Occupational Burnout and 20+ Methods to Combat It
I faced burnout several times, and I didn’t know a definition of this state for a long time. It happened from time to time: I gradually accumulated fatigue, then the moment came when I lost motivation and couldn’t stand my job, and eventually, if I didn’t change anything, I began hating any mental work.
I took such life cycles for granted and thought the reason was a specificity of my psyche, like bipolar disorder or so. To get out of this feeling of exhaustion, I usually needed several months. After, I again dived into some activity with a great desire, working 10–12 hours a day.
Later, I learned about the term “burnout.” It turned out I wasn’t the only one who faced this problem. Moreover, millions of people face it, and burnout is a medical term that Herbert Freudenberger introduced to psychology in 1974 (WHO calls it an “occupational phenomenon”). According to medical science, burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, apathy, anxiety, anger, pessimism, and myriad other symptoms because of chronic overworking.
Over time, I developed some ways to handle burnout relatively easily if I can’t prevent it. Later I got a job at a Ukrainian IT company, where I was given a list of recommendations to combat burnout that the HR department of Netpeak (the company name) developed for employees. So, my knowledge and recommendations of this list I gathered together, and now I’ll share them with you in this article. Also, I’ll rate the efficiency of each point from one to ten according to my experience. Let’s go.
1. You should learning recognize this problem as quickly as possible [10 out of 10]
Now, when I don’t ignore an emergence of the problem, I settle it for a couple of weeks instead of a couple of months as earlier. Each person may have different symptoms, so you should find your own. If I, for example, begin to be irritable constantly, it’s a worrying sign to me.
2. Go in for sports or at least some physical activities [10 out of 10]
Jogging changed my life. My productivity, my health, my mood increased a few times when I began jogging regularly. But now it is the opposite situation. I’m writing this article during the winter when outside up to minus 20 degrees Celsius (I live in Ukraine). Such weather doesn’t allow me to go out for a jog, and I clearly feel the destructive consequences sedentary lifestyle. So, I recommend you play some sport. If you don’t like jogging, you should find something more fit for yourself, and I promise, it’ll really improve your life.
Also, I love walking. On my way to work, I try to get off a bus a few stops earlier to walk several km and then do the same after work on my way home. On weekends I’m off walking around the city, and sometimes I can walk up to 30 km. If you work a lot with people, you should walk alone and the opposite.
And one more thing. I hardly can name Dishwashing as a sport, but this physical exercise helps me calm down and tune in a workday. In the evening, I leave a dirty dish on purpose to wash it in the morning. It became something kind of meditation: warm water, quiet around, and monotonous movements that don’t require mental effort.
3. Take a rest more often [10 out of 10]
I always did the opposite, and it was one of the main causes of my burnout. Don’t be like me.
- You should take a vacation at least two times a year.
- You shouldn’t spend a vacation within your flat. You’d better travel more, find a way to experience new impressions, and try to forget about your work during rest.
- You should always take two days off per week and try during these days not to think about work.
- During rest, you should try not to use your gadgets.
4. Take up a hobby [6 out of 10]
Besides jogging, I love playing football and computer games. Maybe I chose not the most useful activities, but when I’m engaging them, I don’t think about work at all, and it helps me rest a bit.
5. Get enough sleep [10 out of 10]
European sleep research society points out that less than 6 hours of sleep is dangerous to our health. And the general recommendation for adults is 7–9 hours of sleep. To sleep better:
- Try to maintain your sleep schedule: get up in the morning and go to bed in the evening at the same time, even on weekends.
- Refrain from caffeine and alcohol late in the day.
- Don’t get physical exercise about three hours before bedtime.
- Don’t eat and drink a lot late in the day.
- Don’t use your smartphone and other screens at least an hour before sleep.
- Don’t lie awake. If you can’t fall asleep after twenty minutes, do some calming routine like reading or listening to soft music to relax until you feel sleepy.
6. Get a pet [6 out of 10]
Unfortunately, I don’t have any pets, but I see how they make their owners happier. For instance, I’m guessing my granny, who lives alone, loves her cat even more than me.
But never get a pet if you don’t like animals.
7. Set your personal goals [6 out of 10]
I don’t have any long-term goals, and I live by the principle “A samurai has no goal, only path.” But I know many people who have been significantly helped to cope with chronic burnout by their personal goals. As an example, I’ll quote my colleague that shared with me his experience of combating burnout:
“I have two docs that I clearly wrote my personal and work purposes (I write only realistic goals and set a deadline). I always reread these docs when I begin even a bit mope around and after I feel better at once. Goals made my life more meaningful.”
8. Healthy food [8 out of 10]
Your body needs quality fuel. Especially, you should pay attention to magnesium. This element is used in more than 300 processes in our bodies, and 50 of them proceed in our brains: it can improve your concentration, memory, sleep and help you confront depress mood. Magnesium is contained in nuts, avocado, black beans, pumpkin seeds, brown rice, etc.
