There are times when people dread going to work. That is natural, since it may involve duties that are repetitive or there may be monotonous meetings. It’s when it becomes a near neverending cycle and even the thought of going to work can give someone sweaty hands is when they may have reached the point of burnout.
Burnout presents itself in different ways and occurs due to varying circumstances. This is thanks to research that showed that people react differently to chronic workplace stress, which ran counter to earlier thinking of a one-size-fits-all mindset on how people handle this issue.
Overload Burnout
A lot of people fit this category. Part of the reason that this happens is that they feel like they have to do all of this work to “prove” that they belong at their job. They will often overlook their own needs and do things like working at their desk through their lunch or they will stay late and come in early. This worsened due to when remote work became part of the workflow. There was always the sense that they had to be on call all the time.
Yes, there are some people out there that can work many hours for almost their entire lives and not suffer any bad side effects. They are usually the exception and not the norm, though. Most people ultimately wind up becoming overworked and becoming sick, irritable, or just unwilling to do their normal workload.
There are several ways that one can handle overload burnout. This includes regulating their workload and not taking it home with them. They create boundaries and have a separate home life where they focus on their family and friends. Turning off their computer at a certain time was one step.
Under-Challenged Burnout
People also face this sort of burnout. It happens when they go to work knowing that they won’t be mentally challenged. The lack of stimulation results in extreme boredom. They are usually jealous of people who are working on more challenging tasks. Being stifled at one’s job is very counterproductive and the result is the worker feeling lethargic.
There are things that can be done, like learning a new skill, over the course of a month. The skills can be anything from coding to learning a new language. As a result, one’s curiosity can be piqued – and it can even help boost their work life, since they could move to a new role or even a new career path.
Another option would be to aim to create a new job within the existing role. This way, they could challenge themselves while earning a whole new job title and a salary bump, too. Earning more money while doing something enjoyable could be seen as quite a good thing.
Neglect Burnout
When people go to work, they like to have a strong idea of what they need to do day in and day out. If they wind up in a place where they don’t have any steady direction or structure, that can lead to them trying to figure things out on the fly. It can make them feel that people there don’t care how they do. As a result, they neglect burnout and wind up not doing anything at all.
The solution is to get ownership of the job and set strict boundaries. People delegate whatever tasks they don’t really have to do. They should take a close look at their duties and see what makes them feel resentful. It’s important that they communicate with their boss and try to get on the same page. They should focus on self-care outside of work. This should improve their overall outlook on all aspects of their lives.
What it really comes down to is putting one’s health, both physical and mental, ahead of any job. It’s simply not worth it to work oneself to the point that they get sick and stressed out. One’s job would likely replace them in a very short amount of time. Is that worth all that effort? Likely not.
That’s not to say that one shouldn’t be professional. Work hard … but set boundaries and look for signs that they are close to being overstepped and act accordingly. When it’s time to take stock of their life, people would rather not have regrets about spending too much time at work and not spending it with their friends and family. Striving to avoid any of these types of burnout is an excellent goal.
