When we have been doing activities that require a lot of physical or mental effort, it is normal to feel tired at the end of the day, but we must be careful with this because sometimes it can be an alarm signal that tells us that we are very close to suffering “Burnout Syndrome” which is highly detrimental to our physical and emotional health.
If you don’t know what Burnout Syndrome is, here we tell you everything about it so that you learn to identify it, what causes it, and some great solutions to avoid it or get rid of it.
What Is Burnout Syndrome?
Burnout syndrome has its origin in the work environment and is considered an emotional disorder caused mainly by stress at work and the worker’s lifestyle.
Burnout is characterized by constant fatigue and a feeling of low productivity that people derive from the negligence of the objectives to be fulfilled.
Main Causes Of Burnout
According to various sources, there is a long list of the main causes of Burnout. These are some of them.
- The company has a poor organization of the tasks for each employee
- The employer demands too much
- There is work overload
- The top management of the company has unrealistic expectations for employees to meet
- There is a lack of clarity regarding the guidelines that employees must follow to achieve their objectives
- Chronic work stress
- Bad work conditions
- High levels of stress in the work environment
- Employees have little autonomy to carry out their tasks
- Bad work environment – Work relationships are bad
- Lack of support in the work environment
- Excess of bureaucratization
- Lack of time to organize tasks
How To Identify If You Suffer From Burnout
Identifying if your stress levels have overstepped normal bounds and become Burnout is often very difficult to achieve. But some symptoms can help you distinguish it.
Here are some symptoms:
- Waking up tired and unwilling to go to work despite having rested more than seven hours
- Feeling that you are putting your personal life aside to attend to work tasks
- Feeling indifferent to what used to provide challenges and rewards
- Having bad interaction with the people you serve
- Feeling exhaustion, failure, and constant helplessness
- Low self-esteem
- Feeling little fulfillment on a personal level
- Being in a constant state of nervousness
- Having difficulty concentrating
- Manifesting aggressive or violent behaviors
- Headaches
- Tachycardia
- Insomnia or trouble sleeping
- Low performance
- Work absenteeism
- Boredom
- Impatience
- Irritability
- Poor communication
- Depression and anxiety
The last two are generally the most common symptoms and are the main reasons for most sick leave.
How To Combat Burnout
Here are four steps you can take at home:
1. Relax and do some activity that you like in your moments outside of work
Do not take work home. Some people believe that watching a series, movie, or even cartoons helps a lot because it can “return” you to childhood, that time when your adult responsibilities were very far away.
Alternatively, shift your focus. Why not try something new, like learning to paint or learning how to play easy banjo songs, to concentrate on something other than work or other things that stress you.
2. Pamper yourself with a hot bath at the beginning or end of the day
Taking a warm bath helps to relax the muscles of the body and combat work stress because it dilates blood vessels and facilitates blood circulation. The hot water on your body gives you a light massage, and your joints relax. A hot bath calms anxiety because it helps you to disconnect from the outside. You forget the daily tasks or the pending tasks of tomorrow.
3. Ask yourself “How?” and stop saying “I can’t handle this”
Change the phrase “I can’t do this” and say “How can I handle this?” Asking yourself these types of questions will help you develop your creativity and increase your ability to solve difficult situations.
4. Divide your goals into big and small
For this, you can divide your big plans into goals that are easier to achieve. Set short-term goals aimed at meeting an overall goal. Advance step by step and little by little in your goals. Doing this helps lower your tolerance for frustration and stress.
If you have already identified that you are prone to “burnout” or are already in that situation, seek help, take care of yourself and indulge yourself.
Rearrange your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We all suffer from job stress from time to time, but heed the red flags and don’t let it turn into burnout.
There are many things you can do for yourself. Take action before your stress and frustration levels rise. Indulge in simple actions like relaxing or having fun!