What Causes Burnout – Can it be Avoided?

In today’s demanding workplace, it can be increasingly hard to achieve a happy work-life balance, and more and more of us feel the effects of ‘burnout’ – a feeling of tiredness, frustration, lack of motivation and of being undervalued. You may then feel that it’s time to move on, but is a new job the answer, or can you improve your current situation?

To understand whether a complete change is necessary it’s important to consider what aspects of your working life could cause burnout, and whether they can be rectified. 

1. Workload – If your workload matches your ability and capacity, you should be able to complete it effectively whilst still achieving time for rest, development and personal time.  If your workload is too much, this isn’t possible – so how can you change this?  Make sure you take time to plan, prioritise, delegate and even say ‘no’. If things are really too much, speak to your manager, discuss why you feel overworked and see what changes can be made. 
2. Feeling like you have no control – It is hard to feel like you are meeting your targets if you feel that you have a lack of autonomy, poor access to resources and no say in decisions that will impact on your professional life.  Maybe it’s time to ask what is causing you to feel this way?  Does your boss put unreasonable demands on you, or expect you to be contactable at all hours? Do you have to deal with changing priorities, and complete tasks without enough support?  It is perhaps time to talk to your boss, establish some boundaries and discuss your access to support and resources. 
3. Not getting acknowledged – Does the work you put in go un-noticed?  Do you feel as though your ideas and input are overlooked? Do you feel that the rewards from your job are not matched to the efforts put in?  Again, it is time to understand why this is the case.  Perhaps it’s time to ask for a raise or promotion, or maybe even just more feedback and interaction with your boss would help. Don’t forget that whilst you are busy, your boss probably is too, so sometimes it’s worth asking for some face to face time. 
4. Poor relationships with colleagues – Who do you work with on a day to day basis?  And what is the environment like?  We can’t necessarily choose our co-workers, but we can improve working relationships.  Take time to ask people how their day is going, make an effort to get to know them, and approach working relationships with positivity.  Don’t engage in office politics or negative conversations – burnout can be contagious! 
5. Being treated unfairly – Do you receive fair treatment and acknowledgement for your efforts? Do you feel that others get more praise when your work goes unnoticed, or that other colleagues receive more support and additional resources?  In these situations you need to speak up – it might just be that your boss hasn’t noticed that you need additional help, support and encouragement, or that in a busy workplace things can be overlooked.  Don’t be afraid to ask. 
6. Different values to your employer – We all have different values and motivations – are yours aligned with those of your employer? If you value something highly and you employer doesn’t it can be hard to stay motivated. Would your employer be open to change?  Could it be that things would change if you speak up?  It might be worth thinking about how different your values, goals and motivations are, and whether these are ever going to change. 

When all of these factors are taken into account you will be in a better position to understand what is leading to your burnout – can you take control and turn things around, or is it time to look for something new? 

If it is time to move on, Select.je is always here to help!  Contact us today to discuss your situation and aspirations – we have plenty of opportunities and would love to help you #loveworklife again!