Being burnt out at work is a significant issue. Data shows that burnout leads to a 55% decline in job satisfaction and likelihood that the employee will seek a new job. Burnout also has detrimental health and wellness implications, and should be taken seriously.
It’s not possible to work inspired and delighted every day. But, over time, burnout can be mentally, physically, and emotionally crushing. It will stifle execution and innovation at work and begin to steal satisfaction from your life outside of work, too.
What causes burnout in the workplace? The reasons for professional burnout vary and are personal. However, the following warrant your attention while you examine your situation:
- Lack of clear professional purpose.
- Lack of clear expectations from your manager or employer.
- Lack of confidence to try something new or fear of failure.
- Fear of change or loss.
- Poor work-life flow to allow for the best use of your time and energy.
The solutions to each of these problems have their course of action. But, there is one starting strategy you must adopt to solve for burnout.
To put it simply, you must own your career.
Knowing you have agency over your life choices is the antidote to burnout. You can make changes that will improve the enjoyment of your work.
Realize and appreciate that you are the owner of your career. Your work is the business of your life. You have choices.
As you begin to make choices and changes, do not immediately quit your job!
Quitting your job will increase the stress in your life. Adding adrenaline will only further impair your mind and body and won’t solve your original problem. Instead, begin pursuing your unique purpose with an ever-evolving career plan.
Take the time needed to establish your purpose and build a career plan to meet that purpose.
To solve burnout, focus on yourself, not on what you think is wrong with your company. It’s easy to blame our feelings on our situation, but the feeling is within us and is ours to solve. Even if your burnout is due to a toxic work environment, you’ll need to have a solid understanding of your desires in order to make a positive life change.
To start, devote time each day or week to work on your career beyond working in your job. Make key people in your life aware of the situation and your plan forward. They can make room for you to work on your plan to end your professional burnout.
Socrates was correct; all wisdom begins with knowing yourself. By acknowledging your desires and realities, you can build your career plan purposefully.
- Conduct both a professional and a personal inventory. This is a complete look at your professional wins, things you’ve learned, skills, competencies, and goals. Most people need to grasp how much they have accomplished professionally. And even more so, how much more they can potentially do. In this part of the process, you will also look at your personal goals relating to your finances, time, location, and potential travel.
- Define and document your values, purpose statement, and vision of success. Most people do not put words to who they are and how they see life. Your mix of values and purpose, together with your professional and personal inventories, are unique to you. It is good to see them all and consider what success looks like in the future.
- Build action plans to meet your goals to fulfill your purpose and vision. Doing so ensures accountability to meet your purpose that will propel you forward.
- Activate trusted people to support your purpose. Being on a career journey alone leads to burnout. But, a board of advisors, a coach, and other key stakeholders can help inform and invigorate your plan. Collaboration is inspiring – for you and them. People are excited and, most often, honored to help.
The antidote to burnout at work is to claim agency over your professional life. Make a career plan that you can be held accountable to. Acknowledging your purpose, creating an actionable plan, and activating support, will build clarity and confidence. Then, you can engage with your employer about aligning to meet your goals and theirs. If you do not find alignment, you can begin the work of finding a new job. By approaching your work life as though you own your career, you can solve your burnout in the near term and keep it at bay in the future. Every circumstance is unique, but every person is a high potential today.