Burnout at work happens to those people who work not by vocation, but by nature they are responsible and serious.
They are accustomed to work hard, honestly perform their duties, worry, worry, achieve excellent results. As a result, they just wake up one day and realize a simple truth: everything is sick and gone. I no longer want to give all the best in full, try. And it’s not about something or someone. The zeal just passed.
Burnout symptoms
Complete indifference to their activities
Whatever he does, at some point it becomes all the same to him. He does not worry about missing deadlines, does not care about the attitude of his superiors, does not set goals to succeed and receive a bonus.
Of course, there are employees who are initially indifferent to their duties, but when an employee has an extinct look and is absolutely not interested in anything, this is a sign of danger. Even if something unpleasant or unusual happens, for example, with his colleague, the “burnt out” does not show any attention to this. On the news that his best friend’s mother has died, he will only silently shrug his shoulders and will not even ask if help is needed.
Frequent sick days
This is usually the behavior of people who do not want to work, but at the same time officially registered somewhere. At any hint of verification or control, they suddenly “fall ill” and, as a rule, take the maximum term.
Of course, this requires a familiar doctor who will do everything right and according to the law. But even in front of an ordinary local therapist, you can pretend to be sick and infirm with high blood pressure. Although there is another option: a person just caught a slight cold, that is, his state of health allows him to work and not go to the clinic. But he goes and takes the coveted disability certificate, with which he then lies down at home. In fact, he is just looking for an extra reason not to go to work.
Intemperance
If an employee works with people, then according to his job description, he is supposed to be polite and courteous.
However, if he has a burnout syndrome, then he talks like a robot, and sometimes breaks into a scream. Sometimes you even get the impression that he is dreaming of being fired. That’s trying to bring to the emotions of at least customers. But in reality the problem goes deeper. He does it unconsciously. He just got tired of doing monotonous and boring work. If he is now called to the boss and told to leave, he will definitely not be upset.
How to deal with burnout at work?
The way out of this difficult situation is, in general, the most common. For starters, it’s good to take a break. You can take a vacation, and before that, additionally go on sick leave. It is important to have more time. This is required to think about the situation and make an informed decision.
If a person really feels heaviness and emotional emptiness, it is really better for him to quit. It is unlikely that he will have something with this institution. Perhaps he should try his hand at something else. After all, many people do not work in their specialty and literally hate their job. Is it worth it to suffer so, even if the body screams that enough is enough?
Thus, burnout at work is not at all scary. A considerable number of people pass through it, especially representatives of such professions as teachers, doctors and law enforcement officers. You should not torment yourself and others, but it is better to try to change the field of activity. Those who still decide to do this, then reproach themselves for only one thing: for not leaving earlier.
Prevention of burnout at work should be carried out in a timely manner.
Burnout test
How to independently understand that we are really burned out? It is necessary to group the syndromes, as Natalia Agafonova, a business coach and an expert on personal effectiveness, explains, this will serve as a kind of test for professional burnout.
- Firstly, this is unreasonable fatigue, it seems that they got enough sleep, it seems that they rested. But fatigue is a protective function of the body to perform those actions in which we have lost interest.
- The second is physical drowning. The so-called “just got up – already tired”.
This is the reaction of the brain to the fact that the brain is tired of doing its direct function. This is especially true for people in supportive professions. Insufficient sleep, when the brain does not stop working and we wake up already with an emotional overload.
If sleep deprivation becomes chronic, medical consultation is necessary. For starters, meditation practices are suitable. If you understand that psychosomatic indicators appear – shortness of breath, nausea, lightheadedness, trembling – this is the reaction of the body. You have to tell yourself to stop.
Emotional symptoms of burnout at work
Our body does not have enough strength, for self-expression – cynicism in relation to work, we “push” our personal lives and we don’t care. We cover ourselves with excuses.
Irrationality, hidden anxiety, inability to concentrate. Feelings of guilt, did not have time, could not, everything is not right, I need it differently. Mental suffering that we try to mask, but an emptiness forms inside. In this case, we can experience a feeling of loneliness even being in a large number of people.
Behavioral Syndromes
For example, exceeding working hours by more than a few hours a week. Fatigue does not give us the opportunity to work at a certain pace, productivity and effectiveness decrease.
We begin to skip meals, compensating with pills, “nutrition stress – sweets, buns, etc.” We lose concentration and focus. We start getting hurt more often. In this state, we become somewhat dangerous to others.
Whether as a passenger or as a pedestrian, we can create emergencies.
Intellectual Syndromes
How to determine from this group that we are professionally burnt out – we are losing interest in work, in innovation, in new theories. We get bored, we lose the taste for our work.
We are not looking for alternative ways to solve a particular problem. And our brain chooses the easiest way, acting according to the pattern, based on previous experience. We refuse developmental events. We just create a quality picture.
But in fact, we are losing ground in at least 2 indicators – speed and innovation.
Social Syndromes
The most striking manifestation is the rejection of social contacts. We excuse ourselves with work, we initiate employment. In fact, we are moving into lean relationships, emotionally frugal.
We do not maintain social ties, not only with friends and associates in life. But we also begin to abstract from personal relationships. They are not emotionally colored by either emotions or speech. It always seems to us that they don’t help us, they don’t notice us. In fact, this is a shortage of energy and a resource that we are trying to replenish at the expense of other people.
Prevention of burnout syndrome
- We need to stop and rest.
- In order to get out of burnout at work, you need to add creativity.
- To look for interesting ideas and less expensive ways to develop interest in your profession.
And if it’s really tight, you need to make a decision to turn your life around, in order to do what you really love and what you really like.
