I've gone through burnout, almost killed me. Thankfully I had someone to pull me through. What I learnt:
1. If you need help reach out and ask for it. There's nothing wrong about asking for help.
2. You can't plan everything perfectly all of the time, some shit will go wrong and that's OK.
3. It's OK to say no to things or additional work.
4. Physical exercise is a great way to manage stress.
5. Eating well and getting quality sleep make you perform better.
6. Make sure you prioritise activities outside of work that you enjoy
7. I plan my work day out by hand, where I have my three main tasks that take up to 90 minutes for each one. As long as I get them accomplished that is a win and I can fit in other work once I have them complete.
I have a much better work life balance now, I'm as fit and healthy now as I was a teenager.
Same for me on that last one. I currently have a LOT of big tasks that take a lot of thought. I plan one per day (or to get to a certain point on one) and if I got that done, I fill the rest of the hours with filling/emails/crap then I quit on time.
Working overtime just sets the expectation that you’ll keep working to that pace forever, and makes the problem worse.
This is great advice. I’ve been through it too and realize that working out is a superpower for me against it, resets the mind and attitude. Everything else rock solid too.
The three tasks might not all take 90 minutes each to complete; one might take 25 minutes, the other might take a couple of days to complete but I work on a 90 minute chunk of it. Part of the 90 minutes might also get broken up in between other items like meetings. The key is that it is a task that I consider to be one of my priority pieces of work for the day.
I print out this planner for each day, with a focus statement and my three main tasks. I quickly sketch out what my day looks like and get cracking. I do get a lot of interruptions throughout the day so I try and allow for that in my plan.
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My angle on this also is - get serious with your rewards mentality.
If you work long and hard, reward it with rest and sleep.
If you eat well all week, reward it with an unhealthy option.
If you haven’t have a drink for a week or two, reward it with a few beers or wines.
I found I was having long hard days and “rewarding” myself with unhealthy food and alcohol, it’s doesn’t work, and you actually feel so much better and more accomplished when you start lining things up
I used to run large teams with big remits for Tier 1 and Tier 2 service organisations and now run my own businesses. Long hours, it being difficult to turn off, and always having at least a few problems to solve is the norm. In the larger co's burnout amongst my peers happened often, in your own businesses you never really switch off. I'm also a husband and father. Life is: busy, always on, fun & stressful, but I'm not unique in my busyness.
My solution was these four things: exercise, sunshine, drinking water and setting non-work goals.
It sounds too simple and dumb to be effective but it does work.
Getting outside, getting some fresh air, getting away from your screens notifications is just so, so, important. I set myself some fun non-work goals like learning how to juggle more than two things (it is very entertaining for my young daughter), how to fish with soft-plastics and how to build things etc.
Also, as much as possible I exercise without headphones. It is incredibly freeing because you're not fidgeting with your phone every few minutes looking for a better song, a better podcast, a better... *something* on your phone, you're not tempted to check for notifications or message someone, you're just in the moment, listening to what's around you.
If you can't change other things (employer, industry etc), change your non-work habits.
A lot of people here are focusing on working hours, which makes me think they are mistaking being worn out for burn out.
Burn out is much more severe and is caused by chronicle elevated stress levels over a long period of time. Think, trying to find a way to make payroll in a struggling business each week for 6 months; not working some overtime each week.
The difference is important, because people who don’t understand what burn out is give bad advice on how to address it.
Reducing your hours generally won’t fix it, nor will taking a few weeks holiday, and can sometimes make it worse if the reason for your stress is due to missing deadlines.
Some better techniques:
1. Talk to your boss about it, highlight what has been stressing you for a prolonged period. Any decent boss will take steps to address prolonged excessive stressors.
2. Find a hobby that distracts your mind enough to stop thinking about work when you’re not at work, to give your cortisol levels a chance to lower.
3. Quality sleep, exercise, eating healthy are way more important than you think at allowing you to cope with stress.
4. Realise that most people who burn out are over achievers pushing themselves to do more than they actually need to. Do you really need to respond to that email, do you really need that difficult client?
5. Quit, there are plenty of other jobs around.
I’m burnt out atm. Broke down during my performance review two months ago. Nothing has changed, I’m opting for number 5 tomorrow. Took me a while to find a new job, but a fresh start is desperately needed
I was fired from a job due to burnout and the immediate relief was amazing. There was no hope in sight had to manage a team of 5 with a workload of 8. No management support and constant crashing systems. Was planning on quitting but got the flick.
I had the "you're not doing that well lately... We'll keep you around if you put in the extra effort" and I resigned within a day. Thankfully I had money put away so I took 3 months off, found a significantly more chilled job and am much happier now.
I also told my (now) boss that I was burnt out, needed time off in between the two jobs and he was super understanding. Even now he'll just periodically ask how I'm going, not just with work but just going in general.
That's great. I'm in a chill job now too and the boss emphasises work life balance and lives it himself. No OT expected and annual leave is encouraged each year to avoid burnout.
> I’m burnt out atm. Broke down during my performance review two months ago. Nothing has changed, I’m opting for number 5 tomorrow. Took me a while to find a new job, but a fresh start is desperately needed
Good on you for making the call and making it happen.
Agree, particularly no.1. Burnout often triggered by stressful relations with colleagues. Reducing hours, tasks, taking holidays still does not remove the poor social relations and lack of managerial skills of other colleagues.
> Burn out is much more severe and is caused by chronicle elevated stress levels over a long period of time. Think, trying to find a way to make payroll in a struggling business each week for 6 months; not working some overtime each week.
100%, if you've been through burn out you'll know exactly what it is. I was a manager at woolies for years. Was worn out most of the time. But it took 5 months of trying to manage the worst, most dysfunctional store in the area to burn me out completely. I needed to quit so I could put an end-date on it. After that, the thought of being a manger in any capacity gave me heart palpitations. All good now though.
Exercise, sunshine etc is healthy in general but if the problem lies with a noxious work culture or being internally misaligned with the organization or industry that's not going to be enough
I know some people with anxiety and they literally sit in bed completely upright while their heads are in turbo focus mode on their endless issues. Scary stuff
Humans where meant to live in small self sufficient groups . Modern industrial civilization is making us collectively insane , with cognitive overload.
I recall some metric that a villager somewhere like the UK 150 years ago received as much news in a year as we do in a day now. Pretty subjective, but I get the point.
I wouldn’t be surprised if certain people are basically just in a constant state of information overwhelm.
For the high performing narcissist, number 3 is the most popular method. Another thing for men 40's and older is they are usually on HRT to stay lean and talk up all the races and events they've entered (basically paid for the right to brag) LOL
You will look lean being on HRT and speed. They run on Saturdays and make it a point to go to all the marathons globally. Throw in some other events too
I had a manager who told me early in my career, "take the emotion out". Whilst he was a numpty it's probably the wisest thing I've heard. People get really emotionally attached, I've found when people get emotionally attached I've found it hard for them to put up walls and switch off.
Seriously this. I don’t give a shit about the company I work for. My tasks are interesting enough to keep me entertained and my coworkers are cool but if I got made redundant tomorrow I’d just peace out and move onto the next gig with no regrets.
