Job burnout can be a nasty thing. No matter how much you loved your career, how much it paid, or how much time you have spent at your job, it can affect you. Burnout doesn’t discriminate, although some circumstances make you more likely to suffer job burnout than the average employee.
A well-organized HR department will keep an eye on its employees and monitor them for signs of burnout so the problem can be fixed early, but chances are good your company isn’t in tune with your thoughts and feelings as much as you’d like. As a result, you have to monitor your own mental health.
Common behaviors of people with job burnout include:
- Dreading going to work, to the point where it’s nearly impossible to get up in the morning, or you’re consistently late.
- Frequent mood swings great enough to be noticed by your coworkers.
- Frequently asking yourself why you’re working at the job, or thinking about quitting.
- Being bothered and angered by office politics, gossip, difficult coworkers or customers, and/or your management.
- Having a consistently cynical and negative attitude in your conversations with coworkers, family, or friends (especially work-related topics).
- Feeling unappreciated, hated, or blamed for things that aren’t your fault.
- Realizing that your personality is changing into someone you don’t like or recognize.
- Having frequent health problems, either mental (stress, anxiety, depression, nervous breakdowns) or physical (catching every cold, flu, or germ going around the office), particularly if it takes an unusually long time to recover every time.
- Feeling particularly emotionally and physically drained after work every day.
- Losing interest in company activities, new challenges, inspiring goals, the long-term, or company values.
If you could identify with three or more of these behaviours, you might want to talk to a physician or psychologist about your feelings.
People with high-stress work environments are at the greatest risk for job burnout, but anyone can suffer burnout if they work in one place for too long, have unreasonable demands placed on them, are never recognized for their accomplishments, or feel unappreciated by their colleagues, supervisors, and customers.
If you suspect you are experiencing it, you can deal with burnout in a number of different ways, the most obvious way being forming a plan to quit your job. The short-term solutions include taking a vacation during which you do not perform any work (don’t bring your cellphone or answer your home phone when the office calls). You don’t even have to go to another country or place, just enjoy some time at home to relax and reconsider your career goals and job satisfaction, and spend time with your loved ones. Take your lunch break at work every day and walk somewhere outdoors if possible, call a loved one, or practice meditation.
Don’t suffer through your burnout, as it will likely never improve if you don’t seek help. Above all, remember that there is always hope, and you can find a better job or improve your working conditions with effort and careful planning!