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Over the past decades, the term “burnout syndrome,” which was coined by psychiatrist Herbert J. Freudenberger 40 years ago, has become familiar to many of us firsthand. Ambitious and responsible workers, people with a wide circle of contacts, overly zealous in business, without respite or recharge, experience one situation after another. Everyone sooner or later earns physical and...
“The people most susceptible to burnout are workaholics, altruists, idealists, humanists and maximalists,” says UC Berkeley psychology professor Christina Maslach, who has devoted several books to burnout syndrome. “In addition, observations show: women usually suffer more often than men, introverts - more often than extroverts, loners - more often than those who can boast of a full personal life.”
Symptoms
Burnout syndrome does not appear immediately. “Stress can accumulate for months and even years,” says Professor Maslach, “but sooner or later the human body, having exhausted all its energy reserves, will begin to fail.”
There are many symptoms of this unpleasant scourge. Conventionally, they can be divided into three groups: psychophysical, socio-psychological and behavioral.
Extinguishing measures
Some measures will help stop the burnout process, while others will guarantee that relapse will not occur. But both will require a conscious desire from you to change the situation.
1. Take a day or two off. Essentially, this is the same sick leave, only for nerves. If the boss is not a hero and not an enemy of his business, then, seeing that your failure jeopardizes the common cause, he is unlikely to refuse you a break. The main rule: declare a complete moratorium on work these days! No calling colleagues with questions: “How are you doing? Do you need my help? Maybe I should come?”
2. Returning to business, put things in order in the workplace, set strict deadlines. For example: “I finish work at 18.30.” If you find it difficult to force yourself to leave the office on time, make a promise every morning (and better not only to yourself, but to someone else) that you will return from work on time - then unconsciously you will strive to keep your word.
3. Every day (without exceptions) devote at least a quarter of an hour. And don’t deceive yourself: washing the floors in a three-room apartment is not the same as doing, or. Cleaning or running around for groceries is the same work that is perceived by the consciousness as duty and labor. Whereas fitness brings not only physical satisfaction, but above all moral satisfaction. Muscle fatigue after training should compensate for fatigue from work, and not double it.
4. Engage in practices aimed at increasing the level of internal energy - yoga, ikebana, etc. Since burnout syndrome is provoked, these techniques will bring quick relief.
5. . Sayings like “Work makes horses die” perfectly illustrate the peculiarities of the Russian mentality - most of us subconsciously perceive work as nothing other than backbreaking labor and forced bondage. As soon as we get a job, we begin to have a negative attitude towards it. But work takes up at least a third of our everyday life - eight hours out of 24! Psycholinguists say: if it is difficult to change your attitude towards something, you need to change the wording. Even something as small as using the phrase “my business” instead of “my job” every day can move mountains of emotional negativity.
6. Don’t let your colleagues throw out negative emotions on you - for example, complaining about the treachery of your superiors, crying about your relatives, or lamenting because the mushrooms didn’t grow this year. It’s one thing if a person talks about troubles when answering your question, and quite another thing when he constantly abuses your sympathy. Change the topic of conversation, tactfully evade endless compassion, otherwise these emotions will take away a huge amount of your energy.
7. Never take food to your desk. Even have tea away from the computer. And that's not the point. But the fact is that the body is not able to receive energy (when you eat) and expend it (when you work) at the same time - thus you create an additional stressful situation for it. It is not for nothing that in the Feng Shui system, dining and working areas are strictly separated.
8. Often, burnout syndrome occurs due to an excessive social circle. “It doesn’t even matter whether it’s real or illusory,” emphasizes Christina Maslach. — Ask yourself, can you fully exchange information and impressions with hundreds of unfamiliar people whom you have picked up, for example, on Facebook? Why do you need these imaginary ratings? Your psyche becomes disoriented, not knowing how to really relate to “friends” who, in fact, are not them. Avoid additional emotional stress."
One last piece of advice: From time to time, take a simple mini-test that can show you whether you are at risk of burnout. Draw a snowflake on a piece of paper. Each of its rays symbolizes one of your life interests: personal life, hobbies, friends, travel and recreation, health, sports, work, etc. On each of the rays, mark a point that, in your opinion, shows how satisfied you are in your life. this area of your life (we take the center of the snowflake as zero). Then connect all the dots - at the very least you should get a wheel. The more places where your wheel is clearly falling off, the more likely it is that you will experience burnout syndrome in the near future.
Professional activity plays an important role in our lives, and it requires a lot of investment: time, physical, intellectual, and emotional. If, while performing your professional duties, you have to interact with a huge number of people, then you are at risk of emotional burnout.
What is emotional burnout?