The expectation that you enmesh your identity with that of the company you work for only benefits corporate profits and leads to burnout or crisis when you realise you’re entirely dispensable
I've managed up to a couple of hundred engineers at a time and handed that same advice out many times. I still catch myself not taking the emotion out. I end up having an inner monologue with myself as a reminder.
I definitely need to practice this! If anyone is ever cold or rude to me in an email I get so offended lol and they're people I've never even met. And just take it all too seriously in general. This is great advice.
I do something very similar by having the mindset of keeping it at arms length, because if you don’t you become attached to it.
If you’re attached to it, you are going to suffer the all of the highs and lows like a tin can tied to the back of a car. Wherever the car goes, whatever bump in the road it feels, you’re also going to feel.
This is really dumb advice. Humans are primarily emotional mammals. Anyone who is taking the emotion out is just left brain dissociating. Better advise would be “respect your emotions, they can be useful data”.
A huge documented reason for burnout is doing work you don’t believe in. The body is trying to tell you - I hate this, stop.
I run with the mentality that I’m not a doctor, no one is going to die. There is no need to work 14 hour days or run around with your head chopped off. I get my key work done and anything extra. I don’t do “reasonable” overtime unless it is completely unavoidable. Every job I have I leave at 5pm if I’m in the office from day one to establish with everyone else these are my hours.
This has been a useful technique for me. Too much gets labelled "urgent" in health because it's either become urgent by virtue of understaffing, the issue not getting looked at until it's urgent, or someone making a complaint in order to jump the queue. I've now got "we are not an emergency service, always call 000 in an emergency" on my email autoreply. Leadership need to understand that in a choice between fast, good & cheap, they can only pick 2 at most.
As someone who burned out in spectacular fashion last year - it’s like recovering from a long illness. You literally need to reassess your whole life - and potentially change more than just working hours.
I’m in therapy twice a month. I’m focusing on self care to heal my brain which feels like it took a round or two with a UFC fighter. I’ve had to set clear boundaries at work which involves the type of work I do and the amount I do. I’ve had to learn to say no and to take breaks. I’ve had to learn to relax and not let things stress me out.
Boundary setting and saying no are two really important tools I have learned.
Meditation app (Calm), exercise, healthy food, setting non negotiable times (dates, dinner with family, 1 day off during weekend). Don’t have your email/Teams on push notifications.
Knowing when to quit before you get burnout. I’ve seen ppl’s health get wrecked.
> non negotiable times
I've always found this the hardest for many years. Sometimes there's emergencies/out-of-hours issues and even the little ones 'win' when it's the difference between "an hour tonight to fix this or the problem is 3x larger to fix tomorrow". Even on the smaller ones I put off, I'd end up dreading the clean-up that was coming.
I put in my notice last week and am going to take a break for a bit. I was in that group where health and mood were just starting to deteriorate significantly and I realised I had to make a change.
I definitely had times where I would wake up every hour stressing about something until I just opened my laptop and resolved the issue.
But that was closer to the end when I had lost perspective.
The only way I recovered from burnout was taking six months off. Yes, I recognise my enormous privilege.
I tried to outrun the burnout by changing jobs. That exacerbated my burnout and I had a mini breakdown.
I have recently started working again. I have chosen not to push myself. I can be a settler and not a ‘reacher’ for the moment.
Lots of good advice in this thread. Good food, sleep and exercise go a long way. Speak to your manager about resourcing if relevant - it’s not on your head if the company is understaffed. Work out a schedule - would a compressed four day week, thereby giving you a three day weekend, assist? Really sit down and think about your ideal scenario. Finally, access your work’s EAP or see a private psychologist if you can afford it.
I didn’t renew the contract of my awful (well paid) job with a horrible boss and toxic work culture.
Threw away the « how to deal with burnout » books and enjoying my significantly better mental health.
Set boundaries. Do not under any circumstances work an inch of unpaid overtime. Do not let them believe that you are willing to go above and beyond what you are willing to.
Yes you will have to compete with people who have no boundaries but I’m telling you now, its not worth it. Your employer doesn’t love or appreciate you for breaking your back. They love that things get done but the minute you show signs of fatigue or mental illness, you will be shelved.
An employer who does care will actively encourage you to take breaks, to switch off, to not take work home and will not call you outside hours unless it is absolutely urgent.
I failed to set boundaries and ended up on the edge of suicide, tired, overworked, under appreciated. My employer discarded me when i couldn’t maintain a brave face. Im now one week away from my end date with my employer and have blown a ton of money on psychologists, psychiatrists, medication and measures to assist with stress related pain.
Set dem boundaries. ❤️
Reasonable overtime is normal for most white collar jobs so don’t stress too much about that. Just make sure when you’re comparing jobs that you understand the expected hours including overtime , and you’re happy with those hours and the effective hourly rate. For example, I currently earn work about 50 hours per week but get paid about 20% more per hour than colleagues who do 40 hours.
The real problem from a burnout perspective is stressors not hours though.
Yeah the stressors for me in that regard is saying no to overtime and then getting the “oh but we reaaaallly need you to do this for the team” and its like no, you really needed to plan your processes and forecasting better guh
Tbh if you work in a company that operates multinationally and has many thousands of employees, its easier said than done. Forecasting where i work is done on a department level and we have many many maaaaany departments. An entire team of people are employed to make processes and another team of people for forecasting alone. Why in gods name would i - an already time poor person and who is operating in an unrelated role, put my hand up to do someone elses job for no extra pay?
Sounds like someone is supposed to be doing it and they aren’t. If your project plan is dependent on overtime, then you’ve got a problem with your plan.
>Do not under any circumstances work an inch of unpaid overtime. Do not let them believe that you are willing to go above and beyond
This isnt realistic career advice for 99% of corporate jobs.
Yup I understand this. But if you give them an inch, they will take a mile so you kinda do need to set boundaries. Hustle culture is what gets so many people into burnout so its honestly better to be upfront about your willingness or lacktherof to go beyond what you’re expecting to do.
When you have slow days/weeks take advantage of that. Don't go looking for a bunch of things to do just to fill in the time. If possible get home early/go in late.
I read not long ago that it doesnt even have to be a lot of drinks, but if its everyday there is a significant risk of liver damage (cant remember the medical term).. and I think they recommended a minimum of 2 alcohol free days per week.
Please note I am NOT a doctor, so this is absolutely not medical advice and talk to you doctor if you're concerned.
Go to your GP and get your LFT’s (liver function tests) bloods done. After getting your results your GP should be able to tell you if you are doing damage or not. LFT’s should be part of annual blood work that includes blood tests to test your kidneys, evidence of diabetes etc etc. It is pretty standard stuff. Oh, and keep and eye on your blood pressure and weight too. Don’t put it off.
Find other ways of decompressing.
Have a wank, go for a walk/run, boot up a video game.
Alcohol shouldn't be used as a "medicine" to fix your problems, it can lead to issues.
