Three Ways to Recover from Getting Burnt Out on the Job

We all work to live, but sometimes it feels as if we live to work and for many that can cause some serious job burnout no matter your work ethic or your position. When confronting work burnout, it’s easy to lay the blame straight at your job and responsibilities. You may think to yourself: I have too much on my plate, my boss asks too much of me, why do my co wo-workers have it so much easier? Knowing how you work and what your strengths and weaknesses are will assess whether your work burnout is manageable or a sign you need to find a new opportunity. When confronting burnout head-on, these are the three questions that you should ask yourself: Am I organizing my time effectively, is this an issue at my job that is out of my control, and what is my life like outside of the office? When you start to feel dread and anxiety about coming into work, a mental health day may be necessary to see if these fixes can be made or your future with the company is no longer ideal.

1 | Work Ethic Versus Workload | A major cause of burnout can be the feeling of having too much on your plate and not enough time to do it all. While it’s perfectly reasonable to feel overwhelmed with your tasks, are you taking the time to complete them effectively? I know personally if I put off a task and then I have less time to do it, I’ll get very anxious and start to dread this task, thereby making it take so much longer than it originally would have. In this instance though, my anxiety is caused by me not organizing my time and then I am left scrambling to get it done. There have been other times where I get everything done, and then two seconds later my emails are flying out the screen of my laptop. Knowing the differences between these instances can determine whether it’s work ethic or workload that is bogging down your time.

2 | Changing Roles Means Changing Goals | We don’t pick our family, and the same can be said for our co-workers and our managers. Acclimating to a work environment or dealing with a sudden change such as an employee being fired or a new manager can drastically affect the environment you are used to working in. You could have a new boss that you don’t get along with, your favorite co-worker may have left or the culture you once enjoyed isn’t what you want anymore; every new change is different for better or worse. When analyzing these changes, you can decide whether this is something outside of your control or if you can make a change to your work life to accommodate it. Your new boss may want people to start at 8 AM instead of 9 AM; something as simple as that could conflict with what you are used to and only you know what works for you. There will always be factors out of our control and no job will ever be perfect; it just comes down to what is reasonable for you. At the same time, you need to be reasonable with your expectations. If you have gotten used to slacking off and a new boss won’t allow it, you can’t blame them for making a new change. If you regularly adjust your expectations to reflect changes in your life, you can decide what is a big deal and what is a simple fix.

3 | What Happens Off-The-Job, Affects The Job | As much as staying on top of what happens in the office, you need to organize your time and life outside the office in your day-to-day life. It took some trial and error on my part, but I realized a lot of the burnout feelings I experienced were due to lack of sleep and my eating habits rather than the job itself. Not having a good night’s sleep will completely affect your day more than you know. You will be too tired to tackle projects, get more irritated at little things and the time will feel as if it’s dragging. I also notice when I don’t eat breakfast, even if it’s just fruit or a snack bar, I can feel run-down. Taking care of your health and well-being is a 24-hour job, so take the time to eat and sleep so you can perform to the best of your ability. You may be eating great, working out every day, and be in the best shape of your life and still feel the work dread; maybe it’s time to reevaluate your career and do what energizes you and excites you.

Solving For Real Burnout

While feeling burnt out from a job is completely natural, knowing the how’s and why’s behind that feeling can help you decide what is the true cause. Are you taking control of your time and taking care of yourself, or is the job too demanding and your boss being unrealistic? Let’s be honest, work is not supposed to be a rollercoaster of fun. There will be good, bad and ugly days for every one of us. You need to also set your expectations and be reasonable with them. It’s eight hours of your day; is it something you can power through or is every day a struggle? By pinpointing your feelings and being realistic with your expectations, burnout could be a simple fix or a major life change in the making. At the end of the day, listen to your body; no one knows you better than you.

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