The formal definition of burnout is defined as ‘the prolonged exposure to a stressful work environment which results in a negative emotional reaction.’
However, I think we’d all agree that this definition doesn’t just relate to work anymore, because work and life can no longer be clearly separated in a post-pandemic world.
How do we separate two aspects of our lives that may occupy the same physical space, which can lead to even more of a struggle with the life/work juggle?
Furthermore, most people feel that we can feel burned out by MANY aspects of life today, not just work-related challenges.
Constant change, unpredictability, uncertainty, and volatility in our societies and globally, since Covid, have millions of people experiencing levels of exhaustion and overwhelm not previously experienced.
Although many people now identify with feeling burned out generally, our susceptibility to burnout may rest on three, possibly inter-related, factors.
If you feel burned out, or are working with people you suspect may be, please read on:
Do you feel a need to go it alone, ALL the time?
Being ambitious, independent, goal orientated and focused on achievement are all wonderful characteristics and are linked to being proactive, innovative, and creative.
However, some people with these characteristics also feel unable to ask for help when it’s needed. And they can end up feeling physically and emotionally exhausted, which is sometimes described as the core characteristic of burnout.
They feel they alone can accomplish what needs to be done or may feel incompetent if they need to ask for help.
Maybe they misplaced their trust in the past, or maybe this tendency to go it alone is linked to their personality, or other tendencies.
The intense desire for independence may also accompany being perfectionistic, which is linked to burnout too.
What about entrepreneurs - a group of people who have an intense desire to do what they consider is important, and leave their mark on the world?
You’d think they would be more susceptible to burnout because they’re more independent and work extremely hard to achieve their goals.
However, this didn’t seem to be the case, especially with entrepreneurs who didn’t have employees.
It seems they are protected from burnout – less so if they have employees - due to being in control over what they perceive as important.
Unlike people who work for others, who generally must prioritise what others perceive as important.
A strong desire for independence alone is therefore not a prerequisite for burnout.
However extreme independence may be linked to childhood trauma, which we’ll address in point three below
It’s not a long stretch of the imagination to see how wanting to do everything, all the time, can lead to burnout.
This overriding approach to work and life is the first factor that makes people susceptible to burnout.
What to do with this information?
If you dislike asking for help, you may need to set up a system of support for when you feel yourself tipping over into the feeling of needing to do it all alone.
You can harness the help of a trusted friend or colleague, by giving them permission to intervene when they see you’re taking on too much.
In a work environment, set up a weekly meeting to discuss progress, which supports those reticent to ask for help. Sometimes, we just need a nudge (and practice) to know that it’s okay to ask for support.
Do you have a specific personality ‘quirk?’
Clearly, the way we see and interact with our world, which is related to what many people think of as their ‘personality,’ impacts our capacity to cope with stress, and in turn, may affect whether we are susceptible to burnout.
I prefer to think of ‘personality’ as a group of personal ‘tendencies’ that we revert to under certain conditions, as no one behaves or reacts the same way under all conditions. And we know that we do change the longer we experience life - also known as getting older.
However, some evidence suggests there is a correlation between certain personality characteristics, or ‘tendencies,’ and the risk of burnout.
The ‘big five model’ is currently the most popular framework used to categorise personality. It comprises five domains: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and neuroticism.
Neuroticism is an orientation towards seeing the world as threatening and unsafe, and presents with feelings of anxiety, being tense and withdrawn, and a lowered ability to cope effectively with negative emotions, including stress.
Although there is some variance in study outcomes, there seems to be a close relationship between neuroticism and burnout.
In addition, neuroticism and perfectionistic tendencies are related in terms of burnout, although researchers are now of the opinion that the tendency towards perfectionism is more broadly spread across personality constructs, versus only related to neuroticism.
We all know people who need perfectly tidy desks, who colour code their pens, and who have strict ideas about how to do everything. Maybe you’re one of them.
However, we’ve all been alive for long enough to know that perfectionism and the need to control everything is exhausting. So too is looking for certainly.
So, if you tend towards perfectionism, and like to control everything, all while trying to ‘manage’ inevitable change, you can burn yourself out quickly.
Pursuing perfection, regardless of where you do so, and how, is the second factor that makes people susceptible to burnout.
What to do with this information?
If you know you are prone to wanting to control your environment, have a tendency to worry (and possibly be perfectionistic), and handle stress less well than you’d like to, you need to be extra vigilant in supporting yourself when you feel stretched and overwhelmed.
This tendency means that you are more susceptible to burnout than those who are more easy-going. The strategies suggested in the section above in relation to not asking for help can also be useful.
Did you have a challenging childhood?
Childhood events can set the brain up for being vigilant over a lifetime. WW2 provided a natural experiment which revealed that people exposed to trauma in the form of being separated from their care givers, still had elevated cortisol levels after 60 years.
Women had higher levels of cortisol versus men over this time period, which partly explains the higher rates of anxiety and depression among women generally, due to female-specific neurophysiology.
People exposed to stress early on have a brain that changed itself with the aim of protecting its owner. These people may experience stress differently, which can lead to them being more susceptible to experiencing burnout.
Obviously we can’t go back in time so we have to work within the constraints that we’re left with due to a challenging childhood.
However, when you know that you’re more susceptible to burnout because of this third factor, a challenging childhood, it can guide you to make different decisions and establish specific boundaries.
What to do with this information?
If your childhood included experiences and events that left you feeling anxious, stressed, and vulnerable, you may be more susceptible to burnout than someone who did not experience this kind of childhood.
Some tactics to prevent burnout include the following:
Learn how to avoid burnout by saying ‘No!’ to tasks that you know will stretch you towards burnout.
Manage your time well which includes honoring time to rest and rejuvenate.
Avoid people (or their demands) who have previously taken advantage of your poor self-care boundaries.
Ensure your diet supports neural stress resiliency.
Burnout is not a simple phenomenon. It is a multi-faceted experience that has been linked to workplaces, but today may be experienced by anyone who is finding life overwhelming.
It is important to note that when it occurs in a workplace setting the individual is not at fault.
Factors within the workplace may have sparked off the burnout due to these three susceptibility factors, but the workplace may be the place where the burnout originated.
‘The structure and functioning of the workplace shape how people interact with each other, carry out their jobs and how they feel about their environment. The burnout of the individual often says more about workplace conditions than it does about the person.’
(Jennifer Moss, ‘The Burnout Epidemic,’ p. 143.)
In conclusion, however, as individuals, we also have a role to play in both preventing, and recovering from burnout. After all, we live with ourselves 24/7, not just when we’re at work.
When we’ve experienced burnout a few times we know what it feels like to be sliding toward the precipice again.
Humans can be slow to learn a lesson though.
One of the most important things to do is to take note of what your body is telling you. If you keep listening to your mind, it will tell you to keep on as you ‘only have a few more things left to do.’
This can go on for days, weeks and even months, before your body finally says ‘enough!’
So. Just. Stop.
Tell yourself that no matter how smart and capable you are, you need to look after the vehicle that moves you forward. Your body and brain.
Slow down, prioritise, practice self-care, and ask for help.
Over time you’ll build a new neural pathway – one that prevents you from doing what leads to burnout.
Please check the ‘30 Day Jump Start to Burnout Recovery’ Online Course if you want a focused, simple process to start burnout recovery with ease.
References
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