Everything Extremely Hard Workers Need to Know About Burnout Part 1

Are you continually being plagued by an overwhelming feeling of anxiety, stress, and helplessness? You may be on the road to burnout. Despite being highly talked about, most workplaces do not have set processes to deal with the mental health of their workforce. If left untreated, prolonged periods of stress can leave you disillusioned, exhausted, and emotionally drained. In the long term, burnout can also make you lose interest in your job, decrease your productivity, and inhibit your success.

Regardless of being commonly experienced, most hard workers are clueless about the causes and signs of burnout. Learning how to identify the signs is the first step to preventing and curing burnout so you can feel hopeful, positive, and motivated again.

How Burnout is Caused

Before we can recognize the signs of burnout, we must look at the initial causes of burnout. There is a multitude of factors that can cause this; however, in summation burnout is a result of prolonged and overwhelming stress and anxiety. Here are some common reasons for how this could occur:

Long Hours and a Lacking Work-Life Balance

Are you spending over nine hours at your work every day? Do you think of your work at weekends? You might think that working for prolonged hours and taking fewer or no vacations is a sign of your hard work; however, this can be detrimental to your mental health and can quickly lead to you losing interest in your professional pursuits. Moreover, an imbalance between work life and home life can lead to high levels of stress, which over time, leads to burnout.  

Lack of Recognition

For many people, their ability to continue to feel engaged in their careers is directly correlated to the recognition they receive from coworkers and managers. Lack of recognition can stem from being in a career where recognition is never given or by being in a social-professional environment where recognition is not valued.

Monotony

While some people enjoy consistent work, the majority of people can find consistency monotonous and need constant variation in tasks to feel professionally fulfilled. This can lead to disdain towards a career that may have been previously interesting and can eventually result in hopelessness and a feeling of being trapped.

No Control Over Your Work

One of the leading causes of burnout among hard workers is having no control over your professional achievements. Meaning your hard work is never seen to fruition or is being passed on to someone else before it is completed. This occurs primarily in very specific jobs where tasks are completed during the initial stages of a project or if you are a coordinator between teams.

Perfectionism

As one can expect, perfectionism can lead one to feel as if their work is never good enough. Setting such high standards for ourselves can leave us feeling cynical about our work at all times. Perfectionists can feel as if they are not doing enough; thereby leading themselves to burnout.

Pessimism

Having a constant negative attitude towards yourself, your coworkers, career, or boss can erase all forms of positivity from your work life. Such an outlook can easily change hard workers into demotivated and unpleasant people.

Alienation

Alienation occurs primarily when an individual has arrived at a new assignment and is struggling to become an included member of a new team or organization. Alienation results in high levels of social stress, performance pressure, and anxiety, which can lead to a feeling of detachment, ultimately causing burnout.

Not Taking Care of Yourself

It’s shocking, how much a healthy diet and exercise routine can do to reduce high levels of stress. There is a direct correlation between taking care of oneself and having success in the workplace. Without the right diet and consistent exercise mental and physical health can easily fall short.

Signs of Burnout

Now that you have a better understanding of how burnout occurs, we can now look at some of its symptoms. There is no single list of symptoms; however, here is a list that will hopefully give you an insight into the most common signs of burnout.

Mental Exhaustion and Physical Exhaustion

Burnout commonly manifests itself as mental exhaustion that most often occurs as a result of constant hard work. This can be exhibited in many forms; however, high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression are common signs. 

What many people are unaware of, is that burnout can take a physical toll on people. Common symptoms are headaches, muscle pain, and indigestion. Some people might also experience, lowered immunity, frequent illness, and a change in appetite and sleep habits.

Lack of Motivation or Enthusiasm

One common sign of burnout is the motivation and enthusiasm that previously existed towards your career has dissipated. Moreover, some people might also notice that their passion for their work has started to wane off or has completely dissolved. 

Frustration, Self-Doubt, and a Sense of Failure

Another common sign to watch out for is frustration. If you find yourself constantly getting angry at work, having negative thoughts about your manager, co-workers, or career, you might be heading towards burnout.

Often a result of high levels of frustration, workers begin to doubt their performance and develop a sense of failure, which in the long term can lead to serious depression. 

Attention Troubles and Procrastination

Often a telltale sign of burnout is having a difficult time focusing on tasks at work or even after hours. You might find yourself procrastinating the tasks at hand, browsing social media at work, and focusing more on superfluous tasks. This will, over time, reduce the quality of your work and you might have trouble meeting deadlines.

Conclusion

Sometimes burnout can feel like a relentless force; however, if you pause and recognize the signs in time, it is possible to fight it off. Remember to stay tuned for our part 2, where we will share our expert advice on how to successfully overcome burnout, for a healthier, happier, and stress-free you.

Be sure to seek professional help, if you’re facing difficulty finding your way out or if you find yourself suffering from any underlying medical conditions such as depression.

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