Burnout at work is real and maybe more common than you think.
The UK Government’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE) define work-related stress, depression or anxiety as a harmful reaction people have to undue pressures and demands placed on them at work. In 2021/22, 17.0 million working days were lost to work-related stress, depression and anxiety, which accounted for 51% of all work-related ill health cases. The main work factors are workload pressures, tight deadlines, too much responsibility and a lack of managerial support.
Avoiding burnout in the workplace while consistently playing your ‘A’ Game and performing at your peak may be contradictory. Watch out for these five signs and take action before it’s too late.
You or family members have noticed behavioural changes, including;
- Poor sleep patterns
- Loss of appetite
- The dreaded ‘Sunday night’ feeling as the weekend comes to a close
- Sickness
- Persistent lateness
- Disengagement
- Unable to switch off
Downtime is fundamental to your well-being. Switch off all phones/tablets/gadgets when not in use. Don’t become tied to the flashing red light reminding you when you have messages. Building in downtime is even more critical now that working from home has become the norm. Separating work from home life is more challenging as both crosses over.
So many successful people achieve high levels of professional success only to find when they get there, their relationships have fallen apart, or it’s not something they want to be chasing. Somehow you feel you’ve ended up in a place that is now entirely wrong for you. Revisit what success means to you. Is this aligned with where you want to be?
Overwhelm can put you in a state of analysis paralysis where, despite your best intentions, you end up doing nothing, or you focus your time & energy on things you can but shouldn’t be doing. This exemplifies the feeling that you don’t feel you’re progressing. Question everything you do daily, ‘Is what I am doing right now worthy of my time?’ If not, why are you doing it? Learn to say ‘NO’ to the unimportant things, and then you will have more time to say ‘YES’ to the important things.
Each morning you wake up with an itch, not a tingling of the skin, but something deep in your very being. You know something isn’t quite right, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. There is a vast reservoir of untapped potential inside every one of us. Your professional self – your work – should contribute to unlocking your potential and creating the future you want. If it’s doing the opposite, stop, take stock and consider the action you must take.
Our lives have many facets; work, home, family, friends, colleagues, partners and perhaps children. And over the years, commitments have crept in, almost unnoticed, to the point where there are probably multiple versions of you – all with differing demands and expectations. The answer isn’t to become universally excellent but to understand which requires the most attention at any given point. Remember, there may be many versions of you, but only one physical you.
Understanding what makes you, you and what’s most important to you will help you commit to change. The catalyst for change is never a matter of ability but motivation. And what motivates you to do what you do is about understanding how you’re wired and what makes you tick.
Sounds intriguing, right?
Try the new personal transformation growth enabler ‘What Makes You, You!’ on my business growth platform ‘The Business Growth Pathway’ today.