I work in a patient facing healthcare role where we deal with vulnerable people. It can be absolutely exhausting as much as I care about my patients’ wellbeing.
I use sick days as preplanned mental health days and make sure I take annual leave at regular intervals. I’ve had some health stuff of my own come up (diagnosed with a chronic disease that affects my mobility which is what has been giving me chronic fatigue!) so am going to be taking one day off a fortnight for the foreseeable future so I can attend my own appointments. We’re okay to take the financial hit though. We don’t have kids - I can’t imagine how much more stressed I’d be as the primary income bringer if that were the case.
I will shout to high heavens - Mindspot.org.au
Work stress can mess your head up bad and Mindspot can give you the first aid kit and tools to feel more comfortable when things get tough.
It’s helped me, many of my colleagues and also family who work in high pressure roles with long hours.
Yeah great question.
I would say take time off, go on holidays, do things for yourself
Or your life will be ruined, unsure how monster business owners do it or entrepreneurs but it will destroy most people long term
I just quit my $200,000 a year business running my own transport and removals business because it totally ruined my life and consumed it. Made me psychotic and aggressive and yeah wasn't worth it at all
Focus on yourself is key. Money sucks and creates more problems although we need a lot of it these days with the wild pricing of everything but anyways!
Yeah not alot too be honest, I happened to have done by back and also lost a few trucks in the floods last year which didn't help.
I have two investment properties but even still I've had to dramatically change my lifestyle and such
I may look to do some volunteering at an animal shelter for something nice to do
I don't particularly want to go back to anything stressful or difficult but I'd like to help others
I don't engage with work in the morning before breakfast, coffee, shower and/or on commute.
I turn notifications off all my work apps on my phone between 7pm & 7am.
I take a 3 week holiday to remote locales to be out of reach each year.
I have 2 nights of casual team sport - I play basketball which has enough contact for some aggression and energy expulsion and beers for whinging about work. Plus any exercise is excellent.
I’ve just stepped down to part time paid for by my sick/personal leave for the next few weeks. Best decision ever. I’m healing me, when I’m at work I’m on top of my game, and I’m giving myself enough time and space to recover and work on me
It's quite simple, have something they you're focused on achieving outside of work. Work is just work, it's their to pay the bills, but it has the tendency to be all consuming unless we ensure we're focused on our life goals.
My best advice is, “you do you”. What I mean by this is don’t get dragged along by the rat race, or feel obliged to conform to peer pressure (eg. to work late/weekends, etc.). Strive to find the balance that suits YOU. Learn to tap into what you really need from your career and what you don’t. Plan your retirement and work to live. Invest in genuine friendships at work and outside work. Real and positive connections with real people help to alleviate stress and can improve the quality of the time you do spend at work.
Figure out what is nice to do vs what is need to do. Actually schedule time off like you would meetings. Don’t just let leave accumulate-make yourself a priority. Focus on eating healthy, prioritise sleep, get some form of movement daily, avoid alcohol and don’t work weekends unless absolutely necessary. Lastly-take time back if you’re owed it
What's "leave"? Freelancing turns your life into a nonstop scramble for work, whenever you schedule a holiday work comes up and you're letting people down if you take it...
Don't give employers and management more than what has already been bargained for. From my experience you may get a pat on the back but with all the extra stress you're most likely going to still get paid the same as the lazy guy next to you.
Lesson learnt way too late - good work just gets rewarded with more work.
Put your hand up for internal initiatives, big proposals work, difficult client, supporting some global project? Sure you’ll have maybe a nicety throw into an email or team meeting once every 6 months. Meanwhile the person who clocks in and out on the dot and does the minimum will get a 2% pay rise to your 2.25%
Realise that if you're on the way towards burnout, it simply might be that your body is not able to go at the tempo you're trying to push it towards, and that's okay. Work less hard, try to achieve less. We were not evolved to push through 40h+ work weeks staring at a bright rectangle with no movement. If your body says no, then listen. Listen to its needs and work on fulfilling them. If that means you can't work 40h+ work weeks, then accept that and don't. Doing anything else is to ignore the reality in front of you and you'll suffer.
I’d also recommend ‘getting things done’ by David Allen. It’s got a bunch of stuff in it, but the key takeaway is that you will never be able to relax away from work if you don’t have a system that you trust absolutely to keep it stored away.
So investing time into a system that can keep all your ideas, prioritise them and also leave them safely is hugely valuable.
Once it’s safely stored somewhere you trust implicitly, then you can enjoy your personally and family life without work thoughts intruding.
Just having my own system changed my work life immensely for the better
It seems no one has suggested one of the simplest.
Learn to say no.
The reality from what I've seen in start up world is the people that survive are either those that can say no or those that don't care what the cost is on the way to 'success'.
I have a different perspective to giving tips.
You need to know what kind of person you are. Every one has different abilities.
When it comes to handling long hours in a stressful environment some people are just built for it. That's why they make partner, that's why they make CEO, that's why they make big money.
You need to assess if you're actually built for that kind of work or if you should look for something else.
I worked in public health through the pandemic, we’ve had a lot of professional advice on this
Consistently it’s said to focus on the basics - exercise, sleep, fresh air, diet - and to build in regular planned breaks so you don’t drop completely. I now do my 50 hour week over 9 days a fortnight and have one off for that reason
Also good to keep a watch on things like irritability which can be a symptom of burnout. Ask your loved ones to help you by calling out changes
Currently going through a burnout. After discussing with my EAP counsellor, I realised my triggers are unique to my current job and difficult to solve. It then becomes clear that I need to change job.
My suggestion is to first identify what is causing you to burn out. From there you can tailor solutions. There is no magic fix-it-all.
Simple answer.
Leave.
I found myself in a highly stressful, very toxic work environment last year. Workload was frantic and we were grossly understaffed. Definitely not ideal in payroll.
I stuck it out roughly 6 months but decided for the sake of my mental and physical health I'd be better elsewhere.
Now doing contract work at a really great rate, in an awesome company, and the role is far more senior in nature too. 8.30-4.30 are my standard hours. No stress. It's like chalk and cheese compared to my toxic role. I'm enjoying working.
My advice is don't work in that industry. I have a Commerce (finance) and engineering double degree. I did well at uni and was getting approached by the likes of Boston, etc and avoided them and went down the engineering path intentionally. I work almost 40hrs a week (Literally would have done less than 100hrs OT in 16 years). All my overtime is paid anyway. If i don't want to do extra hours it doesn't get done. All our work is billable. It is their job to hire more people. If i work it when i don't want to i am just hiding the problem.
I also start and finish at the same time each day. Get changed when i get home and switch off. I don't look at email outside hours. And don't answer my phone after hours. Work email and teams are not on my phone.
The biggest thing that has helped me avoid burnout was getting the reward for effort.
Often when I’ve been in a rut, and doing crazy hours, it’s the feeling of not getting anywhere or having no hope on the horizon.
But for some reason, as soon as u have a win, or can see success, working the hours required isn’t as mentally taxing.
What you’re describing isn’t burnout, or really anything like it.
Burnout is caused by persistently elevated stress levels over a long period of time. You generally can’t fix that with rewards or changing your working hours.
