A State Of Burnout
Stats, signs and self testing
The recent spotlight on burnout is arguably long overdue.
Burnout is a commonly used word right now, and at its heart, it describes someone experiencing emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion.
Today, 43% of women leaders and 31% of male leaders are experiencing burnout, a report released this week, by McKinsey & Co in partnership with Lean In found.
And even pre-pandemic, more than a third of people reported feeling burned out at some point during their careers. So chances are you might have felt that too.
It might not always have been called ‘burnout’ but what you experienced in all likelihood was.
Feeling exhausted, unproductive, cynical, distant, hopeless, and resentful are common signs. In work, your performance drops, you get less done and you probably make more mistakes too.
But burnout doesn’t just affect your work. Its impacts touch every area of your life.
And interestingly the cause of burnout isn’t necessarily long hours and working too much.
In fact, that doesn’t even make the top five, according to a report by Gallup. Instead, burnout stems from poor relationships at work, ineffective communication, lack of managerial support, unreasonable workloads, and time pressure.
All things that can be intensified during periods of ongoing pressure and uncertainty.
So what can you do to be extra vigilant in identifying and tackling burnout?
Here are five things to explore.
Identify: Not all burnout is the same, so it’s essential to get to the nub of what causes or could cause burnout for you. Because it may well be different from those around you, and it might not be caused by what you initially think.
A simple technique like the Five Why’s can help.
Reflect on a time when you’ve felt burned out (or approaching burnout) in the past.
Start with the problem: “I feel burned out”
Then ask yourself ‘why?’
Then ask ‘why that might be’? And repeat..
Why?
Why?
Why?
You’ll find yourself much closer to the root cause than you were before.
Do this before you feel burned out. Don’t wait until you are. Getting to the root cause of your burnout will help you determine what preventative action to take, for you.
Check: If you prefer a guided approach, here’s a short Burnout Self-Test that can help you hone in on your level of stress (it uses a 15–75 point scale) and give you an indication of what to do.
Act: But start small. Creating a huge list of ‘things to do to ease my burnout’ is likely to do just the opposite. Instead, choose just two or three things that could start to ease the pressure.
A quick internet search produces an abundance of useful tips such as this.
Take a read-through.
What are three possible options you could experiment with?
What priority order would you attach to them?
What would need to be in place to get started with number one, today?
Read: Elizabeth Grace Saunders offers an interesting take on how to tackle burnout in her short HBR piece here.
Focus: Focussing on your mindset can be incredibly powerful, both short and long-term too. If you can spare just one or two minutes whilst your laptop is closing down for the day, get in the habit of asking yourself:
What went well today?
What could have been better?
What will I do differently tomorrow?
Taking tiny steps forward each day will help you feel a little bit more hopeful and embracing of the future. One day at a time.
Last week’s issue: Are you a leader or a manager?
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