Burnout. If you’ve felt it, you know it. Lethargy. Dread for the day ahead. Feeling hopeless about your career and life. These are a few of the symptoms that continue to plague millions, and lead to decreased job retention rates. Psychology Today defines burnout as a “state of chronic stress that leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism and detachment, and feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment.”
If you find yourself struggling to maintain your edge in your personal and professional life—and get things done—you aren’t alone. One study showed that nearly half of employees leave their jobs due to burnout. Millennial women in particular are getting burned out before they even reach 30.
With a more hectic pace than ever, employees are getting overwhelmed. Without realizing it, they’re often spiraling toward a career rut, not because they hate what they do, but because they need to rebalance and rediscover their lives—outside of work. The increased stress, if not managed, can lead to chronic stress, which can take a major toll on ones health.
Are you suffering from burnout? Here are 4 key symptoms and what you can do to beat them and break free from burnout.
4 signs of burnout
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Lack of energy and motivation
If your first thoughts upon waking are
dread for the day ahead, you’ve defeated yourself before you’ve begun. Often, in burnout, you may feel like you just want to pull the covers over your head and let the day pass you by—again and again. Focus and concentration seem almost painful, because if feels like you simply don’t have the mental bandwidth or energy for one more thing. Your to-do list may be growing—but you’re shrinking back.
You may never have considered yourself to be a negative person. But increased stress and decreased happiness and balance can increase negative emotions, including frustration, sadness and anger. If you find your
emotions are becoming uncharacteristically negative toward work and life, it may be time to reevaluate—and relax.
If you’re
thinking about work when you’re not at work, your personal life is probably about to take a hit, if it hasn’t already. Rather than being present in your life, you’re stuck mulling over what you have to do, and how much you don’t want to do it. This will keep you in an ongoing state of stress, rather than being able to unwind and enjoy life away from the office.
Enter, the workaholic. A balanced life is only a fantasy, one that you perhaps consider a luxury. You have no more energy to do life—that is, to spend time with the people you care about. Your main focus is work, but you feel hopeless when you think about it. If feels like there’s no rest for the weary, and life begins to feel like one big hamster wheel that you can’t exit.
3 ways to beat burnout
Meditate. Dance. Go for a walk. Spend time with friends. Get active (nothing gets the endorphins and happiness hormones going like getting your body moving). It doesn’t really matter what you do, as long as you make time to do it. Schedule it in as if you were scheduling work—if that’s what it takes. We all need down time and the ability to reconnect with ourselves and with others.
Tapping into the things you really care about puts the
spark back in life. Having a rich life outside of work will help keep you excited and engaged in life. Find a hobby or something you enjoy doing, like a passion project. Doing something you love takes your mind off of work and is a reminder that there is more to life, and more to you, than your day job.
Sometimes, no matter what you do to keep the stress down, your work environment may be the aggravator. With post-recession, cost-cutting measures, and employee consolidation, you may really have more on your plate than you can handle. If you find that the situation isn’t improving, even after voicing concerns to your employer, it may be time to think about a new job—or even a
new career path. Sometimes a
change of pace and environment is just what you need to rebuild a work life you love.
Burnout may be spreading like wildfire, but it doesn’t have to zap your happiness or life. Take some time to think about and evaluate your life and what you want out of it. Work is a fact of life. But your personal time should remain a priority too, to ensure a balanced, happy life—and a more productive and present you.