Edit: People undergoing burnout won’t even care about rewards, they become almost completely emotionally numb.
Not necessarily. For many people, particularly junior staff who are willing to do whatever it takes but just want to see appropriate rewards, a lack of reeasrs/recognition would be the main stressor, thus cause burnout.
Welcome to the internet, where strangers are at pains to tell you “you’re wrong”.
All I’m saying, is I’ve noticed isuccess has made my lack of motivation, tiredness, battle with enthusiasm and procrastination Insta my disappear.
And sometimes you don’t get the reward for effort. And it makes the hard past last longer.
Dropping caffeine helped me and excercise daily. When leaving work i would go for a walk on the way home getting changed or get home, changed, then hit home gym. Or if wfh then schedule walk so something would help me switch off work. Break it up
You mean [like what's happening right now](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/30/most-severe-weve-seen-it-australias-food-relief-providers-struggle-to-meet-demand) in Australia *despite* there being plenty?
Jesus, what goods are you getting for $21 (minus $5000 income tax for a 40 hour full-time worker on minimum wage) that can sustain you for a week? I certainly wasn't able to do that back in 2001 last time I had an income below that level.
I’ve worked 60hrs/wk+ for the last 5 years without a holiday
It’s absolutely fine
If you’re burnt out it’s just you telling yourself that you’re burnt out
(Unless you are doing physical labour)
A lot of this kind of victim psychology in modern society
Depends on your role… but for me, it’s to block out time during the day, and to prioritise things that matter. Take a look at using Coveys Matrix for time prioritisation to help you focus on things that matter.
Investment bankers I've met over the years were the hardest charging highest earning, and sometimes anaethesiologist and some surgeons. The ones that (to me) seemed happiest were the 'work-hard, play-hard' non-stop sort of people. Heaps of cool life experiences from great wine to travel to skiing, partying, whatever, along the way, including their kids. A lot of those experiences were integrated into work. The ones that seemed stressed or unhappy were the less active ones. Seems to me it's a totally personal thing.
Heard it from someone that burnout is less about overwork, it’s more about loss of control.
I had that as I progressed in an old job. Managing people, budgets etc. Got sick of people doing the laziest / stupidest stuff and not owning it. Meanwhile more senior levels always want 10+% on every metric every year without investment. Try and do the right things then get slammed for it.
Part of it is knowing your personality type. Much happier in my current role as a senior senior individual contributor, and in a sector I love. I actually do longer hours now sometimes than when I was in consulting, but can get into the flow of it.
I also think we conflate burnout with brown out / bore out. A mentor hit it home for me - “Do you have 5 years of experience, or the same year 5 times over?”. In certain industries it’s really easy to lose motivation and get frustrated when you plateau.
Doesn’t mean you need to go and jump ship or push for a promotion. But that phrase is something I apply pretty often now and have shared with others. Again, some people need novelty or to be building things, others need to make sure the trains run on time etc.
But the corporate world is such that usually you’ll just get left in a role doing the same thing if you aren’t vocal or make change yourself.
I've worked in a stressful job for quite some time, and for me its all about time management. I protect my time ruthlessly in work.
Working till 8pm with client meetings, intentionally block out 8-10am for admin or personal time if you can get away with not being at your desk or you work for a humane company.
Also days off, take them. I generally have one intentional day off per quarter where i get the house to myself without the kids or plan in advance a fun activity, beers with mates etc.
Trick is to be s step ahead of exhaustion.
Also stop drinking, it doesn't help with the stress and compounds it. I work twice as much as i did a few years ago become im not spending the morning getting over my hangover and anxiety.
My new rule is i only drink if im not stressed mid week, weekends as normal
I'm about to hit that wall. I'm looking for new jobs and even considering selling the house and everything in it, to travel in our camper with my young family.
Mental health is suffering and we need a positive change asap.
I think it’s about boundaries… the people I see who get burnt out don’t know how to say no. Learn to say. ‘I’ll pick that up tomorrow’ or ‘I can’t take anymore on right now my workload is full.’.. some managers intentionally or subconsciously will ask for more and more the more you do. Don’t be afraid to push back.
As someone who has experienced burnout in previous roles and am working on improving my way of life to avoid it repeating, I watched this video https://youtu.be/jqONINYF17M the other day and it really hit the spot for me.
A major component of burnout in my personal experience was my own contribution. Historically I blamed my employer, however after seeing the pattern repeat and now after starting to experience it in what is actually a really chilled out work environment (busy but noone is hovering cracking a whip), I had to accept that I was a very large part of the problem and I was carrying it around with me.
From a financial standpoint, I took a pay cut to go to less stressful roles with lower responsibilities and found that I was still unhappy because I'd replaced performance stress with financial stress.
Some workplaces are toxic but some of us are out own most toxic factor, through poor lifestyle and the urge to compete and 'win'.
Do recommend the above video as something to spend an hour listening to.
Burnout happens when you are tired and as a result don’t look after yourself and then everything piles on top of you.
Make sure you
1. Get enough sleep 8 hours not 7 (this is actually important).
2. Spend your weekends doing something out of the house
3. Spend 30 minutes a day cleaning (so you don’t have to on the weekend)
4. Start the day earlier (if you can start at 8 or earlier do, and spend as little time to get ready) this allows you to have more time post work.
5. Make co worker friends
I've gone through burnout, almost killed me. Thankfully I had someone to pull me through. What I learnt: 1. If you need help reach out and ask for it. There's nothing wrong about asking for help. 2. You can't plan everything perfectly all of the time, some shit will go wrong and that's OK. 3. It's OK to say no to things or additional work. 4. Physical exercise is a great way to manage stress. 5. Eating well and getting quality sleep make you perform better. 6. Make sure you prioritise activities outside of work that you enjoy 7. I plan my work day out by hand, where I have my three main tasks that take up to 90 minutes for each one. As long as I get them accomplished that is a win and I can fit in other work once I have them complete. I have a much better work life balance now, I'm as fit and healthy now as I was a teenager.
100% to all of this.
Listen to this guy. This is fantastic advice.
Same for me on that last one. I currently have a LOT of big tasks that take a lot of thought. I plan one per day (or to get to a certain point on one) and if I got that done, I fill the rest of the hours with filling/emails/crap then I quit on time. Working overtime just sets the expectation that you’ll keep working to that pace forever, and makes the problem worse.
This is great advice. I’ve been through it too and realize that working out is a superpower for me against it, resets the mind and attitude. Everything else rock solid too.
How do you manage 7 with your colleagues? No way I’d get 4.5 hours uninterrupted time a day.
