How to Identify and Overcome Job Burnout
Posted: Sunday, September 09, 2007
by Tom Watson
Job burnout has happened to myself as with many others. If it has not affected you as yet, there may still be a time in your career when it will. It does not matter if you like your job or not, there will come a time when you just do not feel like doing it anymore.
Here is how job burnout is described. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary states that job burnout is exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.
Here are more examples of job burnout. People who work hard without the gratitude they feel they deserve from their boss. They work everyday, work hard and still do not feel compensated. Promotions and raises are scarce or not present at all.
Some people end up in the wrong career by choosing the wrong one in the first place. Other workers are in the right career, but the wrong job, specifically one they dislike and as a result, frustration and job stress reveal their ugly faces.
On the flipside, job burnout does not only happen to people who are stressed. Workers may really love their job, their co-workers, boss and company. No issues or problems occur and work is going along smoothly, however, one day they all of a sudden do not feel like going to work.
Well, he or she must have realized that it has been a considerable period of time since their last vacation, some time off, a full weekend or just having some relaxing time with their family at home. So in other words, too much of a good thing, including work, is not good for you. Job burnout can happen to anybody.
Yes, there is a cost for job burnout. The health and mental problems that affect you will also trickle down to the way you perform your job. Tardiness and absenteeism and doing the bare minimum are just a few examples. Depression may be knocking on your door.
If any of this is familiar to you, read on. Job burnout should not be ignored or taken lightly. It is very serious to any individual and should attempt to be remedied. It will be easier to fix the problem in the early stages.
Obviously, the surest way to remedy job burnout is to quit your job. But if you are in the early stages there may be several ways to get it together. The first step is to figure out what is making you feel this way.
Maybe you are working too hard, along with too many hours, and it was your choice to do so. You will have to force yourself to slow down. If you discover this is not as easy as you thought, then perhaps its time to take a vacation or some considerable time off. Try leaving work on time and do not take any work home with you. And when you get home, relax and do something you enjoy. Do anything but work.
If your job burnout is caused by stress or frustration, the ball game is a little different. For instance if you are responsible for more work than you can handle, or work for a boss who is difficult or you know there are layoffs just around the corner, there is not much you can do about it. However, it does not stop you from approaching your boss, sitting down with him and discussing some ideas for a better productive relationship.
Above all else, stay calm and realize you are only one person. Take a deep breath. You cannot possibly do the work of several people and be expected to get it all done.
On a final note, if you decide it is necessary to change careers, give it considerable thought and research. Find a job that should be absent from all the factors that caused the job burnout in your prior employment. If not, you will end up right back where you started.
Tom Watson is the owner of Blue Collar USA, a new website dedicated to encouraging and motivating the hourly wage earner. New report Changing Your Life Motivation for the Blue Collar Worker. Visit http://www.usabluecollar.com
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