Trick or Treat: How to Deal with Burnout at Work. You can prevent further burnout on your own by following these simple rules:

On a Sunday evening, are you irritated by the thought of going back to work tomorrow? And on Monday you wake up and, with a huge effort of will, push yourself out of the house? In the mirror do you see an exhausted, exhausted person? Know that you are faced with “professional burnout syndrome.”

Experts often call this phenomenon “burnout.” It seems to me that the word “burnout” is more appropriate in this case. The man did not fade like a carpet in the sun, but burned out like a light bulb. I was passionate about my work, and suddenly there was a fading of interest and incentives.

Possible symptoms of burnout:

a feeling of insignificance of the results of one’s work and its meaninglessness;
chronic fatigue (strength is not restored over the weekend); a feeling of indifference (indifference to activities that recently pleased you);
irritation towards colleagues and intolerance towards clients;
a feeling of self-doubt, a feeling of incompetence and fear that you are losing your professional skills;
constant negative thoughts about work that do not leave even in free time...

Until recently, you walked briskly to work and actively participated in the process. And suddenly they began to wonder more and more often: what benefit do I bring, who needs it all, and whether I am changing for the better thanks to what I do.

And when you get tired of thinking about the meaning of your work, a feeling of emptiness and detachment comes over you. Suddenly, sitting in your usual workplace, you become an observer. Look at your colleagues and the events of the day as if from the outside.

This suggests that you are physically and emotionally exhausted. And it is quite natural that with chronic fatigue, your productivity decreases.

You criticize everyone and everything. You often speak negatively about your bosses, colleagues, clients, and your own responsibilities. And if a woman is more likely to experience emotional exhaustion (whining, grumbling), then during this period it is difficult for a man to resist anger, sarcasm, snobbery, and cynical statements addressed to someone.

And this is bad, first of all, for health. Chronic fatigue can lead to serious illnesses, and irritability and dissatisfaction can lead to frequent headaches, asthenia and insomnia.

This is also dangerous because you yourself turn on the mechanism of rejection from the team and from work. Since thought is material, by regularly expressing dissatisfaction, you voluntarily give up what you no longer value. And soon you may lose your place for any external reason: the project closes, an unexpected staff reduction occurs. And it’s you who will “fly out”. In fact, the main reason will be your own decision and choice. And therefore you need to be careful with your thoughts and statements.

There is also the danger that you can convince yourself so much that everything is so bad that no further external changes (increasing wages, improving working conditions, friendly attention from the manager) will no longer be able to keep you in this job. With his own hands, or rather, with his thoughts and speeches, a person can destroy his career.

Of course, extinction is typical, first of all, of people who have been attached to their work for years. But you shouldn’t think that this is only the lot of those for whom work is a drug. “Flyers” are also susceptible to the syndrome, changing jobs every year at the first signs of burnout or even at the stage when work simply ceases to bring the usual buzz.

Possible external causes of burnout:

soured relationships with superiors or colleagues;
regular and tiring communication with people;
lack of incentives (in the form of salary increases and career advancement) for a long time;
overload (due to the race to achieve the goal);
loss of meaning (after achieving the desired position);
routine work, life by inertia;
lack of vision for future prospects;
imbalance between career and private life (life is limited only by work)...

One of the main reasons, according to experts, is the discrepancy between the principles of work and a person’s personal aspirations. It is important for a person to feel that he is evolving; develops in the direction it needs.

If work turns into a constantly repeating sequence of the same actions, you want to quickly throw this heavy burden off your shoulders. Routine is exhausting.

A career (like love, family, friendship) requires constant emotional investment, dedication, and a sincere desire to constantly bring something new to your business.

Even for those who argue that they work solely for the sake of money, it is still important to feel the significance of their work. Otherwise there will be no feeling of satisfaction. If every day you are faced with solving, in your opinion, stupid problems, then you become sour. The awareness of one’s belonging to some great cause inspires and gives strength to conquer the next peaks in the profession.

In fact, it is the employer's task to monitor and take care of maintaining interest in the work of his subordinates. It is he who must motivate his employee to work.