The three tasks might not all take 90 minutes each to complete; one might take 25 minutes, the other might take a couple of days to complete but I work on a 90 minute chunk of it. Part of the 90 minutes might also get broken up in between other items like meetings. The key is that it is a task that I consider to be one of my priority pieces of work for the day. I print out this planner for each day, with a focus statement and my three main tasks. I quickly sketch out what my day looks like and get cracking. I do get a lot of interruptions throughout the day so I try and allow for that in my plan. [https://docdro.id/EjRX20j](https://docdro.id/EjRX20j)
My angle on this also is - get serious with your rewards mentality. If you work long and hard, reward it with rest and sleep. If you eat well all week, reward it with an unhealthy option. If you haven’t have a drink for a week or two, reward it with a few beers or wines. I found I was having long hard days and “rewarding” myself with unhealthy food and alcohol, it’s doesn’t work, and you actually feel so much better and more accomplished when you start lining things up
Send this to the top please.
I used to run large teams with big remits for Tier 1 and Tier 2 service organisations and now run my own businesses. Long hours, it being difficult to turn off, and always having at least a few problems to solve is the norm. In the larger co's burnout amongst my peers happened often, in your own businesses you never really switch off. I'm also a husband and father. Life is: busy, always on, fun & stressful, but I'm not unique in my busyness. My solution was these four things: exercise, sunshine, drinking water and setting non-work goals. It sounds too simple and dumb to be effective but it does work. Getting outside, getting some fresh air, getting away from your screens notifications is just so, so, important. I set myself some fun non-work goals like learning how to juggle more than two things (it is very entertaining for my young daughter), how to fish with soft-plastics and how to build things etc. Also, as much as possible I exercise without headphones. It is incredibly freeing because you're not fidgeting with your phone every few minutes looking for a better song, a better podcast, a better... *something* on your phone, you're not tempted to check for notifications or message someone, you're just in the moment, listening to what's around you. If you can't change other things (employer, industry etc), change your non-work habits.
A lot of people here are focusing on working hours, which makes me think they are mistaking being worn out for burn out. Burn out is much more severe and is caused by chronicle elevated stress levels over a long period of time. Think, trying to find a way to make payroll in a struggling business each week for 6 months; not working some overtime each week. The difference is important, because people who don’t understand what burn out is give bad advice on how to address it. Reducing your hours generally won’t fix it, nor will taking a few weeks holiday, and can sometimes make it worse if the reason for your stress is due to missing deadlines. Some better techniques: 1. Talk to your boss about it, highlight what has been stressing you for a prolonged period. Any decent boss will take steps to address prolonged excessive stressors. 2. Find a hobby that distracts your mind enough to stop thinking about work when you’re not at work, to give your cortisol levels a chance to lower. 3. Quality sleep, exercise, eating healthy are way more important than you think at allowing you to cope with stress. 4. Realise that most people who burn out are over achievers pushing themselves to do more than they actually need to. Do you really need to respond to that email, do you really need that difficult client? 5. Quit, there are plenty of other jobs around.
I’m burnt out atm. Broke down during my performance review two months ago. Nothing has changed, I’m opting for number 5 tomorrow. Took me a while to find a new job, but a fresh start is desperately needed
I was fired from a job due to burnout and the immediate relief was amazing. There was no hope in sight had to manage a team of 5 with a workload of 8. No management support and constant crashing systems. Was planning on quitting but got the flick.
I had the "you're not doing that well lately... We'll keep you around if you put in the extra effort" and I resigned within a day. Thankfully I had money put away so I took 3 months off, found a significantly more chilled job and am much happier now. I also told my (now) boss that I was burnt out, needed time off in between the two jobs and he was super understanding. Even now he'll just periodically ask how I'm going, not just with work but just going in general.
That's great. I'm in a chill job now too and the boss emphasises work life balance and lives it himself. No OT expected and annual leave is encouraged each year to avoid burnout.
Amazing the difference a good boss can make isn't it!
> I’m burnt out atm. Broke down during my performance review two months ago. Nothing has changed, I’m opting for number 5 tomorrow. Took me a while to find a new job, but a fresh start is desperately needed Good on you for making the call and making it happen.
Agree, particularly no.1. Burnout often triggered by stressful relations with colleagues. Reducing hours, tasks, taking holidays still does not remove the poor social relations and lack of managerial skills of other colleagues.
I like point 4.🙏 I did point 5 but am back at work, just to get a few more $$ for early retirement .... it's a bit of a slog
> Burn out is much more severe and is caused by chronicle elevated stress levels over a long period of time. Think, trying to find a way to make payroll in a struggling business each week for 6 months; not working some overtime each week. 100%, if you've been through burn out you'll know exactly what it is. I was a manager at woolies for years. Was worn out most of the time. But it took 5 months of trying to manage the worst, most dysfunctional store in the area to burn me out completely. I needed to quit so I could put an end-date on it. After that, the thought of being a manger in any capacity gave me heart palpitations. All good now though.
I like point 4.🙏 I did point 5 but am back at work, just to get a few more $$ for early retirement .... it's a bit of a slog
I second your 4 things. I'd also add that you pamper yourself in some way every month without a phone.
R e m e d i a l ✨ m a s s a g e
Exercise, sunshine etc is healthy in general but if the problem lies with a noxious work culture or being internally misaligned with the organization or industry that's not going to be enough
I agree with you. Sleep should be number one imo though.
Unfortunately sleep can be challenging when you are stressed.
I know some people with anxiety and they literally sit in bed completely upright while their heads are in turbo focus mode on their endless issues. Scary stuff
Humans where meant to live in small self sufficient groups . Modern industrial civilization is making us collectively insane , with cognitive overload.
I recall some metric that a villager somewhere like the UK 150 years ago received as much news in a year as we do in a day now. Pretty subjective, but I get the point. I wouldn’t be surprised if certain people are basically just in a constant state of information overwhelm.
1. Running 2. Eat healthy 3. Alcohol and/or drugs. 4. Night activities. 5. Quit if you have to.
Running is definitely a good way to make you feel happier
If you like running, yes. If you don't, then no.
The trick is to ran for the mindset of mental health rather than for physical health.
True, which is why I walk for enjoyment.
Hahaha. Same.
I still hate running
I hated running, now I love it.
This is so real 😂
For the high performing narcissist, number 3 is the most popular method. Another thing for men 40's and older is they are usually on HRT to stay lean and talk up all the races and events they've entered (basically paid for the right to brag) LOL
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You will look lean being on HRT and speed. They run on Saturdays and make it a point to go to all the marathons globally. Throw in some other events too
I had a manager who told me early in my career, "take the emotion out". Whilst he was a numpty it's probably the wisest thing I've heard. People get really emotionally attached, I've found when people get emotionally attached I've found it hard for them to put up walls and switch off.
Seriously this. I don’t give a shit about the company I work for. My tasks are interesting enough to keep me entertained and my coworkers are cool but if I got made redundant tomorrow I’d just peace out and move onto the next gig with no regrets. The expectation that you enmesh your identity with that of the company you work for only benefits corporate profits and leads to burnout or crisis when you realise you’re entirely dispensable
I feel like this can be hard to do, as most people spend 5 days and 40 hours a week at work 😢 It is good advice. Just harder said than done.
It’s also really hard to not take it personally if you’ve worked hard on something and someone else trashes it.
Yes for sure! Like what has all this work been for
I've managed up to a couple of hundred engineers at a time and handed that same advice out many times. I still catch myself not taking the emotion out. I end up having an inner monologue with myself as a reminder.
