Burnout is one of the biggest threats to job production, say employment specialists. So it’s important to recognize the first signs of job burnout in order to head off the problems it can create not only for the company but also for the employee.
When you awake in the morning, do you find that you can hardly breathe when thinking about going to work? If so, you’re singed, at the very least. But the condition doesn’t have to be that bad for you to do something about job burnout.
Burnout occurs whether or not you like your job. It happens whether or not you are a dedicated worker. It crops up whether or not you have chronic on-the-job stress.
So what is burnout? It is a feeling of total physical exhaustion combined with a sense of frustration and helplessness. Usually it begins with job stress, but the stressor could be from an outside source, too.
Sometimes burnout manifests itself as crankiness. Burnout can make you cynical and resentful, sapping your energy and making you feel powerless.
An employee suffering from job burnout will call in sick and stay in bed all day even when he or she doesn’t actually have the flu or a cold or a bad back or whatever. Burnout can cause you to hit the sack, assume the fetal position, pull the covers over your head, and cocoon yourself until the malaise passes. Sometimes it doesn’t pass for days.
Burnout drains you of not only physical strength but also of emotional strength. It adversely impacts every area of your life and kills motivation both at work and at home. Job burnout can kill a marriage, causing a rippling effect that touches every area of the employee’s life.
Job burnout can cause the employee to become detached, withdrawn and even isolated. The more alone the employee feels, psychologists say, the more overwhelmed and unhappy the worker becomes. Burnout can become its own vicious cycle of despair.
Sometimes the stress that causes burnout comes from feelings of inadequacy due to the inability to keep up with the advances in technology. Fear of trying to learn new software programs can be crippling.
That’s one reason many companies set up corporate computer training sessions to help employees update their computer skills. If your employer doesn’t provide such on-site educational opportunities, look elsewhere for computer training programs that will enhance your ability to keep up with the changing workplace.
Do an Internet search on “computer training programs” or ask at work about corporate computer training, many of which involve online learning or tutorial discs that can be used in the privacy of your own home.
Working on a plan to pull yourself out of job burnout can be an almost overwhelming task. It’s a good idea to enlist help from a psychologist, psychiatrist, therapist or career coach because burnout begins as a mental problem that can quickly expand into a physical and emotional disaster.
Often, the employee with burnout will attempt to solve the problem through some kind of self medication, such as the use of alcohol or drugs. Some turn to escapist behaviors, such as extramarital sex, excessive shopping or overeating. These kinds of behaviors can cause peripheral problems that exacerbate job burnout and can set the employee up to be fired.
If you’re feeling empty, all used up, it may be time to get help.