Possible motivation options:

regular development of small goals, upon achievement of which the employee is rewarded, encouraging initiative;
assignment of experience exchange, mentoring of a younger employee;
salary increase (material reward);
career advancement;
expansion of activities (new range of responsibilities);
switching activities to other vacancies;
training in new technologies (organization of seminars, round tables, trainings);
encouraging the desire to improve professional skills;
allocation of additional free time (not counting the lunch break);
organizing parties, banquets, outings for the whole team...

It is important to feel needed by the company (organization) you work for. It's nice when your boss pays attention to you and highly values your work. This is a good and correct motivation.

The most effective treatment or prevention of the disease “professional burnout” is, of course, academic paid leave (sabbatical). It would even be fair for a smart manager to give a good employee the opportunity to take a year off.

If he worked for more than five years and was useful to the company, then why not let him travel, lie down with a book, recharge his energy from nature and gain new impressions, and most importantly, miss his work and his colleagues?! What a wonderful incentive this is for all young workers?! But this is from the category of “ideal”, and in our country we can only dream about this.

And in general, is it worth hoping that someone will take care of our “recovery”?! We have long been accustomed to relying on our own strengths and, like the Phoenix bird, we will be reborn from the ashes ourselves.

As Voltaire wrote: “There are never great things without great difficulties.” Therefore, we should not be afraid of difficulties!

Possible actions for recovery:

awakening (“wake up”, “wake up”);
understanding and calm acceptance of your “diagnosis”;
remember that you are lucky (many people today would like to be in your place);
conscious desire for “recovery”, “rebirth”;
constant search for the positive aspects of your work (for example, the availability of a social package, timely payment of wages...);
it is possible and important to diversify your leisure time, go to study (dancing, languages, diving...), thanks to which monotony will disappear from life;
continuation of professional training (courses, second higher education...); having specific goals, a clear vision of your future...

The list did not include the fundamental (and self-evident) three points: lead a healthy lifestyle, eat well and believe in the best.

And if, nevertheless, your attempts are not crowned with success, then perhaps it’s time to change jobs. And you shouldn't be afraid of this. A new team is always a good incentive to want to look good, show your best side at work, and get involved in some kind of competitive process. This mobilizes, and desires will give additional energy to fulfill your plans.

But changing your field of activity is a serious decision. Take your time when taking it. Making a career is not easy, but you have already spent some effort. This must be appreciated. It would be good to build new goals using past experience and the professional skills you have developed.

Throwing everything away and starting from scratch only makes sense if you clearly see your purpose in something completely new, are confident in your intentions and strengths, and are ripe for change. Then be bold! And good luck!

Apparently, the format of not even an article, but an informational note, forced the author to “skim” the surface of the topic without touching on complex and important aspects. Ekaterina, no offense! It’s just that I myself, at one time, went through this hell. After working for a transnational company for five years, I gradually entered this state. After quitting, I literally fell into depression, from which it took several years to get out of it. One of the steps to salvation was a second education - psychological, I wanted to sort myself out. Three years later, I had already decided - that’s it, I let it go! Ah, no! After another four years, I became convinced that I had not completely let go, it was only a temporary relief. Now, after twelve (!) years, I can say that I know what SEV is, how it appears, develops and how to heal and avoid it. Maybe it was because of this that I switched from sales to HR. Observation of personnel in trade organizations showed a very sad picture - among salespeople who have worked in this area for more than 2-3 years, 30-40 percent have several symptoms of SEV!
The worst thing is that the person himself does not understand that something is wrong with him! When it becomes clear to you, it’s already too late, because you’re already at the third stage. Diagnosing SEV yourself in time, much less curing it, is UNREAL! If you have sufficient emotional competence and reflection skills, you can still come to your senses and take action in the early stages. And then everything depends on the immediate environment: managers (and they don’t need it!), family (and there, most often, there is misunderstanding). That is why the ranks of those burned out are expanding.
The first signs of an impending disaster are, in general, visible to the naked eye. The main thing is to give them the correct assessment. For example, workaholism is fertile ground for the development of CMEA. Further, a sign of chronic stress will be inadequate, atypical for a given person, reactions to external stimuli. Next, chronic fatigue, which manifests itself primarily in excessive doses of coffee or other stimulants; secondly, fatigue, literally in the morning there is no strength, lack of sleep.
If you find such manifestations in yourself, immediately (!!!) see a specialist! Who will help? A psychiatrist, like a physician, will almost immediately make the correct diagnosis, but the treatment is traditional - pills: antidepressants and tranquilizers according to the scheme. All this gives an effect, but (!) while the pill is working, and then it “covers” again. Further more - the dose and strength of the drugs increases. In general, in my opinion, the path is a dead end, justified only in a severe case to alleviate the condition. More help from a psychologist, but an experienced one. The work is long and painstaking, with breakdowns and breakthroughs. Don't count on a miracle, at least not in this state. As a coach, already quite experienced and familiar with the problem, I can say that such a specialist will help. It will be necessary to work with logical levels of self-identification and basic values. Personally, I pulled out such clients. The work is doable, but difficult and often thankless - the client comes only when things are really bad, and in this state he no longer has the desire to work, much less pay.
Prevention of such disorders must be comprehensive. Active physical activity helps a lot. It doesn’t matter what it is, going to the gym or digging potatoes, the main thing is to sweat. By the way, extreme sports (not to be confused with “crazy sports”) are popular precisely because they perfectly relieve accumulated tension. Hobbies are, without a doubt, a great outlet. Well, the main thing is not to take work to heart. As Vadim Zeland writes, “rent yourself out,” i.e., healthy “not giving a damn” will help you!

