||31/01/23|| (Header Photo by Kerry Marshall/Getty Images)
Last week saw New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern step down from office as Prime Minister, alluding to burnout as the main reason. Throughout her five years in the role, she dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a deadly volcanic eruption and the birth of her child, all while in office.
On 19th January, she said she no longer had enough “in the tank” to do her job justice. “Politicians are human. We give all that we can, for as long as we can, and then it’s time,” she said. “And for me, it’s time.”
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), burnout “results from performing at a high level until stress and tension, especially from extreme and prolonged physical or mental exertion or an overburdening workload, take their toll”.
I’ve written before about avoiding burnout before you reach it. But what about acknowledging the importance of recognising when burnout has taken hold? As Get Pause write in their blog : ‘The denial phase of burnout is something that no one talks about.’ And that denial will only cause your symptoms of burnout to worsen.
So, the first step is recognising the warning signs in your day to day. These include:
- Exhaustion – you might be constantly fatigued no matter the amount of sleep you have or you may find yourself getting frequently ill.
- Lack of Motivation – feeling defeated by your workload, with no desire to develop or grow within your role.
- Frustration or Indifference Towards Work – you may find yourself getting irritable in your work day.
- Reduced Productivity – burnout can lead to a lack of drive, making it difficult to get started on tasks and complete them efficiently.
The second step is taking the necessary action to recover from burnout. And much like Jacinda Ardern, much of your ability to step back and review what needs to change relies on your acceptance that you have reached burnout.
One of the most important things you can do at this point is to take a break. Ensure you confide in someone, be it your manager, a friend or family member, or a mental health professional.
Reevaluate your relationship to your work and find a more comfortable work/life balance, one that builds in downtime and will enable you to effectively relax, minimising stress.
Assess the elements in your life that also have an impact on your stress levels and attitudes to work. These include your sleeping habits, diet and regular exercise – optimise them!
As you return to previous levels of motivation and productivity, ensure that you are setting and maintaining boundaries to protect the expectations both yourself and others have of you.
The thing to remember throughout, is that the process of recovering from burnout happens over a long period of time. It is a process that involves much unlearning of behaviours and habits, and a rewiring of attitudes and approaches to your work and day-to-day life. Be patient and honest with yourself so that in time you can sustain a healthy relationship with your work.
