Have you ever had those days when you feel bummed out at work? When you feel so unmotivated that you constantly check how long until you can go home? And in the worst case, do you feel like snapping at your colleagues over the sound of their breathing? Sometimes, what you’re feeling is not a typical type of stress. Perhaps, those are signs that you’re burnt-out at work.
A lot of people feel burnt out at work — it’s a common phenomenon, if I may say so. The word “burnout” became a buzzword that is often thrown at by employees and students. But despite the fact that it has become a buzzword, it’s still a tough concept to wrap our arms around.
So what does burnout really mean?
While job burnout is not a medical diagnosis, it is a special type of work-related stress that involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity. In May 2019, the World Health Organization claimed on its 11th revision of its International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11) that it is a “syndrome conceptualized as a result from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”
Apart from that, the WHO described burnout at the workplace as a sense of exhaustion and cynicism about work.
6 Telltale Signs of Burnout at Work
In order to assist the feeling of burnout at work, you must be able to acknowledge that it’s happening in the first place. Sure, you already know what burnout means, but how would you know if you are experiencing it yourself? Below are the most common and prevalent signs of burnout at work.
1. You are burnt-out at work if you don’t feel excited about it anymore.
One of the telltale signs of burnout is a lack of enthusiasm for what you’re doing. Almost, if not all, burnout workers feel uninterested even in the projects that used to make them feel fulfilled. According to Alice Domar, Ph.D. (Director of the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health), people who are experiencing burnout don’t get the same level of satisfaction anymore.
The worst scenario that could go from here is that it can extend beyond one’s work. It could negatively impact the different aspects of your life outside the workplace.
Read: 7 Easy Steps to Delegate Tasks Effectively
2. It becomes difficult to perform work-related problem-solving tasks.
As you might expect, people who are burnt out simply don’t care enough to do good in their tasks which can lead to poor performance. Workplace tasks, especially those that require problem-solving skills become more difficult when you’re burned out. Due to lack of motivation, your comprehension skills start to slow down and you find yourself struggling to do even basic computations.
Read: 7 Workplace Conflict Areas and How to Deal With Them
3. You don’t put too much effort into your output.
Generally, this can be one of the biggest symptoms of burnout at work. Some people are normally compulsive about double-checking their work and submitting before deadlines. But due to burnout, they don’t really put too much effort into the quality of their output, and they let submission dates slide without a single care.
The lack of excitement caused by burnout often leads to an apathetic attitude. Most of the time, those who struggle with burnout are those who are high achievers. So these signs of burnout on the job show a striking difference when compared with their normal outputs at work.
4. You become easily forgetful.
You’re burnt-out and your mind is elsewhere. It could be at home where family problems reside, or it’s just in the pit of nothingness. As a result, burnout can instigate a lack of focus and mild forgetfulness. As it gets worse, these problems may get to the point where you can’t get any work done until everything begins to pile up.
Read: 6 Tips For Dealing With Difficult Co-Workers.
5. You’re burnt out at work if you’re always exhausted.
Two of the most common indicators of burnout are fatigue and overall feeling of exhaustion. Not only will you feel a lack of energy physically, but you’ll also feel emotionally drained and depleted. So if you find yourself struggling to get out of bed and go to the office every day, you could be tiptoeing into the burnout zone.
6. You’re dealing with some physical ailments
Although burnout doesn’t have a consistent physical manifestation for everyone, numerous physical complaints were reported along with burnout. These are just some of the examples:
- Insomnia
- Chest pain
- Heart palpitation
- Shortness of Breath
- Fainting
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Gastrointestinal pain
- Weight loss due to loss of appetite
While there could be another reason for these sorts of ailments, these could also be a cause of emotional changes due to your burnt-out state.
Read: 8 Ways to Help Maintain Focus at Work
How to deal with burnout at work
Now that you’ve recognized all of the common signs of burnout from work in yourself, what can you do to slow down the burnout train and eventually stop it entirely?
Oftentimes, people would tell you just to take some time off. I mean, sure, it can give you room to breathe, but it only offers you a band-aid solution for your deep wound.
Domar explained that “if you take a day or even a week off, you’re still coming back — you’re still the same person and the job is the same job.”
Instead of taking a break from the root of your problem, why not do something to actively change it? Domar highly suggested that if you want to overcome your burnout state, you need to change two things: your attitude and your workload.
To change your attitude, you must learn to recognize your negative habits and stop them when they happen. You must learn to challenge yourself and don’t give yourself an ultimatum (for example, stop thinking, “If I don’t do this perfectly, I’ll be a failure.”). Don’t punish yourself from that all-or-nothing thinking.
The second change is to decrease your volume of work. Burnout typically happens when you have too much on your plate. Talk to your boss about the fact that you feel overworked, and discuss with him ways that you can manage a more reasonable amount of workload as you go forward.
Keep in mind that no one can do these changes for you — but you. If you’re feeling burnt-out at work, it’s time to settle the problem and take control over what’s not working for you in your career.