The path that a person takes during the combustion process is approximately the same for everyone: a person with deep-seated self-doubt. His opinion of himself depends on the situation: he seems to be talented, and he seems not. In the morning he seems attractive to himself, but in the evening he seems somehow not very attractive. And in general, those around you probably know better. That's why he...

10 signs of burnout syndrome:

severe fatigue and fatigue;
decreased initiative, loss of interest in what previously seemed important;
dulling of the ability to receive pleasure and experience vivid emotions;
sleep disturbance;
headaches, pain in the back and chest area;
weight gain;
painful cravings for food (cigarettes, sex, shopping, gambling, alcohol);
it is difficult to cope with things that previously worked well;
depression, detachment, disappointment, irritability;
the feeling of loneliness and, at the same time, any communication is a burden.

… depends on other people's opinion. For such a person, it is very important what not only his family and school, but also Princess Marya Alekseevna thinks and says about him. And it is even more important that they think well of him. Therefore, he tends to fulfill the expectations of others. And because this person doesn’t like something about himself, he...

... forms an image of an ideal self, which would please those around him, and in which he himself would be comfortable. Most often, this image is associated with a lack of some thing or some quality. A person wants to become the head of a department, buy a Land Cruiser, become an ideal wife and mother. For the period when the desired state is achieved, a person places great hopes and...

…starts to work under the motto “we brought this day closer as best we could.” He tries to be perfect in his chosen business, takes on mountains of work, and suffers from perfectionism. And it is quite clear that...

…the chosen activity becomes a super task for him. Our hero puts all his strength on the altar of victory. He no longer has time (and then no desire) for friends, hobbies, or entertainment. Yes, this is not necessary, he thinks. He diligently trains himself, does not allow himself to relax, limits his rest and treats his activities without a drop of humor. And then…

… internal conflict arises. The priority area of activity, swollen like a cancerous tumor, obscures the rest of the world. A skew occurs. The body begins to react to the lack of vital things - relaxation, disconnection from the annoying topic of work, live communication. Fatigue turns into disappointment, lethargy, and depression. Successes are no longer pleasing; the goal for which I strived so hard before seems meaningless and stupid. Emotions disappear, both positive and negative. At this stage they connect...

…health problems. Which ones exactly depend on the individual: it could be headaches, back pain, insomnia, dizziness. Often, “burnt out” people complain about weight gain: through overeating, they try to drown out the “voice of reality.” For the same reasons, they may pay increased attention to alcohol, smoking or shopping. And finally, the last chord -...

…complete emotional burnout: loss of interest in life and work.

Burned out of its own accord

Burnout syndrome begins with ordinary fatigue, irritability, and anxiety. It is difficult to “catch” it in the early stages - you wouldn’t go to the doctor with such complaints. And in vain: after a while the situation worsens: the priority activity causes disgust, the person does it through force, goes to work through force, becomes irritable, reacts inadequately, explodes, etc. The last stage is complete emotional exhaustion, when a person is busy with his activities on autopilot, detached. He no longer sees the slightest sense in his own work.