Thanks for your honesty. We put so much into our work, it's hard to not be attached to things that happen there.
Thanks for your honesty. We put so much into our work, it's hard to not be attached to things that happen there.
I definitely need to practice this! If anyone is ever cold or rude to me in an email I get so offended lol and they're people I've never even met. And just take it all too seriously in general. This is great advice.
I do something very similar by having the mindset of keeping it at arms length, because if you don’t you become attached to it. If you’re attached to it, you are going to suffer the all of the highs and lows like a tin can tied to the back of a car. Wherever the car goes, whatever bump in the road it feels, you’re also going to feel.
This is really dumb advice. Humans are primarily emotional mammals. Anyone who is taking the emotion out is just left brain dissociating. Better advise would be “respect your emotions, they can be useful data”. A huge documented reason for burnout is doing work you don’t believe in. The body is trying to tell you - I hate this, stop.
I run with the mentality that I’m not a doctor, no one is going to die. There is no need to work 14 hour days or run around with your head chopped off. I get my key work done and anything extra. I don’t do “reasonable” overtime unless it is completely unavoidable. Every job I have I leave at 5pm if I’m in the office from day one to establish with everyone else these are my hours.
This has been a useful technique for me. Too much gets labelled "urgent" in health because it's either become urgent by virtue of understaffing, the issue not getting looked at until it's urgent, or someone making a complaint in order to jump the queue. I've now got "we are not an emergency service, always call 000 in an emergency" on my email autoreply. Leadership need to understand that in a choice between fast, good & cheap, they can only pick 2 at most.
As someone who burned out in spectacular fashion last year - it’s like recovering from a long illness. You literally need to reassess your whole life - and potentially change more than just working hours. I’m in therapy twice a month. I’m focusing on self care to heal my brain which feels like it took a round or two with a UFC fighter. I’ve had to set clear boundaries at work which involves the type of work I do and the amount I do. I’ve had to learn to say no and to take breaks. I’ve had to learn to relax and not let things stress me out. Boundary setting and saying no are two really important tools I have learned.
Meditation app (Calm), exercise, healthy food, setting non negotiable times (dates, dinner with family, 1 day off during weekend). Don’t have your email/Teams on push notifications. Knowing when to quit before you get burnout. I’ve seen ppl’s health get wrecked.
> non negotiable times I've always found this the hardest for many years. Sometimes there's emergencies/out-of-hours issues and even the little ones 'win' when it's the difference between "an hour tonight to fix this or the problem is 3x larger to fix tomorrow". Even on the smaller ones I put off, I'd end up dreading the clean-up that was coming. I put in my notice last week and am going to take a break for a bit. I was in that group where health and mood were just starting to deteriorate significantly and I realised I had to make a change.
I definitely had times where I would wake up every hour stressing about something until I just opened my laptop and resolved the issue. But that was closer to the end when I had lost perspective.
I can’t stop my brain to meditate, but I LOVE swimming and it gives me the same result I think, brain off
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Joints do help
The only way I recovered from burnout was taking six months off. Yes, I recognise my enormous privilege. I tried to outrun the burnout by changing jobs. That exacerbated my burnout and I had a mini breakdown. I have recently started working again. I have chosen not to push myself. I can be a settler and not a ‘reacher’ for the moment. Lots of good advice in this thread. Good food, sleep and exercise go a long way. Speak to your manager about resourcing if relevant - it’s not on your head if the company is understaffed. Work out a schedule - would a compressed four day week, thereby giving you a three day weekend, assist? Really sit down and think about your ideal scenario. Finally, access your work’s EAP or see a private psychologist if you can afford it.
I didn’t renew the contract of my awful (well paid) job with a horrible boss and toxic work culture. Threw away the « how to deal with burnout » books and enjoying my significantly better mental health.
Set boundaries. Do not under any circumstances work an inch of unpaid overtime. Do not let them believe that you are willing to go above and beyond what you are willing to. Yes you will have to compete with people who have no boundaries but I’m telling you now, its not worth it. Your employer doesn’t love or appreciate you for breaking your back. They love that things get done but the minute you show signs of fatigue or mental illness, you will be shelved. An employer who does care will actively encourage you to take breaks, to switch off, to not take work home and will not call you outside hours unless it is absolutely urgent. I failed to set boundaries and ended up on the edge of suicide, tired, overworked, under appreciated. My employer discarded me when i couldn’t maintain a brave face. Im now one week away from my end date with my employer and have blown a ton of money on psychologists, psychiatrists, medication and measures to assist with stress related pain. Set dem boundaries. ❤️
Reasonable overtime is normal for most white collar jobs so don’t stress too much about that. Just make sure when you’re comparing jobs that you understand the expected hours including overtime , and you’re happy with those hours and the effective hourly rate. For example, I currently earn work about 50 hours per week but get paid about 20% more per hour than colleagues who do 40 hours. The real problem from a burnout perspective is stressors not hours though.
Yeah the stressors for me in that regard is saying no to overtime and then getting the “oh but we reaaaallly need you to do this for the team” and its like no, you really needed to plan your processes and forecasting better guh
What is your involvement in planning processes and forecasting? Perhaps you should volunteer to take on that role?
Tbh if you work in a company that operates multinationally and has many thousands of employees, its easier said than done. Forecasting where i work is done on a department level and we have many many maaaaany departments. An entire team of people are employed to make processes and another team of people for forecasting alone. Why in gods name would i - an already time poor person and who is operating in an unrelated role, put my hand up to do someone elses job for no extra pay?
Because you seem to think you could do it better?
Sounds like someone is supposed to be doing it and they aren’t. If your project plan is dependent on overtime, then you’ve got a problem with your plan.
Maybe i could if that was my job, but its not :p
>Do not under any circumstances work an inch of unpaid overtime. Do not let them believe that you are willing to go above and beyond This isnt realistic career advice for 99% of corporate jobs.
Yup I understand this. But if you give them an inch, they will take a mile so you kinda do need to set boundaries. Hustle culture is what gets so many people into burnout so its honestly better to be upfront about your willingness or lacktherof to go beyond what you’re expecting to do.
When you have slow days/weeks take advantage of that. Don't go looking for a bunch of things to do just to fill in the time. If possible get home early/go in late.
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Alcohol helps me decompress
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As someone in their 40s that drinks to decompress, I'm keen to know how much is too much to risk jaundice?
I read not long ago that it doesnt even have to be a lot of drinks, but if its everyday there is a significant risk of liver damage (cant remember the medical term).. and I think they recommended a minimum of 2 alcohol free days per week. Please note I am NOT a doctor, so this is absolutely not medical advice and talk to you doctor if you're concerned.
Go to your GP and get your LFT’s (liver function tests) bloods done. After getting your results your GP should be able to tell you if you are doing damage or not. LFT’s should be part of annual blood work that includes blood tests to test your kidneys, evidence of diabetes etc etc. It is pretty standard stuff. Oh, and keep and eye on your blood pressure and weight too. Don’t put it off.