Emotional burnout – This is the human body’s reaction to prolonged stress of moderate intensity during professional activity. This condition negatively affects a person’s physical and mental well-being and reduces his performance and productivity. It worsens the sphere of interpersonal communication in the family, with friends and can ruin relationships with colleagues.
How can you determine if you are “burnt out” at work? To do this, you should pay attention to the presence of certain symptoms that may indicate emotional exhaustion. Like any long-term stress, emotional burnout develops gradually. First there is tension (anxiety), then resistance– a person tries to resist the negative emotions and feelings that arise. If this resistance turns out to be ineffective, there comes exhaustion and decreased emotional tone.
There is a large number symptoms of emotional burnout, which can be grouped:
1) Psychophysiological symptoms; these include: chronic fatigue, a feeling of physical and emotional exhaustion, decreased activity, sleepiness, headaches, stomach pain, sudden weight loss or gain. As well as problems with sleep (a person falls asleep quickly, but does not sleep well, often wakes up; or cannot fall asleep for a long time and it is difficult for him to wake up in the morning), problems with the heart, respiratory system.
2) Psychological symptoms, such as: indifference, boredom, passivity, depressed mood, depression, increased irritability to minor events (“nervous breakdowns”, anger, aggression). This also includes the experience of negative emotions (guilt, uncertainty, resentment and shame), decreased interest in professional activities (reluctance to go to work and fulfill one’s professional responsibilities).
3) Social symptoms include: decreased enthusiasm for work, disinterest in its results; in this case, a person often takes work home, but does not complete it. The working hours will change, there will be a lot of lateness, or coming and leaving work early. Getting “stuck” on details and spending a huge amount of time on solving secondary problems, unwillingness to take responsibility. Social circle is limited to contacts at work; upon arriving home, you feel tired, unwilling to communicate with your family, and lack of visible support from them.
If most of these symptoms are familiar to you, then you may be developing or have already developed emotional burnout syndrome (for more accurate information, additional diagnostics using special techniques is needed).
Prevent further burnout from forming You can do it yourself by following these simple rules:
– normalize your sleep (try to fall asleep and wake up at the same time, and sleep at least 7–8 hours a day);
– take more vitamins, try to eat regularly;
– start playing sports (morning exercises, gym if possible, water procedures, jogging in the fresh air), this will help not only improve your physical fitness, but also lift your spirits and cheer up;
– sign up for a massage, aromatherapy (the smells of orange, lemon, cinnamon, bergamot have a stimulating effect on the nervous system, and the smells of lavender, anise, sage, on the contrary, have a calming effect);
– communicate with friends and family, organize joint holidays, walks (such communication should distract you from work-related problems);
– listen to music (classical music helps to harmonize the emotional state, and rock and jazz helps to free oneself from negative emotions);
– come up with some hobby (books, dancing, tourism, photography, weaving, embroidery, drawing – don’t be afraid to express your creative nature);
– take time to communicate with nature or get yourself a pet (who will meet you from work and whom you will take care of).
And remember the main thing: you need to correctly calculate your internal and external resources, and also be able to balance rest and work. After all, tired and exhausted, we are unlikely to achieve significant results. Know, no matter how difficult and winding our path may be, it is necessary to sometimes take a break and, having caught our breath, move forward with new strength - towards our goal.
Love and take care of yourself!
Emotional burnout is a serious psychological exhaustion caused by constant stress and overload at work. It was once believed that this syndrome was the fate of those who deal with people: doctors, teachers, sales managers. But several years ago, psychologists sounded the alarm: it turned out that representatives of all professions, without exception, could suffer from it. To “cure”, sometimes it’s enough to take a vacation, sign up for a massage course and learn to meditate, but sometimes radical measures are required. For example, a conversation with your superiors about the redistribution of your responsibilities or even dismissal. But how can you distinguish burnout from ordinary fatigue after a day of work? We talk about its main features.
You feel tired
Always. Even in the mornings or on weekends. Sound sleep or usual entertainment do not help cope with the problem. And what kind of entertainment is there - you can’t bring yourself to get up from the couch to cook soup, let alone go to the cinema or meet with friends. Every Monday you hardly get out of bed, and by Friday you start to think seriously about how great it is to be sick - you lie in your room, doing nothing. Oh, no, you do - answer calls and write letters.
Often - performing the most basic tasks, those with which there were no problems before. And it doesn’t evoke an emotional response in you at all. Instead of “Oh horror!” you think: “Well, big deal, I ruined the report, well, I don’t care.” And even the comments of your boss and colleagues bother you less than six months ago.
You're procrastinating
Okay, we all take time away from work from time to time to hang out on social networks or chat with colleagues. But now you grab any excuse for doing nothing much more often than a few months ago - first you go out for coffee alone, then with a friend, then you open your email for two hours, oh, now it’s time for lunch.
