Burnout is recognized as a break between what people are and what they have to do, and it is typically experienced as emotional exhaustion or depersonalization (Olson et al., 2019; Kolomitro, Kenny, & Sheffield, 2019).
6 Ways To Avoid Burnout Effectively (With Common Causes)
Managing stress surrounding your work life is important for staying productive, motivated and positive at your job. If you manage your stress effectively, you are more likely to avoid burnout, which can affect your well-being and your ability to perform your job duties. It’s important to learn how to avoid burnout so you can maintain your mental and physical health and have a successful career. In this article, we discuss what burnout is, what causes burnout and how to avoid burnout at work.
Burnout is a state of chronic physical, mental and emotional exhaustion resulting from prolonged stress. Burnout can be characterized by feeling constantly overwhelmed and having more difficulty mentally meeting the demands of work and personal obligations. It normally leads to a loss of motivation and interest in work, life and activities you typically enjoy. Individuals most likely to experience burnout are those in high-stress environments such as emergency service workers, attorneys and those who hold multiple jobs, but anyone who works too much or feels undervalued could experience burnout.
8 Strategies to Prevent Employee Burnout
Research into burnout in the workplace recognizes employee wellbeing through four dimensions (Hyett & Parker, 2015):
Workload
If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of burnout, try to focus on each of the above actions. Proactive effort to reduce workload can be highly effective at removing some stressors impacting burnout.
Control
Consider how you can regain control. Agree on a timetable for when you are available and what resources you need to do your job well. Gaining a sense of control over your environment can increase your sense of autonomy.
Community
Fairness
Value mismatch
Task balancing
Mental breaks
We sometimes feel unable to stop. We check emails while in line for a coffee and type up notes on the flight back from a business meeting. While it can seem essential when you are busy to keep pushing ahead, it is vital to take breaks. Use spare time to read a book, listen to music, talk to a friend, or run through breathing exercises.
Physical breaks
Stress and tension take their toll physically. You may notice tight shoulders or headaches. Learning to recognize times when you are most stressed or anxious can help. When you do, find a moment to take some slow breaths or go for a walk.
Tip 5: Support your mood and energy levels with a healthy diet
Koutsimani, Panagiota, Anthony Montgomery, and Katerina Georganta. “The Relationship Between Burnout, Depression, and Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Frontiers in Psychology 10 (March 13, 2019): 284. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00284
Salvagioni, Denise Albieri Jodas, Francine Nesello Melanda, Arthur Eumann Mesas, Alberto Durán González, Flávia Lopes Gabani, and Selma Maffei de Andrade. “Physical, Psychological and Occupational Consequences of Job Burnout: A Systematic Review of Prospective Studies.” PLOS ONE 12, no. 10 (October 4, 2017): e0185781. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185781
Information, National Center for Biotechnology, U. S. National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda MD, and 20894 Usa. Depression: What Is Burnout? InformedHealth.Org [Internet]. Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), 2020. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279286/
Ahola, Kirsi, Salla Toppinen-Tanner, and Johanna Seppänen. “Interventions to Alleviate Burnout Symptoms and to Support Return to Work among Employees with Burnout: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Burnout Research 4 (March 1, 2017): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burn.2017.02.001
Ruisoto, Pablo, Marina R. Ramírez, Pedro A. García, Belén Paladines-Costa, Silvia L. Vaca, and Vicente J. Clemente-Suárez. “Social Support Mediates the Effect of Burnout on Health in Health Care Professionals.” Frontiers in Psychology 11 (2021): 3867. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.623587
Toussaint, Loren, Quang Anh Nguyen, Claire Roettger, Kiara Dixon, Martin Offenbächer, Niko Kohls, Jameson Hirsch, and Fuschia Sirois. “Effectiveness of Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Deep Breathing, and Guided Imagery in Promoting Psychological and Physiological States of Relaxation.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2021 (July 3, 2021): e5924040. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/5924040
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Authorship:
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-avoid-a-burnout
https://positivepsychology.com/burnout-prevention/
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/burnout-prevention-and-recovery.htm
Prevent burnout
When wellbeing is a priority, managing burnout is an imperative. In contrast, when wellbeing is an HR-driven nice-to-have rather than the norm modeled across the organization, the workplace culture can perpetuate burnout.
