Before reading this post, please know I do not take work-related burnout lightly. This is an important topic to be discussed and for those with severe burnout please seek professional support.
With that said, I do think we are overusing the term burnout for many different issues at work. If we could provide more insight and language to the other things going on, we could reserve the word burnout for those who are experiencing health conditions, including depression.
How is burnout defined?
In a Mayo clinic article, the definition is “a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity”. To determine if you are experiencing burnout, a few of the questions they ask are below. Check out the article for the full list.
- Have you become cynical or critical at work?
- Have you become irritable or impatient with co-workers, customers, or clients?
- Do you lack the energy to be consistently productive?
- Do you lack satisfaction from your achievements?
- Have your sleep habits changed?
- Are you troubled by unexplained headaches or other physical complaints?
My Perspective
I find it interesting that the actual definition includes a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.
Digging under the “I’m burned out” to determine the root cause might lead to a different challenge to be solved.
Below are just a few possible root causes:
Overwhelm: There are too many draining tasks on your plate. The tasks that drain can be different for different people – complex problems to solve, too many interactions with other people, too many mundane tasks, etc. This could lead to answering many of the questions above with a “yes”.
Overhead: When I’ve heard people say, “I’m burned out”, often the conversation centers around how busy they are. Looking into the situation, often they spend so much time in meetings and responding to email they don’t have time to do their actual work. As a result, they work in off hours to catch up.
Boredom: The tenure in the role may have someone craving something new and as a result they feel a lack of achievement and become cynical or critical.
Lack of Identity: When someone is promoted, they can feel overwhelmed with new responsibilities and an uncertainty of how they personally add value. This can lead to burnout symptoms.
Knowing the root cause of the problem will enable solutions to be developed.
A productive conversation can be set up with your manager to discuss.
Burnout is real.
Understanding root causes can help the situation be discussed and addressed.
Your Turn
Have you felt a sense of burnout?
Can you relate to any of the four situations described above?
Would this be a good framework to start conversations with others on how they might be feeling?