“Of all the cases when patients are diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, only 1-2% are true CFS, the rest is unrecognized burnout syndrome”

Safira Antaniosovna Naddour Director of the NEP Clinic (Neurology Aesthetics Psychotherapy)

Who most often falls victim to burnout syndrome? Initially, it was believed that these were people whose work was related to people: workers in helper professions, service industries. Then burnout became an attribute of office workers; it was even renamed “manager syndrome.” But at the same time, both people in creative professions and housewives who bear the cross of a “model mother” are susceptible to burnout syndrome. All of them are people with inflated aspirations for themselves, setting themselves high and complex tasks on which their self-esteem depends, and over time realizing that there are not enough resources to complete them.

So what should one do who has become a servant of his work?

Understand which life goals are personal and which are imposed by the environment. Separate the wheat from the chaff, and in the future focus only on your own goals.
Learn to respect your desires and needs. Love yourself for who you are now, and not for who you are going to become in the future. Understand that you are valuable to others not only because of your achievements. To be sure that your friends will love you even in the absence of any success, otherwise what kind of friends are they? Stop depending on the approval of others.
Learn to rationally organize your time, combine work with leisure, switch to other types of activities in a timely manner, and realize yourself in several directions at the same time.
Do not elevate your task to the rank of a super task, do not risk everything for the sake of a single goal.

Keep in mind that advanced combustion syndrome often requires the intervention of a psychotherapist!

Svetlana Malevich

Alexandra Savina

Universal rules on how to organize your work schedule to have time and energy left for personal matters, no. Everyone puts their own spin on the concept of work-life balance. However, this problem is faced equally by entrepreneurs, office workers, and freelancers working from home. We have put together some general recommendations to help you build a suitable regime.

Mark the boundary

The first and most obvious advice: it is impossible to talk about balance between professional and personal life if you yourself do not know where one ends and the other begins. You can draw the line literally - with the help of rituals. Julianne Miles, co-founder of the consulting company Women Returners, for example, advises that when you come home, you should immediately change out of your work clothes. If you work from home, it is better to allocate a special area for work - when you move from your desk to your favorite sofa, you will immediately understand that it is time to relax. Find something that helps you switch from one mode to another. This could be a book you read on the subway, a short walk around the house with the dog when you're not thinking about business, or the habit of taking a moment to pause when getting into the car and mentally saying that the work day is over.

Almost everyone has situations when they need to take work home - but even in this case, boundaries can be drawn. Choose a time when you will not do business (weekends, a few hours before bed - as much as possible) and try to stick to a clear schedule. It won't be easy at first, but a stable routine and rules will help.

Set your priorities

To ensure that work does not interfere with your personal life and vice versa, the first step is to determine what matters to you. Be honest with yourself: everyone's goals and priorities are different, so don't rely on the expectations of your parents or others. Try to build your schedule in accordance with what is important to you: the ability to independently pick up your children from school or receive additional education in the evening, go to a doctor’s appointment during the day or go to the pool in the morning. Employers are often ready to make concessions to employees; the main thing is not to be afraid of an honest and open conversation.

Learn to refuse

Only you know the limits of your capabilities, and if you can’t do something, it’s better to say so directly. Don't be afraid to tell your boss if you're struggling with task flow: it always ends up affecting your productivity, and it's better if the situation can be prevented.

It will be easier to separate your work and personal life if you learn to say “no” to additional tasks for which you do not have the energy and time. Coach Melanie Allen advises not to immediately agree to requests to do something beyond the norm, but to take a short break and think: “Say that you will answer a little later, and use this time to decide whether to agree or not. If you want to say yes, that's okay. But if you want to refuse, say no and stand your ground.”

Stop checking messages

Smartphones allow us to be in touch 24/7 - and if in the case of friends and family this makes us happy, in the case of work it only hinders us: we continue to solve business problems even when we have left the office. E-mail and instant messengers can be inconvenient: while checking correspondence with friends, we willy-nilly read other messages. Unlike other forms of communication, such as a traditional phone call, there are no clear boundaries - a work email can arrive either at seven in the morning or at one in the morning. Therefore, you must set these boundaries for yourself.

