Did you ever feel like you are at the dead end of your career? Or Have you ever lost your passion for the field which was exciting for you once? Then you are not alone. Anxiety and stress are on the rise in society due in large part for increasing Job dissatisfaction, pressure and finally burnout.
You aren’t alone.
The trend is very specially prevalent amongst certain demographics; an increasing number of millennial women, for example feel burned out while they turn 30 years of age. High pressure jobs such as investment banking or journalism of course experience high turnover rates due to burnout.
Overextension almost always leads to burnout.
So you have a reasonfor increasing trend and what could be done about it?
DEFINING BURNOUT
Burnout is not a condition diagnosable. Instead, it is a subjective feeling which is linked up with a number of psychology, and at times physiological issues. In general term, burnout refers to people who feel disinterested, demoralised or unable to continue in their line of work, and is characterised by the following Symptoms:
. Immune disorders
. Heart disease
. Weight gain or weight loss
. Depression
. Strong, recurring desires to quit or change professions
. Tiredness and sleep deprivation
. Excessive stress and anxiety, especially in a work-related context
. Increased frustration at work
. Loss of interest or passion for work
So why are more people feeling this way?
FEWER “UNPLUGGED” HOURS
The internet is wonderful. It provides with a constant, instant connection to practically everyone in the world. We can communicate with each other at any point of time, and we probably receive notifications as soon as someone sends us something new.
Full-time employees in the US work an average of 47 hours, almost a full weekday longer than the 40-hour standard put in place more than a century ago.
There’s a dark side to this convenient technology, however. We’ve grown less patient, more demanding of instant responses, and more willing to carry our work into non-working hours. Multiple studies have confirmed fast, borderline unhealthy email response times; one study found that 50% of email recipients respond within 2 hours, and another found the most common response time to be 2 minutes — and those include emails sent late at night or on weekends.
Customer expectations for email response times are also increasing steadily, year over year, putting more pressure on employees to be available for their jobs 24-7. Because it’s harder to truly break away from the office, employees don’t get the chance to decompress. Instead, they’re constantly bombarded with job-related tasks and stress.
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LONG HOURS
The “9 to 5” workday was a revolutionary idea for its time, and cut back on excessive hours to what was then a reasonable 40-hour workweek. Other countries, in an effort to increase productivity, happiness and time for familial responsibilities, have dramatically shortened this; for example, people in the Netherlands work an average of about 29 hours a week, with an adjusted average salary of $47,000.
Full-time employees in the United States, on the other hand, work an average of almost 47 hours almost a full weekday longer than the 40-hour standard put in place more than a century ago. In fact, 18 percent of survey responders claim they work 60 hours a week or more on a consistent basis.
SOCIETAL PRESSURES
Corporate expectations and societal pressures are also increasing the frequency of burnout. Millennials, who are experiencing higher rates of burnout than other generations, are seeing unemployment rates of near about double the national average. There are conflicting viewpoints on why this is the case, but any millennial who finds themselves able to land a job is inclined to do whatever it takes to keep it — meaning complying with demand for extended hours, working through weekends, and never saying no to a request. Overextension always leads to burnout.
We also find ourselves naturally drawn to professions that are expected to be fulfilling, rather than professions that actually are fulfilling. Careers in the medical field are glamorized as respectable, helpful, and with high income earning potential, yet physicians are few of the most dissatisfied workers in the nation.
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS TO COMBAT CAREER BURNOUT
So what can we do to prevent burnout, in our lives and the lives of our employees and coworkers?
These solutions could be a start:
• Set firm “dark” hours. Responding to an email within 24 hours is plenty; if there’s a genuine emergency, someone can call you. Set firm “dark” hours where you refuse to do work or check email unless absolutely necessary. Give yourself the mental break you need to stay healthy.
• Be reasonable with overtime. There’s nothing wrong with working more than 40 hours in a week to finish up a project, but when you’re working 50 hours a week or more consistently, something has to give. Be reasonable with the overtime hours you work.
• Reset your expectations. You’re in charge of your professional path — no one else. Don’t buy into other people’s expectations for where and how you work, or what work will be fulfilling to you. Set your own expectations and goals.
• Don’t be afraid to leave. If you aren’t satisfied with your work, sticking around probably isn’t going to increase your satisfaction. The fear of the unknown can be intimidating, but your health is more important than a steady paycheck. Don’t be afraid to make a career switch; it’s more common than you might think.
Burnout can be devastating, but it is not simple, and no simple solution will be enough to prevent it from manifesting in everybody. Know yourself, be aware of what you need to feel fulfilled in your line of work and proactively acknowledge the signs of burnout before it gets the better of you. The sooner you notice these signs, the sooner you can fight against them.
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