9. Analyze your close friends, relatives, and colleagues if there are among them toxic people [8 out of 10]
Exclude from your social circle all people who always whine, criticize, complain and bring in your life only negative emotions. There is even a theory that you are arithmetic mean of your social circle. If it is impossible, you should try to minimize the amount of time you spend with them.
If you can’t find such toxic people in your social circle, maybe such person is yourself… :)
10. Communicate more often with friends and relatives, and get acquainted with new people [8 out of 10]
I spent a lot of time alone, got used to such a lifestyle, and it became a comfort zone for me. I know that now, in the digital age, countless people have a lifestyle like mine, but it is abnormally. A human is a social animal, and we need communication — it’s our nature.
And I talk about real-life communication and not messengers or Facebook. Therefore, at first, it may difficult to force yourself to go to a party, a date, or make some new acquaintances, but eventually, your efforts always pay off. Nothing inspires us more than other people.
11. Reduce the number of making decisions [6 out of 10]
Most of us have a job with hard mental work where we have to make hundreds of decisions every day (in addition to decisions in our personal life). All of these overload our brains during the day, and by the evening, we, as a rule, feel exhausted.
So, it would help if you tried to reduce the number of making decisions. For example, an entrepreneur I know bought ten pairs of identical shirts, pants, and shoes, and as a result, he doesn’t have any chance of thinking about what to wear in the morning.
12. Get on volunteering work [8 out of 10]
It helps to feel that your life contains something apart from work and entertainment, that you contribute to changing the world for the better. It inspires and motivates.
13. See a psychologist [10 out of 10]
If all points above don’t help, you should see a psychologist. It is the most efficient way to figure out reasons and find solutions to your problems.
14. Don’t work overtime [8 out of 10]
Ernest Hemingway advised young writers not to write too much during one day and always save a bit of writing desire for the next day. He was convinсed it is the necessary condition of productive working with long-term projects (such as writing books).
I often did the opposite, and as a result, overtimes always were among the main reasons for my numerous burnout. Separate work and rest particularly difficult if you work remotely because eventually, you stop work remotely but just began living at work. So now, I set a time frame for work and follow Ernest Hemingway’s advice.
15. Avoid information overload [8 out of 10]
Marketers, newsmakers, writers, bloggers, and thousands of others try to grab our attention every second of life. As a result, our brains explode because of this endless flow of information. To handle it, I deleted my accounts on social media and also try barely read the news. It helped, my mind became more clear, and the saved time I spend on books.
If you can’t do the same, you may arrange at least one day a week without social media and news.
16. Build friendly relations with your colleagues [8 out of 10]
In my previous job, we in our department often stayed after work to watch some movies on a slide projector, sometimes went to bars, ice rinks, picnics, etc. Eventually, we had a great atmosphere in our team, we wanted to go to work to communicate with each other, and the job became something more than just work. Moreover, I less than usually associated my job with problems and reasons for burnout, thanks to my colleagues.
17. Look at yourself in terms of who were you then and who are you now [6 0ut of 10]
Sometimes, it seems that you stagnate, don’t develop, and anywhere move; eventually, this state demotivates. But rarely something change at once, so you should recall who you were a couple of years ago, what skills you had, how many you earned, etc., and then compare all of these with your situation now. Most probably, you’ve increased a lot during this time.
I try to notice such moments because they give me the strength to continue.
18. You can’t give up and become a hobo [10 out of 10]
Sometimes life may be challenging and even unbearable, but you can’t give up and become a hobo, so work on yourself and learn to cope with difficult periods of your life.
19. Discuss your problems with your chief [6 out of 10]
Burnout is a normal thing. Probably your chief faced with it earlier and know how to help you. Maybe he’ll decrease your workload or change your role in a team or give you vacation… you should try to speak with him anyway. It would better than just resign silently.
20. Plan implementation of your work tasks and combat procrastination [10 out of 10]
I think you noticed how convenient putting tasks off for the following day. Sometimes we all want to be lazy a bit, but if you regularly do so, very likely, you’ll finish with overloading, a lot of overtime, and burnout (sooner or later, you’ll have to complete all delayed tasks). Don’t allow the occurrence of such situations:
- If you have too many tasks, you should focus on the main ones.
- Set a deadline for each task.
- Plan the following workday, week, month and don’t change anything because of laziness. At the end of a day, look through what percentage of planned earlier you implement.
- If you don’t want to do a certain task, refuse it at all (if you have such an opportunity), or the opposite, complete it first of all to forget about it.
21. Praise yourself for efforts and achieves [8 out of 10]
There is a critic inside each of us who thoroughly assesses our acts. Don’t allow him constantly scold you; the opposite, you should praise yourself even for little progress. To evaluate yourself objectively, try to express your results with figures: how many tasks you completed, how much money you earned, how many kilometers you run, etc.
And the last. It isn’t enough just to know: you must act and implement your knowledge [10 out of 10]
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