You get sick more often
Chronic fatigue also affects your health: your immunity decreases, old sores come back. You always walk around with a cold, and your purse has long ago turned into a first aid kit. Have you noticed that the phrase “antibiotics plus work” is becoming your favorite? It's time to sound the alarm.
You just don't have enough energy to cook healthy food and go to the fitness club. And the bad habits that you previously struggled with are in full bloom again: you don’t refuse an offer to smoke and don’t mind drinking a couple of glasses of wine to escape from gloomy thoughts.
You don't sleep well
Because until three or four in the morning you think about work. Or you spend the whole night preparing presentations and speaking in front of your superiors, periodically waking up in a cold sweat. And when you open your eyes closer to dawn, you don’t fall asleep for a long time. The worst thing is if you cannot fall asleep without the help of sedatives.
You've turned into a whiner
Complaining about life is a nice thing to do, but your office problems have gradually become the problems of your friends, parents and boyfriend. The latter, by the way, clearly hints: he is tired of listening to what a terrible boss you have, and wants to have sex. But of course you don't have the strength. You yourself feel that the constant discussion of office intrigue is draining energy from you, but for some reason you can’t stop.
Text: Anna Volodina
Young professionals have the following opinion: “if I work well for my employer, work overtime almost every day, I will burn at work“If I show management my zeal and workaholism, I will become an indispensable employee.” But, as a rule, experience confirms something else - constant overwork and excessive zeal will not only not help you gain the trust of your boss, but on the contrary, you will quickly “burn out”, become overtired and quit. Experienced personnel officers are sure of this, and their experience confirms this statement.
Why is it harmful to burn at work?
The situation is similar if you look at it from the other side. In no case should a boss overload a new employee with excessive activity, because he risks burning out and not lasting more than a few months if he suffers from nervous and physical overload, that is, burns out at work.
Unfortunately, in our metropolitan cities, leaders do not think about this. Immediately after hiring a competent specialist, already during the probationary period, they squeeze the maximum out of him, assigning more and more responsibilities, exploiting his knowledge and adopting experience.
Of course, the newcomer tries, sometimes stays overtime, tries to please the management, to show his competence and effectiveness. And requests from management begin to grow from week to week. They think: since you can do this, and you can do it, and you have coped with this task, then you will be able to do both. The load on the newbie is growing, so are the demands of management, and the pressure begins.
The new employee experiences prolonged nervous stress, overwork, begins to get irritated and, finally, fearful burn out at work, refuses to take on additional workload. After a couple of such refusals, management puts a stigma on the newcomer: “not loyal to the company and management.” And now this very person, who burned out at work, is the first candidate for dismissal when staffing is reduced. And it doesn’t matter that he works hard for three people - the bosses only need loyal employees, and if necessary, other people will come to his position who will perform the same duties, because “we don’t have irreplaceable ones.”
Burning out at work - how does it feel?
« Burning at work“and the desire to recycle should be able to be noticed in advance in order to prevent possible consequences. If you are experiencing the following symptoms, it is likely that you are at risk of burnout at work and need some rest.
Burning at work: symptoms
- You feel tired and restless, and are constantly stressed.
- In the morning you think with horror about the upcoming working day and you.
- You are constantly worried and experiencing.
- You don't make plans and don't know what you want.
- You continue to work with the same determination as before, but you do fewer things.
- You begin to evaluate yourself and those around you cynically.
- You begin to have health problems.
- You constantly feel tired, sleep poorly, and do not relax.
How not to burn out at work
There are reasons for the so-called habit of “burning out at work.” This and the desire to redo everything as best as possible. Or there may be pressure from the owner, when subordinates put in maximum effort, and the boss demands that they perform even more responsibilities and produce even more results.
Or, on the contrary, you are bored, you know everything and everyone at your job and don’t know what to do with yourself. All these reasons, emotional and mental overload, can affect the employee’s physical condition and his attitude.
And it is advisable not to let the situation take its course, otherwise it may develop into a more serious form -
The most important thing in this situation is to restore self-control. Try to establish the reason why you are so tired; is it due to overwork at work? . Talk to your boss about reducing your workload and what concerns you. Carry out your duties step by step, do not try to do several things at the same time. Take care of your physical well-being, try to get enough sleep and exercise. If this doesn’t help, take a break, take a vacation or rest more on the weekend. Talk about your concerns with your husband (wife) or consult with professionals.
For example, the following video training by Vladimir Tychinsky talks about how to increase the strength of one’s own desire so that a person does not burn out at work and achieves his goals.
Remember, no management demands, no plans, no goals and career ambitions are worth it. burn out at work, are not worth your physical and mental health! Good luck in your work!
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 personnel 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 a 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 superiors 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.
