Put your mind at ease
So you’ve just had a great holiday. Even though your time off was fun and relaxing, do you dread going back to the office? Wish you had a few more days to yourself? That’s called burnout.
In today’s fast-paced business world, managers, professionals, staff and the self-employed are under tremendous pressure to deliver more in less time with fewer resources. We face conflicting demands, long working hours, and constant change in an unforgiving business environment that keeps getting tougher and faster.
Companies are finding it hard to hold onto valuable team members as staff become stressed and then quit. On the flipside, employers are putting so much pressure on their staff that the former is inevitable. Due to these pressures, we spend less time with our friends and families, we lose the passion we once had for our work, and have little work-life balance. This leads to burnout. What are the symptoms?
Prolonged stress can be physically draining, causing you to feel tired. You may no longer have the energy you once did and getting out of bed to face another day of the same becomes more difficult.
You feel moody, impatient, sad, or become frustrated more easily than you ordinarily would.
When stress levels are high for a prolonged period of time, your immune system suffers. People suffering from burnout usually get the message from their body that something needs to change. That message comes in the form of increased susceptibility to colds, the flu, and other minor illnesses.
Withdrawing from interpersonal relationships is another possible sign of burnout. You may have less interest in having fun, or have less patience with people.
Is it harder to get excited about life, harder to expect the best, harder to let things go? Because optimism is a great buffer for stress, those suffering from burnout find it harder to bounce back than they normally would, resulting in a negative attitude.
When experiencing burnout, it’s harder to get out of bed and face another day. You tend to be less effective overall and take more sick days. This could also be due to increased illness resulting from lowered immunity.
It makes sense for workers to take some time off before they’re feeling the full effects, and why it makes sense for employers not to run their workers into the ground.
It can be helpful to know the fatigue, helplessness and physical symptoms you’re experiencing are not all in your mind. They are not signs of weakness -” they are part of a larger problem you can take steps to solve.
If you’re feeling the symptoms, ask for help. Talk to your manager about how you’re feeling and ask for advice or support.
Next time someone tells you a funny story don’t just smile -” laugh, giggle, chuckle. Loudly. Studies suggest laughing helps reduce the damaging effects of stress hormones in the body. When you laugh, you elevate your mood and feel better in general.
Ask questions in meetings, share your opinions, or start a conversation with a co-worker about the movie you saw at the weekend. Being chatty will help distract you from stressful thoughts, making parts of your day enjoyable.
Compete in a marathon, walk a mile, go for a long bike ride. Taking on any challenging physical feat will boost your happiness and send feelgood brain chemicals into your bloodstream. Join a gym or a sporting team.
Making your work area feel homey and less clinical shouts to the world, -˜this is my space’. Choosing interesting objects for your desk and surrounding yourself with things you love helps create an environment you want to be in.
The key is to take charge of your life. You have chosen your path in life up until now, and you can choose to change direction any time you wish. No one likes a nasty, negative co-worker and the only person who can get you out of this rut is you.
