An Evidence-Based, Long-Term Solution That Could Reduce Burnout
It’s not just about reduced working hours
John is a working professional in his mid-thirties. He works as a marketing manager at a consumer goods company. The job pays well, provides additional perks and has reasonable working hours. But John finds himself in a tight spot.
Lately, he has been feeling disengaged from his work. Even though he tries hard to focus, he loses interest quickly and becomes cynical. It reduces his efficiency — something his boss doesn’t hesitate to point out. Consuming endless cups of coffee to cope with his situation, John has to put a lot of effort to muster up his energy to get through the day. As a result, he is exhausted and has no job satisfaction. He tried taking vacations as a break, but things always remained the same once he was back.
Do you feel the same? You know you aren’t depressed as you are joyful outside of work. So, is it the dull, monotonous work that doesn’t allow your strengths to flourish? Or maybe it happened because of years of unclear expectations and lack of appreciation from your superiors. Whatever the reason, these are symptoms of occupational burnout.
And you are not alone. Alarmingly, burnout is becoming an epidemic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized 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
- Reduced professional efficacy
Disclaimer: I’m not an expert on burnout, and the views expressed in this article are based on my secondary research and some anecdotal experiences. If you are having severe symptoms, please reach out to a healthcare professional first.
Going beyond reduced working hours
When it comes to burnout, a common belief is that long working hours are the primary culprit. They form solutions with this premise. However, this wasn’t the case with John, and research backs up why reducing working hours is not always the best solution.
Gallup’s analysis of employee burnout has found that how people experience their workload has a stronger influence on burnout than how many hours they work. It explains why some individuals can work up to 70 hours a week without much stress if they find their work engaging and inspiring. In short, while the quantity of work matters, the quality matters even more.
Increasing the quality of your work life means making your work more fulfilling. It may be the best long-term solution for reducing burnout.
So, how do you go about crafting a fulfilling career? Is there an evidence-based method to it?
80,000 Hours, a London-based nonprofit organization that guides people in finding a fulfilling career, answers this question. While analyzing several studies on positive psychology and job satisfaction, they came up with six key ingredients that make a dream job.
These are the six ingredients:
1. Work that’s engaging
Have you ever experienced a flow state? Completely immersed and lost track of time while doing an activity? This is what engaging work means. Research suggests it involves having the freedom to decide how to perform your work, clear tasks, variety in tasks and feedback on your work.
Engaging work is work that draws you in, holds your attention, and gives you a sense of flow.
— 80,000 Hours
To find out what engages you, recall what made you feel alive in the past. What made you lose track of time? What did not feel like work for you, but was for others? Make a list.
2. Work that helps others
If you’ve helped other people or made a positive impact on humanity with your work, then you know what this is about. While engaging work is enjoyable, it may not be meaningful unless it helps others.
Helping others isn’t the only route to a meaningful career, but it’s widely accepted by researchers that it’s one of the most powerful.
— 80,000 Hours
To find out work that can help other people, you can research the list of problems the world faces and is likely to face in future and check what resonates with you.
3. Work you’re good at
There is no doubt that being good at your work is inherently satisfying. But did you know that it has other benefits?
It also gives you the power to negotiate for the other components of a fulfilling job — such as the ability to work on meaningful projects, undertake engaging tasks, and earn fair pay. If people value your contribution, you can ask for these conditions in return.
— 80,000 Hours
To find out what you are good at, recall the past instances when people complimented you or sought your help. What was it about? What is the feedback you’ve received so far? And what are the things you can potentially be best at if you practice? You can ask your friends, family members, past colleagues or connections to help you here. Again, make a list.
4. Work with supportive colleagues
Does your work enable you to collaborate with people you’re comfortable with and who support you? Apparently, this is an important marker of satisfaction. If you’re employed, this could be your team members or boss. If you’re self-employed, this could be your clients or other stakeholders.
However, you don’t need to become friends with everyone, or even like all of your colleagues. Research shows that perhaps the most important factor is whether you can get help from your colleagues when you run into problems.
— 80,000 Hours
To refine this step further, think about what kind of people you like to work with. Are they creative, empathetic or organized? Or, would you prefer work that allows you to work alone most of the time, and minimize your interactions with other people irrespective of whether they are supportive or not?
5. Work that doesn’t have major negatives
Despite having the above ingredients, you won’t be satisfied if your work has negative factors like:
- A long commute, especially if it’s over an hour by bus.
- Very long hours.
- Pay you feel is unfair.
- Job insecurity.
To be satisfied, everything above is important. But you also need the absence of things that make work unpleasant.
— 80,000 Hours
This one is more about meeting some basic needs. Minimizing these factors is also the most common solution provided for dealing with stress and burnout.
6. Work that fits in with the rest of your life
Does your work align with your life goals and fit into them? For instance, if you’re in a position where your goal is to have autonomy, freedom of location and flexibility of timings you might want to consider remote, freelancing work opportunities rather than looking for a traditional job.
So this last factor is a reminder to consider how your career fits with the rest of your life.
— 80,000 Hours
Finally, a point to note is that you don’t need to get all six ingredients from a single job. You can have a full-time job that meets only four ingredients but pays the bills while having the remaining from hobbies or side projects.
How to apply these ingredients to your career
Now that you know the ingredients to a fulfilling job, how do you apply this knowledge to your career?
There are two ways to go about this.
First, you can use these ingredients to evaluate why your current job is unfulfilling. Score them on a scale of 1 to 5. If you’re considering switching to a new job, compare the scores of these ingredients for that job with your current job.
Second, you can use these ingredients to consider new career options if you decide to switch paths. Your list of engaging activities, strengths and problems you want to help solve will show you possible career paths. If you’re facing trouble with this step, you can consult a career coach to help you out.
Also, keep in mind that these ingredients are just a starting point. So, it’s useful to come up with your personalized list of four to eight ingredients.
These techniques can get you started in creating a better-fit career that leads to a more fulfilling work life. It might take some effort to come to conclusions. In some cases, you might need external help too. Also, jobs and projects could be experimental for a while. But in whatever way you craft it, it can be a rewarding experience and in the long run, an antidote to burnout.
