What is Job Burnout?
Before getting into how to recover from burnout, it is important to recognize signs of it. Burnout affects everyone differently, but there are some common signals for people including:
- Unexplained muscle tension, pain, fatigue or insomnia
- Difficulty maintaining relationships in work and personal life
- Frustration and irritability with people
- Diminished pride in work
- Forgetfulness and problems concentrating
- Losing sight of career goals
There are other signs of burnout, but the ones listed above are the most common. Now that you know what to look for, let’s discuss some ways to stop it in the first place or how to get back into your work groove.
How to Recover from Burnout
Just like how everyone experiences burnout differently, there’s a variety of ways to recover from it. The following tips and tricks are a few ways to go about facilitating a good restoration.
Tip #1: Focus on your body: Okay let’s be honest, living on just coffee is not a good way to keep your engine running. Ditto for always ordering takeout. Your body needs plenty of water, nutritious meals, as well as sleep to keep it functioning. If you can’t turn off the screens or find yourself snacking throughout the day, these habits need to be broken.
Trick: Start meal planning, you’ll be surprised what a difference it makes to have your food ready during the week when you prepare it on the weekends. Plus, when you have food ready in the refrigerator, it’s easier to avoid ordering out all the time.
Tip #2: Talk It Out: Sometimes it can be hard to talk with other people in your life about the problems you are facing, but this is very important to have these conversations when it comes to work stress. Bottling it all up hurts you more in the long run. Find someone to discuss how your day is going or what hurdles have been tripping you up. It doesn’t have to be your supervisor either. It can be a friend or family member, and their outside perspective can help you.
Trick: Schedule into your calendar, a weekly chat with someone. It can be whatever time is best for you, but it’s one way to keep you accountable.
Tip #3: Meet with Your Manager: If you have experienced burnout, it’s highly likely that your supervisor will notice, and if they haven’t, you need to communicate with them about it. Discussing how the burnout happened or contributing factors will help them understand how to assist you in future. It’s also a chance to talk about any feelings such as lack of control, insufficient rewards, unfairness, or lack of communication. If you want, you can even pull in your HR manager to ensure that your needs are met.
Trick: This meeting is a chance to talk about delegation of tasks that are overwhelming you. No, you’re not asking for someone to take over your job, but to have some plan in place for when the work comes gushing in. Although you may think you can handle everything, you can’t, and your leadership should understand that too.
Replies to This Discussion