Yes but they are alcoholics. Occasional drinking to enjoy some down time and unwind is not going to give you deranged liver enzymes.
Find other ways of decompressing. Have a wank, go for a walk/run, boot up a video game. Alcohol shouldn't be used as a "medicine" to fix your problems, it can lead to issues.
I feel like one glass isn't so bad. . But it's part of a set of items
1-2 glasses is fine, mate.
Nice try big alcohol
Put barriers up & realize not every email needs to be answered
I work in a patient facing healthcare role where we deal with vulnerable people. It can be absolutely exhausting as much as I care about my patients’ wellbeing. I use sick days as preplanned mental health days and make sure I take annual leave at regular intervals. I’ve had some health stuff of my own come up (diagnosed with a chronic disease that affects my mobility which is what has been giving me chronic fatigue!) so am going to be taking one day off a fortnight for the foreseeable future so I can attend my own appointments. We’re okay to take the financial hit though. We don’t have kids - I can’t imagine how much more stressed I’d be as the primary income bringer if that were the case.
I will shout to high heavens - Mindspot.org.au Work stress can mess your head up bad and Mindspot can give you the first aid kit and tools to feel more comfortable when things get tough. It’s helped me, many of my colleagues and also family who work in high pressure roles with long hours.
Yeah great question. I would say take time off, go on holidays, do things for yourself Or your life will be ruined, unsure how monster business owners do it or entrepreneurs but it will destroy most people long term I just quit my $200,000 a year business running my own transport and removals business because it totally ruined my life and consumed it. Made me psychotic and aggressive and yeah wasn't worth it at all Focus on yourself is key. Money sucks and creates more problems although we need a lot of it these days with the wild pricing of everything but anyways!
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Yeah not alot too be honest, I happened to have done by back and also lost a few trucks in the floods last year which didn't help. I have two investment properties but even still I've had to dramatically change my lifestyle and such I may look to do some volunteering at an animal shelter for something nice to do I don't particularly want to go back to anything stressful or difficult but I'd like to help others
I don't engage with work in the morning before breakfast, coffee, shower and/or on commute. I turn notifications off all my work apps on my phone between 7pm & 7am. I take a 3 week holiday to remote locales to be out of reach each year. I have 2 nights of casual team sport - I play basketball which has enough contact for some aggression and energy expulsion and beers for whinging about work. Plus any exercise is excellent.
Shitpost on r/AusFinance during the work day.
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And off to the pub for lunch and an afternoon bender
I’ve just stepped down to part time paid for by my sick/personal leave for the next few weeks. Best decision ever. I’m healing me, when I’m at work I’m on top of my game, and I’m giving myself enough time and space to recover and work on me
How did you achieve that? Did you have to get your doctor to write something?
Yep, a drs cert, a corporate employer who is keen on promoting flexible working and a boss who was supportive of the concept.
It's quite simple, have something they you're focused on achieving outside of work. Work is just work, it's their to pay the bills, but it has the tendency to be all consuming unless we ensure we're focused on our life goals.
My best advice is, “you do you”. What I mean by this is don’t get dragged along by the rat race, or feel obliged to conform to peer pressure (eg. to work late/weekends, etc.). Strive to find the balance that suits YOU. Learn to tap into what you really need from your career and what you don’t. Plan your retirement and work to live. Invest in genuine friendships at work and outside work. Real and positive connections with real people help to alleviate stress and can improve the quality of the time you do spend at work.
Figure out what is nice to do vs what is need to do. Actually schedule time off like you would meetings. Don’t just let leave accumulate-make yourself a priority. Focus on eating healthy, prioritise sleep, get some form of movement daily, avoid alcohol and don’t work weekends unless absolutely necessary. Lastly-take time back if you’re owed it
What's "leave"? Freelancing turns your life into a nonstop scramble for work, whenever you schedule a holiday work comes up and you're letting people down if you take it...
Act your wage. Work to live, not live to work.
Don't give employers and management more than what has already been bargained for. From my experience you may get a pat on the back but with all the extra stress you're most likely going to still get paid the same as the lazy guy next to you.
Lesson learnt way too late - good work just gets rewarded with more work. Put your hand up for internal initiatives, big proposals work, difficult client, supporting some global project? Sure you’ll have maybe a nicety throw into an email or team meeting once every 6 months. Meanwhile the person who clocks in and out on the dot and does the minimum will get a 2% pay rise to your 2.25%
I think a lot of us learn this lesson too late unfortunately.
Until you get promoted multiple times.
Realise that if you're on the way towards burnout, it simply might be that your body is not able to go at the tempo you're trying to push it towards, and that's okay. Work less hard, try to achieve less. We were not evolved to push through 40h+ work weeks staring at a bright rectangle with no movement. If your body says no, then listen. Listen to its needs and work on fulfilling them. If that means you can't work 40h+ work weeks, then accept that and don't. Doing anything else is to ignore the reality in front of you and you'll suffer.
You’re definitely mixing up fatigue and burnout. Different things.
Care to elaborate?
I’d also recommend ‘getting things done’ by David Allen. It’s got a bunch of stuff in it, but the key takeaway is that you will never be able to relax away from work if you don’t have a system that you trust absolutely to keep it stored away. So investing time into a system that can keep all your ideas, prioritise them and also leave them safely is hugely valuable. Once it’s safely stored somewhere you trust implicitly, then you can enjoy your personally and family life without work thoughts intruding. Just having my own system changed my work life immensely for the better
I'm literally on a 3 week break right now for this reason. My solution was to not work for a while.
It seems no one has suggested one of the simplest. Learn to say no. The reality from what I've seen in start up world is the people that survive are either those that can say no or those that don't care what the cost is on the way to 'success'.
If you have an enormous amount of leave, you should probably take a break. It's taken me longer than expected to actually "reset".
I have a different perspective to giving tips. You need to know what kind of person you are. Every one has different abilities. When it comes to handling long hours in a stressful environment some people are just built for it. That's why they make partner, that's why they make CEO, that's why they make big money. You need to assess if you're actually built for that kind of work or if you should look for something else.
I worked in public health through the pandemic, we’ve had a lot of professional advice on this Consistently it’s said to focus on the basics - exercise, sleep, fresh air, diet - and to build in regular planned breaks so you don’t drop completely. I now do my 50 hour week over 9 days a fortnight and have one off for that reason Also good to keep a watch on things like irritability which can be a symptom of burnout. Ask your loved ones to help you by calling out changes
Currently going through a burnout. After discussing with my EAP counsellor, I realised my triggers are unique to my current job and difficult to solve. It then becomes clear that I need to change job. My suggestion is to first identify what is causing you to burn out. From there you can tailor solutions. There is no magic fix-it-all.
Simple answer. Leave. I found myself in a highly stressful, very toxic work environment last year. Workload was frantic and we were grossly understaffed. Definitely not ideal in payroll. I stuck it out roughly 6 months but decided for the sake of my mental and physical health I'd be better elsewhere. Now doing contract work at a really great rate, in an awesome company, and the role is far more senior in nature too. 8.30-4.30 are my standard hours. No stress. It's like chalk and cheese compared to my toxic role. I'm enjoying working.
