Feeling Overworked? 4 Ways to Deal with Burnout
Society conditions most well-adjusted adults to be highly career-minded in life. As such, many men and women devote a lot of their lives to work and developing a career. However, at some point, some people begin to lose the positive feelings they once had about work. This can be replaced by feelings of frustration, stress, depression, and helplessness. This is commonly known as job burnout.
If you are feeling burned out by your job, below are some tips that can help.
Develop a Healthier Work-Life Balance
One of the major risk factors of job burnout is indeed overwork. You may spend most of your day on the clock and end up working a lot of overtime. When you’re at home or away from the office, work may still follow you home via email, phone calls, and more. Over time, what was once an exciting career can start feeling like misery.
This is why you need to develop a better work-life balance for your own mental health. First of all, make sure to actually use up your allotted vacation days and sick days each year. Second, don’t be afraid to communicate to your boss that you don’t want to work so much overtime during all parts of the week. You need part of your week and parts of each day for yourself, your family, and other important concerns. You are a human being, after all, not a cog in a machine.
Try to find a better balance between work and outside life. This may mean taking up a hobby, adopting a pet, or even going to night school to further your learning. Overall, you need something other than work to make yourself feel whole.
Seek Outside Help
In some situations, you may feel lost about what to do to solve your burnout. While your job may feel like drudgery, you may also think quitting would be too risky. At this point, it may be a good idea to seek some outside assistance.
If you are a woman, one excellent choice may be using women’s life coaching. Such a program can teach you different methods for handling your stress and slowing down your work life without being and feeling punished for it.
In other cases, a therapist may be able to help you deal with the frustrations you are feeling. Even simply talking it out with a trusted friend or your significant other can be greatly beneficial.
Try to Address the Sources of Your Burnout
In many cases, there may be specific sources of your burnout that originate from problems in your workplace. Having these issues resolved may make you feel better about working in that place again.
If you feel your workplace is toxic because of the behavior of certain employees, you may want to talk to the HR Department about it to find a solution. If you find your workload is too much for you, you could request a change of work schedule. While you may face possible blowback, many employers may be willing the work with you in making adjustments if the alternative is having to go through the expensive recruitment process to find a replacement.
Don’t be afraid to stand up to your boss and managers and occasionally say no when needed. If you feel your efforts aren’t being properly recognized, taking the initiative to request a raise or promotion would probably be better than quitting to find another job.
If you feel your work situation will not improve, put out some applications to find a new place of employment. Overall, if your work is ruining your life, don’t be afraid to try to make the changes you need to make your job doable for you again.
Develop a Support Network
No person should be an island unto their selves. If you are not socializing with others when you are off the clock, your life may feel rather empty apart from work-related stress. Instead, take some time to spend with your friends and loved ones. Work should not be your entire life.
Relationships with spouses, children, parents, and friends are very important and should receive an adequate amount of attention from you. In return, the support you receive from these social contacts can help you better deal with the everyday stress you experience from work. Having that support and someone to talk to about your issues can make a big difference.
Conclusion
Overall, if your life is only about work, burnout at your job is probably inevitable. Instead, you must find a way to achieve a better work-life balance. This may include seeking outside professional help. It may require spending more time with your loved ones. It may require standing up to your boss and learning to say no. Whatever the case, your job should be a means to an end. It should not run your entire life.
