Job Burnout: Here’s How You Can Detect & Defeat It

Many employees have expressed feeling “burnout” at their jobs, but what does that mean? And how serious should it be taken? Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged and excessive stress. It is typically induced or made worse by workplace stressors and can become especially unmanageable in the midst of personal life crises. While many people think the term “burnout” may be overused or even dramatic, experiencing actual burnout isn’t uncommon and should be taken seriously.

The Signs

Symptoms of burnout usually consist of tiredness, irritability, being unable to or experiencing difficulty concentrating, feelings of detachment and cynicism and high levels of stress. Physical indicators are also quite common and include tense muscles, headaches and digestive issues. Thankfully, there are many methods that businesses and individuals alike can take to recover from and prevent burnout.

If you believe that you are experiencing burnout, you’ll want to consider doing the following:

1. Take breaks: Short breaks during the workday to step away from your workload can do wonders for your mental energy. This can be even more true when vacations and personal days off are utilized. Make sure to utilize any allotted break time that is offered to you—it’s not just a perk of the workplace, but a necessity for your overall well-being.

2. Create work-life balance: Defining personal and professional limits is essential to avoid overwhelming workloads. Communicating these boundaries clearly with colleagues, supervisors and family members can help manage expectations and reduce stress.

3. Practice self-care: As cliché as it sounds, self-care is extremely important to your overall well-being. Maintaining a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water, exercising regularly and getting sufficient sleep are the bare essentials you need to begin to decrease your burnout symptoms. Activities like journaling, meditation and spending time with loved ones can also support emotional health.

4. Engage in stress management: Regular stress-relieving practices can mitigate the effects of chronic stress. Mindfulness, meditation, exercise and engaging in activities that bring you joy are all effective strategies for stress reduction.

Burnout can lead to reduced efficiency at best and the loss of a valuable employee as one of its worst outcomes. To mitigate employee burnout, employers should:

1. Provide break times: Taking time away from work isn’t a privilege, it’s a necessity; allowing employees to mentally and physically recharge to ensure the best outcome for their job duties. Encourage employees to utilize allotted time off and provide them with break times for the best results.
2. Encourage work-life balance: A balanced approach to work and personal life can prevent stress accumulation. Ensuring time for hobbies, family and rest enhances productivity and job satisfaction while reducing burnout risk.
3. Create open communication: Establishing open communication with genuine consideration for your employee’s concerns is one of the best ways to not only prevent burnout, but to improve every aspect of the business. If burnout does occur in your workplace, you’ll not only know about it, but be able to find ways to quickly address it.

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This article was originally published on diversitycomm.net.