Go Hard or Go Home - Your Guide on Surviving Burnout

Chances are, the first thing you do when you wake up is check your phone. You check your emails while grabbing a coffee on the way to work. This is the ideal life for someone in the workforce currently. 

We give more than 40 hours to work regularly – sometimes even 70 to 80 hours, which is alarming in itself – just to be a ‘productive employee’. Erin Reid, an associate professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business defines hustle culture as being “fully devoted to and available for the job, with no personal responsibilities or interests that interfere with this commitment to work.”

What is burnout? 

Burnout can affect your energy, productivity and can impact  your personal life as well. You might end up  feeling completely drained by the end of the day and dread the next day. Studies show that working long, indiscriminate hours lowers productivity and kills creativity. “Fundamentally, [hustle culture] is about work dominating your time in such an unnatural way that we have no time to live our lives,” says Joe Ryle, the 4 Day Week Campaign Director.

When you push yourself indiscriminately at work under chronic stress, it also affects other aspects of your life. When self-care takes a back seat, we are often faced with something called burnout. Burnout is when motivation runs out and fatigue creeps in. With burnout,

• You take longer to do tasks

• Procrastinate or avoid work

• Make more mistakes

• Lose interest in your job and even social life

• Develop anxiety or depression

• Function on autopilot

• Every day is a “bad” day

• You feel like nothing you do is appreciated

• You can’t get a good night’s sleep

• You have trouble telling one day from the next

• You feel disconnected from your work

• You don’t take an interest in your work anymore

• Your efficiency and performance are dropping

• You feel exhausted all the time

• You use drugs or alcohol as a way to get through the day

• You find it hard to concentrate

Apart from this, studies also show that burnout can increase the risks of heart attacks, high blood pressure and a myriad of mental health conditions. Indeed, we cannot overlook the fact that some of the burnout symptoms appear to resemble the ones of depression. Yet, despite its severity and resemblance to depression symptoms, burnout does not appear in the DSM-V and no diagnostic criteria exists to identify it (Bakusic et al., 2017). Various studies are focused on assessing the direction of the relationship between depression and burnout. The question is whether depression can be considered a result of burnout or the opposite. A study, conducted by Glass et al, was found that under certain conditions burnout can develop into depression.

What Can You Do About Burnout? 

Since, the workplaces have become increasingly demanding, it can be difficult to slow down and create new habits. But, it is possible. Here’s how:

• Know that your work culture could be toxic. Acknowledging that something needs to change, is the foundation of progress.

• Have a hard stop to your work day. Turn off your work apps and don’t check emails once you step out of the office. In this day and age of technology, it is important to be mindful of who and what has access to you.

• Take your mental health days on the days you feel the effects of burnout. A tired, frustrated mind is an unproductive one. It needs rest.

• Get your shut-eye every night. To perform our best, we need to shut down and rest. Get at least 8 hours of sleep (yes, 8!) every single night as far as possible.

• Maintain social relationships. Meet your friends, visit family and go out at least once a week to maintain your sanity!

• Practice self-care. It means making yourself a priority. Create a routine which consists of practising gratitude, finding time for hobbies and more. 

• Get professional help. Reach out to a therapist or a psychiatrist who can guide you and teach you healthy ways to unwind and set boundaries.

Left unchecked, burnout can lead to substance abuse and other chronic illnesses. This is why it is essential to reach out if you start noticing symptoms of burnout. We are here to help.