How to Prevent Athlete Burnout
Burnout is hard to define. For this article, I’m referring to the point in time where it’s a good for an athlete to take a break from conventional training; the specific time in a career or training phase where they need some time away. I’m seeing athlete burnout more and more often and want to speak about it instead of looking the other way.
It’s easy to write about periodization, recovery techniques, and the latest technology. It’s harder to talk about an issue to which I may be contributing. Coaches dispense enormous amounts of stress on athletes, and sometimes the responses aren’t healthy. My goal is to create awareness so others will take the baton and help provide a support network for athletes instead of making the problem worse. Most of us are involved in sports for the right reasons, and while good intentions are great on paper, how they unfold may not be pretty.
What is Athlete Burnout Really?
Burnout. Defining it, managing it, and talking about it isn’t easy even without the sports component. When faced with burnout, coaches must deal with a moral obligation that may hurt their team’s success as well as their own jobs. Now that CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) awareness is growing, we must see athletes as humans with regular needs. Yes athletes are special talents, but they’re not impervious to things other people experience every day, such as the loss of a parent, fears of rejection, and problems with substance abuse.
Athletes will have eating disorders, addictions, and depression. For these issues, call a professional immediately, even it means pulling over while driving. You never know the true timeliness of helping a person who is struggling until it’s too late.
Burnout is not depression, but it’s worth noting the similarities and understanding that mishandling either may have severe consequences. Both conditions have signs and symptoms that overlap, so it’s essential to know the differences. When in doubt, assume the worse and have the peace of mind that you’re acting responsibly.
A convenient and easy definition of burnout is found in several books on sport psychology. Burnout could mean an athlete needs a change, realizes they love the sport less as demands increase, or just fails to cope with normal stress. Summarizing burnout in sports as “physical and or emotional exhaustion” is a lazy and horribly oversimplified definition.
Athletes will hit dark points during heavy training periods, and knowing the difference between burnout and heavy fatigue is everything. Not challenging an athlete is dangerous athletically, as it guarantees that the athlete won’t be prepared when it counts, but overtraining is just as bad.
The key is to go further than the books, further than looking for clues, and further than simply speaking to the athlete; it’s asking the athlete if they are enjoying the process. If an athlete doesn’t have the desire or confidence to keep up the pace, and they feel a need for a change, it’s likely they are burned-out. It’s not about blame or a sign of weakness; it’s about the individual listening to their inner self and taking action. Working with a sport psychologist or therapist is ideal, but most of the frontline work will be with the coach since we work with the athlete more than anyone else.
Hire Managers Who Are the Right Fit
When you carefully choose great managers, they make habits of offering feedback, coaching and support and helping employees achieve the right balance between work and life. They naturally create a positive work environment that fosters engagement and high performance while reducing burnout.
A closer look at the manager experience illuminates why managers are at an even higher risk of burnout than their boss and those they manage. Among the biggest challenges of the job are unclear performance expectations, large amounts of work, distractions, stress, competing priorities and performance challenges.
3. Design your employee experience to reduce burnout.
It includes all the interactions an employee has with the organization throughout the employee life cycle. The life cycle is composed of seven critical stages during which organizations have the most influence on the employee experience, from their applicant experience to when they exit the organization.
Make Work Purposeful
The most effective managers cultivate a sense of purpose among employees by clarifying the organization’s mission and helping employees discover how their role and daily tasks contribute to fulfilling that mission.
Employees who have the opportunity to do what they do best are 57% less likely to experience burnout frequently. Why? When people have the opportunity to tap into their strengths, they are more engaged, more effective, less stressed and more focused on doing their best work — rather than seeing their job as a burden.
Gallup analytics consistently prove that managers get the best performance from their team members when they identify what their people do best, praise them for it, and guide them into tasks and partnerships that maximize their natural talents.
What Are The Causes Of Employee Burnout?
