How To Deal With Workplace Burnout

There is an increasing number of people struggling to make it through the workday. Mental health struggles are on the rise, and anxiety and depression are front-and-center for many. It can feel like your mind won't stop racing as you try to grasp a single thought. Or you may feel like you're trudging through molasses as you get ready for your day. Nothing feels easy, and the hard things feel impossible...

You are not alone.

With the last two years, several parts of our lives have shifted-especially in the career world. We have spent more time at home and even if the remote work serves our lifestyles better, our social lives have taken a big hit. We have fewer interactions with people as a whole. We’ve had to make new schedules for remote or hybrid work and redefine work-life balance.

It is a lot.

As you start to consider these changes, it's no wonder that more and more people have been leaving their jobs, seeking therapy and struggling with burnout. If you're with those ready to leave their jobs because every day feels like the last straw, please keep reading.

Burnout is a serious issue and worth addressing as soon as you realize that it's a part of your story.

While much of this post is about helping you deal with burnout, it is not a substitute for counseling. If you are dealing with burnout, one of the most important things you can do for yourself is reach out for help. Therapists can help you work through burnout, build skills to cope with stress, and identify new life steps to help prevent future burnout.

If you'd like to address your burnout outside of counseling, here are just a few suggestions:

Boundaries:

I cannot stress enough that when you work from home, you need to have clear boundaries between work time and home time. Before the pandemic, we had clear boundaries of work and home because most people went somewhere else to work. And if you worked from home, chances are, you had an office set aside.

We define boundaries as those things that are okay and not okay in our lives. And we need to set these boundaries in our workplace as well-even if that workplace is our own home.

When it comes to working from home, it’s important to have a clear work space where you only work. And when you leave that space, leave the work there! I mean it. Our brains love to associate tasks with cues such as sitting at a desk or a computer to get into “work mode.” However, when you are doing work on the couch, at the dinner table, or even in bed, your brain doesn't know where to turn off the work mode. So, create and commit to a distinct work space.

Also, set clear boundaries on your work hours. If you plan to work 8-5, leave the e-mails received at 5:30 for the next day. If you have some way to filter these e-mails into a work folder, I highly recommend you do so. Boundaries on your work hours limit the mental space work claims on your life. If you are working all the time, burnout will soon follow. Clear work-time boundaries are a way to reduce this risk.

Self-care:

I know most of us are familiar with the term self-care, but I want to break it down more. Because the truth is, most of us equate self-care to hobbies. We consider self-care things like taking a bath or reading a book. And these might help some people, but not everyone wants to read the next New York Times Bestseller.

One way I like to frame self-care is to consider those activities that give you energy. Imagine if you sit down and the end of the day and you want to feel more energized, relaxed, content etc.

Self-care is listening to what we need and responding to those needs with kindness.

This could mean that if we have a headache because we haven't had water all day, then we go drink a glass of water (it also may mean drinking the water throughout the day). Or maybe we go out with friends because we feel lonely.

Self-care is a responsive act-not a reactive one.

Start with building awareness to your needs in this moment. Close your eyes and ask yourself, “What do I need right now?” No matter what that answer is, try to meet that need. As you respond to your needs with kindness, you will begin to create space to feel more energy and less stress. By energizing yourself, you equip yourself to deal with the heavier load burnout has delivered.

Stress management:

With burnout, you are in a constant state of stress and your brain and body don't know when to turn it off. Stress management means using tools and skills to help reduce this state of stress to a more manageable level.

Expelling stress from our bodies can come in several forms both physical and emotional.

You might try exercise as a way to alleviate the physical stress our bodies feel or try coloring or painting to alleviate some of the emotional or mental stress brought on by burnout.

Whatever you do to decrease stress, it needs to be an outlet for the stress rather than a distraction from the stress. So sing at the top of your lungs in your car. Paint an abstract painting to express all the feelings you have inside. Go to the gym and hop on a bike or treadmill. Do something that sends that stress away from your mind and body.

Counseling:

There may be moments where you need more help to practice these skills listed above. There may be times when you need both mental health support and career change support. I don't recommend you make this decision on your own. Career or mental health counselors can help you navigate the toll burnout can have on you.

If you need additional help, talk with a trained career professional. Not every solution is about staying in the same place and dealing with it. But that is a big fork in the road and getting some perspective on next steps can be crucial.