Worried about burnout? Burnout was a problem way before COVID-19 became a pandemic.
Before, during, and after COVID, burnout continues to affect individuals from various backgrounds and professions. It is insidious in nature; the emotional exhaustion sneaks up on you, often without any warning signs.
People are set up for burnout, and this is due to two main reasons:
- Occupation
- Personality
Think about it: Systems and organizations have a great deal of influence into our overall wellbeing. Our job duties, responsibilities, and interpersonal relationships with our colleagues and coworkers take up a THIRD of our day. In an ideal situation, our working environment and relationships would be a pleasant place to be.
This is characterized with high engagement, satisfaction, and fulfillment in one’s job, and a sense of contribution and meaning.
However, with burnout, people most often find themselves working in an environment that is the direct opposite. This is where burnout begins.
A toxic workplace with low morale, staffing shortages, high levels of stress, and low levels of stress management.
Bullying and harassment from coworkers and supervisors are all conditions that set forth the setting for burnout to begin. Furthermore, research shows so that a lack of fairness, respect, and inadequate resources to do our job properly all affects our susceptibility to burnout. Unfortunately, this is the grounds for which emotional exhaustion in the top performers climb, and resentment grows.
Burnout has a particular preference for Type A individuals. People who are extremely high workers, high achievers, and perfectionists take the cake – their efforts and time remain unrewarded, despite personal sacrifices that they make for their job.
They may even start to feel anxious, on edge, and start to have trouble with sleep – either staying asleep, going to sleep, or sleeping too much or too little. Their mental health takes a toll, and symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, and depression often emerge as a result.
This can be quite unsettling, especially if you have no prior history of feeling a similar way. You may not even know what is really going on!