Work Causes
Hard Work
This is one of burnout’s unexpected warning signs and causes. Hard work can be a good thing, but it can also lead to burnout if it’s paired with unsustainable and unmanageable workload and time pressures. Anyone who thinks it’s impossible to do the amount of work they need to do in a set timeframe will become overwhelmed.
No Recognition
No Voice
No Goals
If employees lack stimulating goals, they might forget why they’re going to work. Eventually, that leads to a complete lack of motivation to do anything at all. Boredom and detachment from the company mission soon follow.
Lack Of Support
Employees need work friends, a strong team, inspiring leadership, clear communication, and the right tools and technologies to do their best work. If they don’t have the right tools, they may feel like they can’t accomplish anything and grow frustrated.
Injustice, Discrimination, And Unfairness
Lack Of Role Clarity And Direction
If employees have no clear job description and no clear advancement opportunities, they might struggle to figure out what they should even be doing. They could grow to believe their work is pointless and then disengage.
Failure Or Setback
Poor Workplace Culture
Poor Work Environment
Personal And External Causes
Distressing Events
A distressing event, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can cause people to question their priorities and possibly even disengage from things they used to care about, including work. This is also true of events that affect only the employee, such as the loss of a loved one.
Lack Of Family And Friend Support
Mission Incompatibility
No Free Time
Overwork and long hours don’t stay neatly contained at work. These things can overflow into employees’ personal lives, making them feel as though they have absolutely no time of their own and no personal life.
Family Pressures
Perfectionism
Pessimism
How To Prevent, Treat, And Cure Employee Burnout
So by now, you’ve probably identified a few burned-out employees, but don’t worry. The prognosis isn’t as grim as you might think. Burnout is not an irreversible condition, and there are plenty of ways you can try to treat it and, with hope, cure it.
1) Host Team-Building Events
How this idea prevents/cures burnout: Work friendships have been linked with the kind of engagement that wards off burnout. By hosting a team-building activity, you can help drained employees reconnect with friends and maybe even make new ones. Not only is this fun, but it also reconnects employees with an overarching purpose and will maybe even rekindle some of their old motivation.
2) Offer Half-Day Fridays
How this idea prevents/cures burnout: Something as simple as a half-day Friday can be just the kind of treat people need to get through the week. But this burnout treatment isn’t just about the time; it’s about showing employees you see them as more than just producers who must be chained to their desks for set hours. It shows you value them and trust them, and that, in addition to some extra time off, goes a long way for rejuvenating a burned-out employee.
3) Empower Employees To Recognize Each Other
How this idea prevents/cures burnout: A little employee engagement goes far to boost morale, even among burned-out employees who’ve forgotten why they do what they do. Just hearing that their work is important, valuable, and excellent can be enough to inspire employees to keep on doing that work.
4) Listen To Them
How this idea prevents/cures burnout: No prodding. No awkwardness. Just a real conversation. Ask them how they’re feeling. Involve them in your decision-making. All this makes any burned out employee feel like a human, like a human not only valued for their output but also for their opinions and life experiences. This open-door policy is the perfect way to create a culture of listening that ensures employees feel heard.
5) When In Doubt, Give Out High-Quality Swag
How this idea prevents/cures burnout: Getting gifts just feels good. Use this idea in conjunction with other burnout treatments to make employees feel special enough to dust off the burnout.
6) Let Employees Give Feedback
How this idea prevents/cures burnout: When you let employees provide feedback, you might learn exactly why they’re burned out, and therefore, what you need to do to reduce the burnout. Beyond that, employees will love sharing their ideas, their good ideas. Maybe they’ve just been waiting for this opportunity to speak their mind.
7) Give Employees A Spending Card Or Monthly Allowance
How this idea prevents/cures burnout: This idea has an impact not only because of what it is, but also because of what it enables employees to do. Whether they put their allowance toward the training they need to reinvigorate their work or simply purchase something that makes them happy, employees will always appreciate receiving this little boost.
