What is burnout?
Burnout is not a medical diagnosis, but it can impact your physical and mental health. Burnout can lead to hypertension, sleep disturbances, depression and substance abuse. That’s why it is critical to have a good self care plan and boundaries.
According to the American Psychological Association Dictionary of Psychology, burnout is defined as “physical, emotional or mental exhaustion, accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance and negative attitudes towards oneself and others.”
So what are some of the symptoms? exhaustion, fatigue, apathy, headaches, feeling incompetent, and cynicism. The driving forces behind burnout include:
Not having any input on your schedule, assignments or workload
Not having what you need to accomplish your work on a daily basis
No clear expectations from your boss, remember “clear is kind”
Feeling alone at work and in your personal life
Work takes up so much time that you do not have anything left for your friends or family
The news on burnout is not all bad. In our next blog post, we will talk more about how to tackle burnout. Our approach starts with small changes, think 5 minutes.