Burnout

May 14, 2024

Are you feeling the effects of burnout? If so, you’re not alone.

A recent report from 'Indeed', the job search site, found that MOST workers are feeling burnt out – 52%! That is an increase of 9% from a pre-COVID survey. And that’s employees, across different sectors, ages and roles, who experience the impact of stress, fatigue, and mental health challenges, known as burnout.

According to the World Health Organisation, burnout is included in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon, not a medical condition.

“Burn-out is 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; and
reduced professional efficacy."

https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases

I remember my burnout only too well.

I became increasingly unhappy working harder and harder, trying to get through a growing list of priorities only to feel less fulfilled and more unhappy. T

To compensate, I spent loads of money when I wasn’t at work to try and make myself feel better.

Madness!

If anyone had offered me this outcome before I started the job, I’d undoubtedly have said cheerily, “No thanks” and gone on my merry way to find a better way of working.

Burnout is common, almost expected in today's world. But normalising it doesn’t make it right. In fact, it’s scary that it’s so widespread and has been accepted by so many. Surely that says something about our society at large?! (Perhaps to be discussed in a future blog.)

However, it doesn’t need to be this way.

Burnout happens for a variety of reasons.

For me, it was partly having a manager who lacked the understanding or emotional intelligence to recognise how to get the best out of me, and partly the business culture which had changed, making it more difficult to truly thrive.

I just kept trying harder, putting more pressure on myself, beating myself up that I wasn’t performing as well as I could, and ultimately, making myself unwell.

Crazy!

So, what did I do?

I quit. I had nothing else lined up. It wasn't all figured out. And I had no plan for my next career move.

But I left because I realised this was no way to live.

That I was worth more than the business.

They would hire another recruit, and I would fade into history and become nothing more than a dormant payroll number.

And that’s what happened.

And for me?

After building up the confidence to take the leap, I took time out to heal, learn from the experience and find a happier, healthier way forward.

It is possible.

There is ALWAYS another way.

Life is full of choices. Choose those that make you happy.