Burnout: The Thing Everyone Feels but Doesn’t Talk About
According to a recent study by Deloitte, 77% of employees have experienced burnout in their current workplace, and 83% admitted burnout negatively affected their personal lives and relationships. Even worse, according to a recent report, 45% of employees were struggling with burnout in late 2020. My guess? A good amount of these employees still are. So, why is this and what can we do to change the trajectory?
Virtual work has brought good and bad patterns into our workdays. For some, mostly good. For others, mostly bad. In addition, we are working alone all day, every day. We don’t physically see our co-workers and get to have those quick chats like we were used to. With these differences come finding new ways of communication. However, this also means having tough conversations on camera that can be even more scary and difficult than before. It also means your work is at home with you 24/7, and you can go check your email at any time. If you allow it, your work never stops. As we know, this is not an ideal way to ensure a work life balance. So, I have a few tips. While these tips may seem challenging or even impossible, I can assure you they will be worthwhile in the long run.
- Talk with your manager — For some people, this may seem obvious and simple. However, not everyone loves their manager or has great relationships with them. Regardless of your situation, expressing how you are feeling is crucial to making any sort of change. In an ideal situation, your manager will be understanding, listen to what you have to say, and try to make a plan with you to figure out how to prevent feelings of further burnout and enable you to bounce back. If your manager isn’t so understanding, at least you have shared your concerns and hopefully feel a bit relieved to have gotten these feelings off of your chest and into the open.
- Do a social media detox — While social media may not be something you think of as necessarily draining, it can easily become something that we use to step away from our work for a few minutes and take a break. However, this isn’t necessarily a good outlet. By doing this, we are moving from one screen to another, taking in massive amount of information with every scroll and click, and often becoming more overwhelmed and burnout as a result. While social media may be a way for you to keep in touch with people in your life, it is also a draining platform for your emotional and mental energy. Instead of seeking out your phone to take a break from work, try standing up and doing a few stretches or a quick meditation. Make a snack, go get your mail — anything that gets you moving a bit and takes you away from an information overload.
- Limit screen time — Similarly to the previous tip, too much screen time is simply not good for us. However, we can’t exactly help that right now. So, instead of reaching for your phone or the TV remote after work, reach for a book or a pair of sneakers and go for a walk. Listen to music or a podcast, try a new recipe, pick up a hobby you’ve always want to try or maybe forgotten. Personally, I am a lover of Sudoku and have an app to play on my phone, but recently I have been playing in an actual book instead ($1 at the Dollar Store…can’t beat that!) to limit my screen time while keeping my mind a bit more active. I have found that I enjoy it much more!
- Take some time off — Sometimes, the answer is truly to take time off from work. While this may be easier said than done with limited vacation time, see what you have available and talk with your manager. Even if it is taking a Friday and/or Monday off to make a longer weekend for yourself, it will be worth it to allow yourself to relax, reset, and refocus. Sometimes, a reset or off switch for a few days is all we need to get back to normal and feel refreshed.
- Consider switching roles or taking on different projects — This, again, will require you to talk with your manager to see if this would be possible. However, if changing up your projects or specific role is what you need, asking these questions is absolutely worthwhile.
- Talk with those closest to you — Since our interactions with those closest to us are far more limited now, it can be challenging to make sure you are connecting with family and friends if you don’t make a conscious effort to do so. If you are feeling lonely, this can lead to feeling burnt out because you may feel like all you are doing is working. Make sure you are making the time to call those friends and family in your life, it can truly be the difference.
- Make sure you are taking care of yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally — Last, and arguably most important, is making sure you are taking care of yourself. If you are not giving your body the nutrients, rest, and engagement it needs, it will not perform its best (this includes your brain functionality). Make sure you are eating, resting, and moving your body enough so it can perform at its best and allow you to do your best work.
So, what tip(s) are you going to put into action today?