8) Automate Recurring Employee Engagement Activities
How this idea prevents/cures burnout: Any amount of time you can dedicate to employee engagement will help out employees feeling burned out or underappreciated. Engagement activities can reconnect employees to one another and also to company missions, inspiring them to feel, once again, that motivation and passion for work they’ve been missing.
Authorship:
https://simplifaster.com/articles/prevent-athlete-burnout/
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/313160/preventing-and-dealing-with-employee-burnout.aspx
https://snacknation.com/blog/employee-burnout/
Prevent burnout
Gallup analytics show that the number of hours people work each week does matter. The risk of occupational burnout risk increases greatly when employees exceed an average of 50 hours per week and escalating even more substantially at 60 hours per week.
6 Ways To Avoid Burnout Effectively (With Common Causes)
Managing stress surrounding your work life is important for staying productive, motivated and positive at your job. If you manage your stress effectively, you are more likely to avoid burnout, which can affect your well-being and your ability to perform your job duties. It’s important to learn how to avoid burnout so you can maintain your mental and physical health and have a successful career. In this article, we discuss what burnout is, what causes burnout and how to avoid burnout at work.
Burnout is a state of chronic physical, mental and emotional exhaustion resulting from prolonged stress. Burnout can be characterized by feeling constantly overwhelmed and having more difficulty mentally meeting the demands of work and personal obligations. It normally leads to a loss of motivation and interest in work, life and activities you typically enjoy. Individuals most likely to experience burnout are those in high-stress environments such as emergency service workers, attorneys and those who hold multiple jobs, but anyone who works too much or feels undervalued could experience burnout.
Hire Managers Who Are the Right Fit
When you carefully choose great managers, they make habits of offering feedback, coaching and support and helping employees achieve the right balance between work and life. They naturally create a positive work environment that fosters engagement and high performance while reducing burnout.
A closer look at the manager experience illuminates why managers are at an even higher risk of burnout than their boss and those they manage. Among the biggest challenges of the job are unclear performance expectations, large amounts of work, distractions, stress, competing priorities and performance challenges.
3. Design your employee experience to reduce burnout.
It includes all the interactions an employee has with the organization throughout the employee life cycle. The life cycle is composed of seven critical stages during which organizations have the most influence on the employee experience, from their applicant experience to when they exit the organization.
Make Work Purposeful
The most effective managers cultivate a sense of purpose among employees by clarifying the organization’s mission and helping employees discover how their role and daily tasks contribute to fulfilling that mission.
Employees who have the opportunity to do what they do best are 57% less likely to experience burnout frequently. Why? When people have the opportunity to tap into their strengths, they are more engaged, more effective, less stressed and more focused on doing their best work — rather than seeing their job as a burden.
Gallup analytics consistently prove that managers get the best performance from their team members when they identify what their people do best, praise them for it, and guide them into tasks and partnerships that maximize their natural talents.
How can companies help employees recover from burnout?
Organizations and managers need to simultaneously help employees address and manage their stress and workload while enabling them to allocate time to replenish and build their resources. Resources are the physical, psychological, social or organizational aspects of the job that help achieve work goals, reduce job demands or stimulate personal growth, learning and development. Think of resources as the well-being drivers that people draw from to help combat the negative effects of stress.
Resources can include:
Employees who are completely burned out have lost sight of meaning in their work. Managers and organizations must recognize burnout and help re-establish meaningfulness in employees’ lives and work. Employee burnout is real and it’s affecting millions of workers globally. It’s imperative that companies understand the impact burnout has on employee engagement and business results — and know the tools and strategies for how to reduce burnout in the workplace. It’s up to organizations (and managers) to spot signs of burnout and intervene as quickly as possible.
Companies should strive to prevent workplace burnout in the first place by focusing on employee well-being and manager support. When employees are burned out, companies and managers need to take an active role in helping the employee recover. Burnout is not a personal issue, it’s an organizational issue. Burnout needs to be addressed at all levels of the company in order to effectively prevent and combat it.
Authorship:
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-avoid-a-burnout
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/313160/preventing-and-dealing-with-employee-burnout.aspx
https://www.limeade.com/resources/blog/how-to-reduce-burnout-in-the-workplace/