Stress is a part of our everyday lives and in small amounts can assist with productivity and energy levels. However, chronic stress can have an overwhelming impact on your mind and body.
Burnout is a state of complete mental, physical and emotional exhaustion that can occur after a long period of excessive or stressful work. Factors that can lead to burnout include high pressure work environments, too many responsibilities and demanding job expectations.
If you are experiencing burnout, you may notice it is difficult to engage in activities you normally find enjoyable or meaningful. While the early signs of burnout vary for everyone, it’s important to recognise the signs and understand the impacts.
Signs and experiences of burnout can include:
- feeling tired
- struggling to get to sleep
- being easily irritable
- feeling a sense of hopelessness or apathy
- emotional exhaustion
- being negative
- depressed and/or anxious
- having physical symptoms, including stomach pains.
As HR professionals, you should be aware that burnout can affect anyone, including yourself. While methods including reducing workload and regaining work life balance can help mitigate the familiar causes of burnout, there are some more surprising reasons.
Perfectionism
Expecting perfection and being unhappy when you’re not being perfect adds additional stress to daily tasks at work, which can contribute to burnout. To minimise this, focus on how you’re responding and acting. Try not to focus on or worry about making mistakes, know feedback is an important tool for success and not necessarily a negative evaluation from others. It is important to mediate discrepancies between expectations and performance and understand making mistakes and learning from them is a part of growth and development.
Lack of autonomy and boredom
Burnout can occur when people are under-challenged and are bored, indifferent and find no personal growth in their jobs. It can also occur when people are worn-out and feel they have no control over their work – that their efforts go unnoticed or unappreciated. It’s important to spend your time doing something that brings you a sense of purpose, satisfaction and productivity. Embedding a culture of autonomy and variation with work is crucial for your team.
People pleasing and lack of boundaries
As HR professionals, you’re often looking after others. However, when you start placing others’ needs above your own, you can experience emotional fatigue which can then lead to burnout. Make sure you prioritise yourself and implement self-care methods that work for you.
Technology and social media
For some, technology and social media can be a driver of burnout. Ensuring face-to-face communication is still a priority can help with focusing on not just conversation, but also connection. The introduction of digital minimalism can also help in reducing your screentime overall. It also allows you to focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimised activities that strongly support the things you value.
By recognising which areas of your daily life are causing burnout you can begin to improve it. To help reduce the likelihood of burnout occurring, you can try:
- identifying your early warning signs of burnout
- taking regular time out
- figuring out what’s important to you
- learning to set boundaries
- discovering a new outlet, for example a new sport, activity, or something creative
- accepting things that aren’t in your control.