For example, you can turn off notifications in email or instant messenger, or turn on night mode on your smartphone after a certain hour. On weekends, you can set up an auto-reply so that your interlocutors know when to expect news from you: people don’t always need information urgently; for many, it’s just important to know that you received the message and will contact them later. Of course, there are exceptions and urgent situations when it is impossible not to respond, but they should not turn into a rule - otherwise you yourself will not notice how you burn out.

Try to work not longer, but more productively

The time when trade unions fought to reduce working hours is long gone. Now we are seeing the opposite trend: regular overtime is becoming the norm, and many people take working on days off as something for granted - although scientists believe that it is harmful to health. We often think that if we sit a little longer, we will definitely get everything done - but this is self-deception: the longer we work, the more our productivity drops. In addition, having finished one task, you can always start the next one - and so on ad infinitum.

The rude phrase “You need to work not for eight hours, but with your head” fits here perfectly: in order not to get bogged down in routine and business, you need to be able to set priorities (not all tasks are equally important - although it often seems so to us) and highlight strictly defined time to complete each task. This is where the advice not to waste too much time comes in handy: don’t try to do several things at the same time and don’t get distracted by email and instant messengers - you’ll be surprised how time-consuming the habit of checking messages every ten minutes takes.

Don't put pressure on yourself

We already see how perfectionism harms self-development. Over the years, we have more and more additional tasks and responsibilities, and it becomes more and more difficult to do them perfectly - and is it necessary? It is useful to sometimes let go of the situation and be prepared for the fact that you have to sacrifice something. If you don’t have the strength to cook a complex dinner after work, don’t blame yourself for having to limit yourself to pizza: this way you will protect yourself from burnout. In both work and personal affairs, you don’t need to strive to do everything flawlessly - it’s enough to try to perform your duties well.

Consider a different schedule

In the modern world, in order to be a good employee, you don’t always need to be in the office from nine to six: many issues can be resolved via work email, and instead of a meeting, you can have a Skype call. It is believed that in the office it is easier to control what an employee is doing, but for many, working from home, without noisy colleagues, helps them concentrate better and ultimately work more efficiently. So if this is your option, don't be afraid to talk to your employer about it: if you can easily finish the task from home after putting the kids to bed, there's no point in trying to get it done by 6pm. At the same time, if you choose a flexible schedule or work from home, set restrictions (see the first point) - otherwise there is a risk that you will work as before or even more, because you will not be able to disconnect from the process in time.

When choosing a company, pay attention to the working hours adopted here: if everyone stays in the office until 11 pm and is used to going to work on weekends, you are unlikely to be able to come home at seven.

Delegate tasks

Often we tend to do as much as possible ourselves because we think we can have more control over the process - but this is not the most productive approach. Focus first on what only you can do, and try to delegate some of it to others - be it small tasks that will allow you to finish your work earlier, or chores around the house that you don’t have the strength to do. Stuart Friedman, a professor of management at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, advises agreeing on the division of responsibilities with key players in different areas of your life - colleagues, partners, loved ones. Situations like these can help those around you learn something new, and can take some of your workload off so you can do other things.

Be more attentive to yourself

Only you know how much effort you really put into things - so listen to your feelings and work at a pace that is comfortable for you (yes, there are emergency situations in any job, but they should not become the norm). The British non-profit organization Mental Health Foundation advises paying attention to how fatigue from work accumulates: for several weeks, monitor how much time you spend on business - not only in the office, but also thinking about upcoming projects or, for example, answering calls and letters during out-of-office hours. This is all part of the job (although we are accustomed to not paying attention to it), due to which fatigue also accumulates. If you are aware of the scale of the disaster, it will be easier for you to control your condition.

Start changes small

Don't expect to be able to change your lifestyle instantly: change requires willpower, and the more ambitious the goal you set for yourself, the more likely you are to quit. If you want to start leaving the office on time, don't expect to be able to do it five days a week right away. Start gradually: try to leave early one day a week, such as Friday, and then try to do it more often.

Our expert - business coach Denis Pasko.

Life by inertia

Professional burnout syndrome has many manifestations. But its main sign is when an employee begins to work as if by inertia, under pressure, from call to call. The creative attitude to work disappears, the sparkle in the eyes, the interest in improving skills and achieving better results are lost.

