Work Burnout: Signs & Symptoms + 5 Ways To Overcome It
Do you drag yourself to work every morning? Do you feel exhausted every morning regardless of how much you slept? Do you leave work more stressed than when you arrived? Do you feel overworked, frustrated and unproductive at work and at home? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are showing signs of burnout at work or you may be burned out.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized burnout as an “occupational phenomenon” in May 2019 after a high number of people all across the globe experienced it.[1] Burnout impacts every aspect of one’s well-being and quality of life, from job performance to mental and physical health.
People who are under a great deal of stress and struggling to cope with workplace stress may place themselves at high risk of burnout. So, what is burnout, what are the symptoms, how can you cope with it in the moment, and how can you learn to overcome it with time?
What Is Burnout At Work?
Burnout happens due to unmanaged, chronic workplace stress. If it is left unaddressed, it can cause a variety of mental and physical health symptoms. Burnout can cause an individual to become depressed, anxious, and distracted, which can impact professional and personal relationships alike. It can make it difficult for an individual to function well in their daily life.
Burnout is not only the result of long working hours. When you’re not in control of your career or job, can’t figure out a way to succeed, and the tasks assigned to you don’t resonate, you can start feeling burned out.
Of course, burnout exists for remote workers as well. Work from home can make work-life balance challenging. You may feel unable to disconnect from the office, take time off, have meaningful professional interactions, and define healthy boundaries – all these situations can burn individuals out.
4 Symptoms & Signs Of Burnout At Work
If you feel exhausted, start to hate your job, and begin to feel less capable at work, you are showing signs of burnout at work. According to WHO, the three characteristics of burnout at work include:[2]
1. Overwhelming exhaustion: Burnout causes people to feel drained, worn out, low energy, and fatigued.
2. Feelings of cynicism and detachment from the job: Your job may feel increasingly stressful and frustrating, causing you to emotionally distance yourself and begin to feel numb about work. You may grow cynical about working conditions and colleagues or co-workers.
3. A sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment: Burnout mainly affects everyday tasks at work. You may feel negative about tasks, have difficulty concentrating, or lack creativity.
Physical symptoms of chronic stress from burnout at work may include headaches and stomachaches or intestinal issues.
How To Avoid Burnout At Work: 5 Easy Techniques To Practice Daily
How do we save ourselves from burnout at work, and regain our well-being and quality of life? There are several easy techniques that can help us to avoid burnout at work.
1. Meditate
When you are always on the go, you can easily disconnect from the fact that you are burned out. Recognizing how we feel is the first step in addressing burnout at work.
Meditation provides an opportunity for you to check in with your body and mind. Meditation allows us to connect with ourselves, so we can recognize our thoughts and feelings in order to address them. The best way to listen to your body is by practicing meditation.
By practicing meditation, we are able to restore health through listening to the body.
Meditation can alleviate workplace anxiety as well. As a cognitive exercise that focuses on maintaining a quiet mind, meditation promotes feelings of peace, tranquility, and positive energy. Studies have shown meditation’s efficacy in:
Benefits:
• Decreases burnout, stress and anxiety
• Increases focus and concentration
• Helps to decrease blood pressure
• Increases blood flow to the heart
• Decreases muscle tension that causes stress-related tension headaches
The practice of meditation also can enhance our intuitive reaction to the realities of life, allowing us to respond to challenging situations calmly and harmoniously.
In addition, meditation helps to ease our negative emotions, particularly when we are stressed, depressed or angry.
If you haven’t ever tried meditation, give it a go. It’s very easy.
You may start with a simple seated meditation with guided visualization created by the founder of Bodhi Meditation, Grandmaster JinBodhi, The Meditation of Purity. Purity contains the meaning of quietness, and pureness is achieved through quietness. Pure refers to purity, and when our mind and body are pure and untainted, we are healthy.
What is purity? It means that our thinking is not upset, instead it is clear and uncomplicated. Why? Our brain keeps thinking. Once you think too much, you will get tired. Fatigue may lead to functional deterioration and even illness. The method of sitting meditation is to use quietness to calm our mind, to achieve the goal of health through purifying our thoughts, and to achieve physical and mental health and enlightenment from a higher level. This is the origin of “The Meditation of Purity”.
Relax your body and mind. Slowly clear your thoughts of distractions, anxieties, and worries about work. Say to yourself, “Now I will meditate and even if the sky should fall to the earth, I will pay it no mind.”
Click here to listen to a free sample (MP3 download: USD$26)
2. Prostration
Prostration is the placement of the body in a prone position that can be found in religious and non-religious settings as a means of practice to foster wisdom and physical health.
These simple repetitive movements is an effective physical and spiritual exercise that balances the energy in the body – if you work at a computer all day or do a lot of thinking, prostration is a wonderful exercise to evenly re-distribute your energy.
Prostration calms the body and mind and brings you to a pure state, enabling you to eliminate distracting thoughts and develop self-awareness The repetitive bowing movements, helps replenish the oxygen to the heart and brain, which has a good effect upon memory, vision, hearing, concentration, and cognitive abilities. Consider adding prostration to your daily life as little as five minutes, a simple way to a better life and be astonished by the health benefits of the practice.
