Exhausted? Career fatigue is real, let's talk burnout!

Before we start this conversation about burnout, we would love to invite you to our next event here: https://www.runtheworld.today/app/c/how-to-land-a-high-paying-role-in-tech

There are always ups and downs when working in the professional world.

This is expected and considered the norm.

However, there are moments where the stress becomes too much, the responsibilities, and constant mental strain completely depleting your energy.

Motivation gets sapped, and tasks that were once straightforward become tedious, frustrating, and stressful.

Professional burnout is real and should be taken seriously.

Feeling this way does not make you a bad professional or employee. Burnout is a 100% human thing to experience and is normal. However, unaddressed burnout can have extremely damaging consequences.

Consequences of being burned out can harm you in many ways:

• Depression and anxiety
• Increased chances of heart disease and diabetes
• Anger and irritability issues
• Chronic fatigue
• Feeling of helplessness
• Bodyweight fluctuations
• Poor sleeping habits
• Deterioration of personal and family relationships
• Lack of motivation and drive

Burned-out employees experience problems that hurt companies as well:

• Decreased output
• Increased mistakes on the job
• Poor work quality
• Lowered team morale
• Inconsistent job attendance
• Potential career abandonment
• Potential waste of company resources

Knowing?you are burned out is the first step in addressing the issue.

It's a good idea to show awareness and recognize the signs and symptoms of burnout, as professionals tend to ignore their mental health and maybe burnt out without recognizing that it's happening.

Look for the key signs of being burnt out:

• A diminished sense of pride in your production
• Problems with maintaining meaningful relationships
• Constant irritability and frustration working with colleagues
• Being present-minded during social activities
• Being forgetful on the job
• Losing sight of career goals
• Problems with staying focused and concentrating
• Fatigue
• Insomnia
• Chronic pain
• Muscle and nerve issues

To fight back, first, the source of burnout should be determined.

Depending on the specific career situation, this can be a variety of sources:

• Lack of communication and support from higher management?- Completing daily work requires constant communication along with organizations; management that does not accomplish this can make employees cynical and disconnected
• Unclear and inconsistent job expectations and responsibilities?- In some disorganized workplaces, many job roles are subject to abrupt changes in scope. Employees are unable to prioritize and are left exhausted.
• Lack of work boundaries?- Old-fashioned organizations have an expectation of employees to make themselves available outside of office hours or during weekends. The inability to truly disconnect and separate work from life can amalgamate and compound existing work stress to unsustainable levels.
• Unreasonable deadlines?- Constant replying to emails, attending meetings, etc. can siphon the already limited time away from productivity. There may be times where there is not enough time to complete the expected work. Meeting deadlines can put additional pressure and stress on employees.

Once it is understood what is causing the burnout, then implement self-care to counteract it and take control!

Consider the following strategies:

• Understand personal limits?- Every person has a limit on what can reasonably be expected of them. Understand this limit, and keep a healthy range. Managing this well, and keeping track of tasks can help prevent a feeling of being overwhelmed.
• Practice saying "no" if your plate is full?- There are pragmatic methods to decline taking on a work task in a professional manner. For example, consider emphasizing to others that you have prior commitments and you can happily provide assistance after fulfilling the prior commitments.
• Organize?-?Taking time to clean up workspaces, emails, documents, etc. can help make work more efficient and productive. Clutter is shown to biochemically increase stress levels, so removing it can help reduce burnout. A little bit of structure goes a long way!
• Take time off?- Sometimes total detachment from work is needed for a longer period of time to emotionally and mentally recharge. Taking a vacation, and using personal time to re-calibrate can actually increase productivity when returning to work.
• Separate work and life?- Healthy detachment from work is necessary so that resentment and frustration do not build up as quickly. Try "psychological detachment" from work, such as turning off work phones and ignoring emails during off-times.
• Talk to a professional?- Sometimes we struggle to understand our issues or strategies to fix personal problems. Talking to an unbiased, professional person can assist in putting things into perspective, so as to better understand how to come up with a personal plan to beat burnout.

Always place emphasis on mental well-being and be aware of career fatigue.

Fighting burnout may save your career!

Written by Christian Talavera