Professional Exhaustion and Burn Out

burnout, professional burnout Professional burnout can happen to anyone, whether you are a highly paid business executive or a stay at home mother. Like a disease, it may begin on a small scale, first attacking your personal morale, then over time it spreads, takes over, and destroys both your career and your personal life.

Professional exhaustion occurs at the climax of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion brought on by stress, typically from a job. However, anyone who feels overworked and undervalued is at risk for burnout.

Burnout is not caused solely by stressful work or too many responsibilities. Other factors also contribute to burnout, including your lifestyle and certain personality traits. What you do in your downtime and how you look at the world can play a significant role in causing burnout.

STRESS vs. BURNOUT

Stress	Burnout
Characterized by overengagement	Characterized by disengagement
Emotions are overreactive	Emotions are blunted
Produces urgency and hyperactivity	Produces helplessness and hopelessness
Loss of energy	Loss of motivation, ideals, and hope
Leads to anxiety disorders	Leads to detachment and depression
Primary damage is physical	Primary damage is emotional
May kill you prematurely	May make life seem not worth living

Causes of burnout

Work-related causes of burnout

Feeling like you have little or no control over your work.
Lack of recognition or rewards for good work.
Unclear or overly demanding job expectations.
Doing work that’s monotonous or unchallenging.
Working in a chaotic or high-pressure environment.

Lifestyle causes of burnout

Working too much, without enough time for relaxing and socializing.
Being expected to be too many things to too many people.
Taking on too many responsibilities, without enough help from others.
Not getting enough sleep.
Lack of close, supportive relationships.

Personality traits can contribute to burnout

Perfectionistic tendencies; nothing is ever good enough.
Pessimistic view of yourself and the world.
The need to be in control; reluctance to delegate to others.
High-achieving, ‘Type A’ personality.

Warning signs and symptoms of burnout

Physical signs and symptoms of burnout

Feeling tired and drained most of the time
Lowered immunity, feeling sick a lot

Frequent headaches, back pain, muscle aches
Change in appetite or sleep habits

Emotional signs and symptoms of burnout

Sense of failure and self-doubt
Feeling helpless, trapped, and defeated
Detachment, feeling alone in the world

Loss of motivation
Increasingly cynical and negative outlook
Decreased satisfaction and sense of accomplishment

Behavioral signs and symptoms of burnout

Withdrawing from responsibilities
Isolating yourself from others
Procrastinating, taking longer to get things done

Using food, drugs, or alcohol to cope
Taking out your frustrations on others
Skipping work or coming in late and leaving early

PROFESSIONAL EXHAUSTION AND BURNOUT