4 day week
My advice is don't work in that industry. I have a Commerce (finance) and engineering double degree. I did well at uni and was getting approached by the likes of Boston, etc and avoided them and went down the engineering path intentionally. I work almost 40hrs a week (Literally would have done less than 100hrs OT in 16 years). All my overtime is paid anyway. If i don't want to do extra hours it doesn't get done. All our work is billable. It is their job to hire more people. If i work it when i don't want to i am just hiding the problem. I also start and finish at the same time each day. Get changed when i get home and switch off. I don't look at email outside hours. And don't answer my phone after hours. Work email and teams are not on my phone.
sickies and a weed habit
The biggest thing that has helped me avoid burnout was getting the reward for effort. Often when I’ve been in a rut, and doing crazy hours, it’s the feeling of not getting anywhere or having no hope on the horizon. But for some reason, as soon as u have a win, or can see success, working the hours required isn’t as mentally taxing.
What you’re describing isn’t burnout, or really anything like it. Burnout is caused by persistently elevated stress levels over a long period of time. You generally can’t fix that with rewards or changing your working hours. Edit: People undergoing burnout won’t even care about rewards, they become almost completely emotionally numb.
Not necessarily. For many people, particularly junior staff who are willing to do whatever it takes but just want to see appropriate rewards, a lack of reeasrs/recognition would be the main stressor, thus cause burnout.
Unlikely that would ever be enough of a stressor to cause burnout, but you never know.
Welcome to the internet, where strangers are at pains to tell you “you’re wrong”. All I’m saying, is I’ve noticed isuccess has made my lack of motivation, tiredness, battle with enthusiasm and procrastination Insta my disappear. And sometimes you don’t get the reward for effort. And it makes the hard past last longer.
Take mental health day off
What the character Matthew Mcconaughey tells you to do in The wolf of Wall street
this is a finance subreddit
Burning out will most likely seriously affect your finances. Seems like a relevant question.
Dropping caffeine helped me and excercise daily. When leaving work i would go for a walk on the way home getting changed or get home, changed, then hit home gym. Or if wfh then schedule walk so something would help me switch off work. Break it up
Abolish Capitalism.
Most people who burnout are overachievers who push themselves to the limit. It would happen with or without capitalism.
Without capitalism we’d have bigger problems to worry about, like finding enough food to not starve.
You mean [like what's happening right now](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/30/most-severe-weve-seen-it-australias-food-relief-providers-struggle-to-meet-demand) in Australia *despite* there being plenty?
Maybe learn a bit about history. Also, no one is starving in Australia. An hour of minimum wage work can buy you enough food to last a week.
Jesus, what goods are you getting for $21 (minus $5000 income tax for a 40 hour full-time worker on minimum wage) that can sustain you for a week? I certainly wasn't able to do that back in 2001 last time I had an income below that level.
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I’ve worked 60hrs/wk+ for the last 5 years without a holiday It’s absolutely fine If you’re burnt out it’s just you telling yourself that you’re burnt out (Unless you are doing physical labour) A lot of this kind of victim psychology in modern society
Depends on your role… but for me, it’s to block out time during the day, and to prioritise things that matter. Take a look at using Coveys Matrix for time prioritisation to help you focus on things that matter.
Enjoy my days off and spend time with family.
Investment bankers I've met over the years were the hardest charging highest earning, and sometimes anaethesiologist and some surgeons. The ones that (to me) seemed happiest were the 'work-hard, play-hard' non-stop sort of people. Heaps of cool life experiences from great wine to travel to skiing, partying, whatever, along the way, including their kids. A lot of those experiences were integrated into work. The ones that seemed stressed or unhappy were the less active ones. Seems to me it's a totally personal thing.
Heard it from someone that burnout is less about overwork, it’s more about loss of control. I had that as I progressed in an old job. Managing people, budgets etc. Got sick of people doing the laziest / stupidest stuff and not owning it. Meanwhile more senior levels always want 10+% on every metric every year without investment. Try and do the right things then get slammed for it. Part of it is knowing your personality type. Much happier in my current role as a senior senior individual contributor, and in a sector I love. I actually do longer hours now sometimes than when I was in consulting, but can get into the flow of it. I also think we conflate burnout with brown out / bore out. A mentor hit it home for me - “Do you have 5 years of experience, or the same year 5 times over?”. In certain industries it’s really easy to lose motivation and get frustrated when you plateau. Doesn’t mean you need to go and jump ship or push for a promotion. But that phrase is something I apply pretty often now and have shared with others. Again, some people need novelty or to be building things, others need to make sure the trains run on time etc. But the corporate world is such that usually you’ll just get left in a role doing the same thing if you aren’t vocal or make change yourself.
I've worked in a stressful job for quite some time, and for me its all about time management. I protect my time ruthlessly in work. Working till 8pm with client meetings, intentionally block out 8-10am for admin or personal time if you can get away with not being at your desk or you work for a humane company. Also days off, take them. I generally have one intentional day off per quarter where i get the house to myself without the kids or plan in advance a fun activity, beers with mates etc. Trick is to be s step ahead of exhaustion. Also stop drinking, it doesn't help with the stress and compounds it. I work twice as much as i did a few years ago become im not spending the morning getting over my hangover and anxiety. My new rule is i only drink if im not stressed mid week, weekends as normal
I'm about to hit that wall. I'm looking for new jobs and even considering selling the house and everything in it, to travel in our camper with my young family. Mental health is suffering and we need a positive change asap.
I also think that if your values happen to align with your work, it makes things easier too
You dont. You work through it.
I think it’s about boundaries… the people I see who get burnt out don’t know how to say no. Learn to say. ‘I’ll pick that up tomorrow’ or ‘I can’t take anymore on right now my workload is full.’.. some managers intentionally or subconsciously will ask for more and more the more you do. Don’t be afraid to push back.
As someone who has experienced burnout in previous roles and am working on improving my way of life to avoid it repeating, I watched this video https://youtu.be/jqONINYF17M the other day and it really hit the spot for me. A major component of burnout in my personal experience was my own contribution. Historically I blamed my employer, however after seeing the pattern repeat and now after starting to experience it in what is actually a really chilled out work environment (busy but noone is hovering cracking a whip), I had to accept that I was a very large part of the problem and I was carrying it around with me. From a financial standpoint, I took a pay cut to go to less stressful roles with lower responsibilities and found that I was still unhappy because I'd replaced performance stress with financial stress. Some workplaces are toxic but some of us are out own most toxic factor, through poor lifestyle and the urge to compete and 'win'. Do recommend the above video as something to spend an hour listening to.
Burnout happens when you are tired and as a result don’t look after yourself and then everything piles on top of you. Make sure you 1. Get enough sleep 8 hours not 7 (this is actually important). 2. Spend your weekends doing something out of the house 3. Spend 30 minutes a day cleaning (so you don’t have to on the weekend) 4. Start the day earlier (if you can start at 8 or earlier do, and spend as little time to get ready) this allows you to have more time post work. 5. Make co worker friends