Prostration is an easy to learn, gentle aerobic exercise. Learn prostration for free from Grandmaster JinBodhi, who teaches this ancient Buddhist practice with step-by-step instructions and explains its many benefits.
Free “Prostration for Better Living” MP4+PDF: Prostration for Better Living MP4+PDF (Multi Language and Subtitle)
3. Change your perspective, practice gratitude and acceptance
Change your perspective towards work. Channel positive energy and positive beliefs in yourself, rather than dwelling on stressors, obstacles or negative characteristics of work. We can start changing our perspective by embracing “The Blessing of Work:”.
“The Blessing of Work: To live is to work as working means we are still alive, still growing. Being able to work is happiness. Being able to work hard is a blessing as it means we are still healthy. Being able to sing, exercise, and bring happiness to others means that we are blessed with good health in motion.”
Change your perspective by learning and practicing gratitude towards everything in life. Gratitude brings happiness and contentment. When we are feeling grateful towards everything, we will be more calm, positive, happy and relaxed, thus, practicing gratitude helps us to reduce the feelings of annoyance and frustration and improve our overall quality of life at work and personal life.
Gratitude also helps us to focus on the kindness of others instead of their shortcomings. This enables us to build a harmonious relationship at work and at home.
Acceptance is another perspective we can embrace. Acceptance makes life easier. Once you accept something, you can make choices about how to deal with it. If you resist anything, it has power over you.
Get inspired with these meditation quotes:
Like bitter and sweet, ups and downs in life, every moment and experience play a part on the long journey of life, helping us build courage, resilience, positivity, helping us to cherish and be grateful.
When faced with responsibility, take a step forward and courageously take it up;
When faced with benefits, take a step back and value righteousness over material gain.
Do not be overly ambitious at work, but be succinct. For greater accomplishment, focus on the finer details.
Browse more of Grandmaster JinBodhi’s meditation quotes at: 50 Best Meditation Quotes to Give You Peace | Bodhi
4. Exercise
Working a long period of time behind a desk can be physically taxing and can result in multiple health conditions. Taking care of your health while at the workplace can help you to rejuvenate your energy.
Few tips to practice workplace health:
• Roll the shoulders
• Comb the scalp and tap the eyes
• Practice a breathing exercise
Would like to exercise but having a small space without any fitness equipment? Grandmaster JinBodhi’s Energy Bagua Aerobics is here to solve your problem. It does not take up much space and is fully equipment-free! Besides, it only involves simple movement and is less intense, suitable for beginners, elderly people and those with sensitive constitutions. Try it out!
Coffee break Energy Bagua Aerobics:
Find more easy-to-follow home workouts in our Aerobics and Fitness series. No equipment required, gentle on the joints, great for all ages!
5. Relieve stress with a foot soak
After a long and stressful day at work, a foot soak is a much-deserved treat to relax for the rest of the day. In ancient Chinese belief, regular foot soaks generate benefits that far exceed other health practices. It has been regarded as a simple way to well-being, nourishing the body and soles. Some of the benefits include:
• Reduce fatigue
• Stimulate meridians
• Increase blood flow
• Rid internal dampness
The Bottom Line: The Best Way To Deal With Burnout At Work
Our body is like a multifunctional computer. But when we have been working overtime, for long periods of time, error messages begin to appear in the forms of overwhelming exhaustion, frustration, and stress. These signal that we need to do some regular maintenance for our body and health. In order to fix the error messages, we must recognize the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual root causes of our body’s burnout.
Joining a meditation retreat is a quick and effective way to learn meditation, and to relax and replenish your physical and mental energy. Bodhi Meditation’s Stress Relief Retreat is a fantastic introductory meditation course for beginners, and perfect for busy people. Its minimal time commitment gives those who work 9-5 a week-long opportunity to cultivate a daily meditation habit, increase energy, improve sleep, ease aches and pains, and gain wisdom and clarity!
Singapore | Wei Ling: Recharging After a Long Day’s Work
Since both of us work full-time, we are usually already very tired by 7pm when evening class starts. It was amazing. After 2.5 hours of meditation on our first day of class, I actually felt a lot of energy – the energy kept coming.
Most importantly, although I didn’t feel tired, I could still fall asleep. In fact, I fell asleep as soon as I got into bed and had a very good sleep.The next day at work, I was surprisingly focused and energized. So of course, we went back the second night!
Even after a full day of work and a full evening of meditation, sort of like recharging, you feel the energy. One of the major benefits I experienced was this kind of energy being given to me – I’ve never felt this before.
United States I Lin Xiang: Success Not Stress
I work in an international bank as a senior management executive and deal with challenging issues every day. Going on vacation was my only way of de-stressing. After joining the 8.5-Day Health & Happiness Retreat, I experienced no fatigue when I worked long hours.
My outlook on work has changed. I am no longer troubled by demanding responsibilities and tasks.When faced with an issue, I first envision myself as an observer. By dissociating myself from the situation, I can look at it more objectively, thereby solving the problem with ease.
Meditation has shown me a wiser way to live and work. To have encountered Bodhi Meditation is a great blessing. I am healthier, my work performance has improved, and I’ve achieved my ideal weight. Being a vegetarian and practicing meditation daily keep my energy levels high. My inner state is reflected in my outer world — recently, I was promoted at work.