Professional burnout is usually talked about in relation to professions associated with intensive communication with people. Teachers, sales consultants, lawyers, social workers, and officials are susceptible to this phenomenon. Such problems arise when an employee has to deal with numerous visitors every day, with new people, when the social circle is constantly changing.

Risk group

Doctors experience burnout more often than others. Especially employees of oncology departments of clinics, where, unfortunately, due to objective reasons, the largest percentage of deaths are diagnosed. In addition, oncologists have to constantly interact with people who are depressed. This applies not only to patients, but also to their relatives. Such communication cannot but affect the psychological mood and health of the doctors themselves.

Among ophthalmologists, professional burnout syndrome often affects specialists in the conservative, laser and surgical treatment of glaucoma. The specificity of this disease is that improvement of visual functions, with rare exceptions, cannot be achieved in such patients. All efforts of doctors are focused exclusively on preserving the patient’s existing visual potential. But this is also not always possible.

Blinding patients often begin to blame doctors for their troubles, although in fact no mistakes were made in the treatment... This situation for some doctors leads to a feeling of resentment, emptiness, and disappointment with their profession.

The heavy cross of a leader

Another of the most vulnerable categories for professional burnout are managers of all ranks. They often have to make unpopular decisions: fire workers, issue reprimands, and deprive people of bonuses. Sometimes employees perceive their boss as an overseer, an evil Karabas-Barabas, who poisons their lives.

The person in the leadership chair begins to feel lonely and misunderstood. He gets the feeling that all his efforts aimed at the prosperity of the company and increasing its efficiency are of no use to anyone.

Don't become ballast

The problem of professional burnout of staff for the companies in which they work is that, from a formal point of view, burnt out employees do not violate any instructions, usually comply with work discipline and generally correspond to their positions. But in fact, these people become ballast for their employers; they pull their weight, bringing no benefit to themselves or others.

Find the way out

The way out of this situation can be different. In some cases, it is necessary to transfer an employee to another department, send him to advanced training courses, or provide him with unscheduled leave.

Maxim worked for several years in one of the St. Petersburg charitable organizations. His responsibilities included counseling people in difficult life situations: homeless people, people with AIDS, former prisoners. Some time ago, colleagues and bosses began to notice typical symptoms of professional burnout in a 37-year-old employee: he became rude and irritable with colleagues and his wards, constantly looked haggard and tired, sometimes was late for work and tried to disappear from the office immediately after the end of the working day .

The organization's management was already busy looking for a plausible excuse to part with an inconvenient employee, but business coach Denis Pasko proposed an unexpected solution: Maxim was relieved of his duties as a consultant and assigned to interact with potential benefactors and search for new sources of funding.

The man liked this job. And the result was immediate: from an outsider, Maxim turned into one of the most valuable employees of the organization. Thanks to him, relationships were established with a number of generous benefactors.

New chance

After fifteen years of working in an Orenburg fitness club as an aerobics trainer, Tatyana felt increasingly empty. She did not feel any return or gratitude from her charges. In addition, with age, intensive training became more and more difficult for her. Tatyana's husband earned good money, and the lady began to think about quitting work altogether and becoming a housewife.

When she informed the manager of the fitness club about her desire to quit, the boss offered an unexpected solution: “Tanyusha, you are an excellent athlete and an exemplary mother of two daughters! Why don't you master a new, promising direction - “Fitness for pregnant women”? You need to take advanced training courses and get a certificate. The fitness club covers all training costs.”

A new type of activity became a new chance for Tatyana. There is no more talk about professional burnout. The coach enjoys every working day and is happy to help expectant mothers improve their health and prepare for the most important event in their lives.

Sometimes it's better to break up

The example of Maxim and Tatyana shows that changing the type of activity within one’s own company often helps to cope with professional burnout. But such a development of events is not always possible. Sometimes the only solution for an employee and his employer is separation.

The best way out of this situation may be dismissal by agreement of the parties. It is often more profitable for an employer to pay a “burnt out” employee substantial financial compensation for his voluntary departure than to continue to involve him in the production process.

Personal opinion

Sergey Belogolovtsev:

Every person has a moment when it seems that career and work are the most important things in life. I had this happen. And now I incredibly regret, looking at my grandchildren, that I did not devote enough time to my children, did not see their new discoveries in life.