty remains and people are feeling stretched thin.
I hope that you take a moment to consider how you’re feeling and ask whether you (or someone close to you) might be experiencing burnout too.
What is burnout
The World Health Organization defines burnout 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.
If you read this and think things like “that won’t happen to me” or “that’s normal,” I’d encourage you to ask whether you’re viewing burnout as a weakness, or seeing busyness as a badge of honor? Any of those thought patterns have the potential to make you less aware - even less compassionate - of burnout in yourself or the people around you. Minimizing it won't make burnout less real.
If you read this and think that it sounds very familiar, please don’t ignore it - these feelings won’t magically go away. Take a look at this list of the 12 stages of burnout to get a sense of where you fall. Depending on the severity of your situation, you might want to speak with someone for support - ranging from a trusted friend to a professional. And if you’re not sure where to start, please reach out for help.
Remember that burnout is not a character flaw or evidence that you “don’t have what it takes.” It’s simply a period of resource depletion - meaning that the demands at work are exceeding your resources for fulfilling them.
Three actions to address burnout
All that said, here are some concrete things you can do to address burnout:
Take some time to refill your energy “tank” and get healthy. This might mean taking some time off from work (when is the last time you took a day off?), while also looking at your sleep, nutrition, and exercise patterns. Is there something you love to do, that really energizes you? Try to find a way to bring some of that into your life ASAP.
And seriously, take some time off.
Reflect on what’s causing you to feel burned out. Sometimes it’s obvious, but other times it might be helpful to keep a diary for a while to keep track of days, times, or tasks where you find it harder to concentrate. If you have an uncharacteristically cynical response to something that wouldn’t usually bother you, take note of that too.
Keep an eye out for days where you don’t take breaks or work long hours, especially when it seems like you’re not getting anything done despite all the time spent. Ask yourself - are your challenges mostly work-related, or are there things from other parts of your life that are having an impact?
Shift from focusing on what you’re doing and think about why you’re doing it. Reconnecting to the reason you’re doing something can be an instant boost when it comes to feeling effective and can give clarity around your priorities. Get a piece of paper and write down the reason why you work in general, why you do this job, why that matters to you, etc.
If there's something that you need, speak to your manager to discuss how to address the gap.
Let’s continue to take care of ourselves and each other.
