Avoid Burnout by Separating Stress from Stressors
Small changes can result in big gains.
Worrying that you are not doing enough? Having trouble making decisions? Feeling overwhelmed or exhausted? Reacting with negativity or cynicism to your job? You may be experiencing burnout.
What is burnout?
Burnout it is not classed as a medical condition or a mental illness like depression. The WHO – International Disease Classification (ICD-11) classes burnout as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress.
Let’s be clear, you cannot self-care a burnout recovery alone.
Anyone can experience burnout and you can recover, but solo self-care is not enough to refill the wellbeing cup. We do need each other, people who are willing to help when you need it. If you hear yourself saying or being told that you just need to work harder, you need better time management, you need to build your resilience, what you actually need is more kindness through connection and support. We are healthier and stronger when we work together rather than soldiering on in isolation. Reach out to people who value you as a person who deserves support, resources, and care.
Burnout is a condition related to overwhelming stress.
Our inability to recognise and manage the stress building up inside our bodies can lead to burnout. Broadly speaking, for men, burnout seems to manifest in depersonalisation whereas for women it is experienced as emotional exhaustion. Burnout is not caused solely by stressful work environments or too many responsibilities. It can be experienced by anyone with prolonged levels of chronic stress and pressure causing overwhelm as work or home demands according to the health.qld.gov.au
Stress in itself is not bad for us.
However, getting stuck in the middle of our stress cycle definitely is bad for us. Stress is a physical response to anything we perceive, consciously or subconsciously, as a threat. It has a beginning where you perceive the threat, a middle where you do something with your body in response to the threat, and recognition that you have managed to escape form this potential threat, if indeed you do, and you are now safe. Prolonged stress is what we need to prevent.
Stress can manifest itself in the body and turn into experiences of illness.
According to Amelia and Emily Nagoski, authors of Burnout: The secret to unlocking the stress cycle, how you experience stress will depend on who you are and how you live your life. Although there are different things that cause you stress—we call these stressors—in essence it is where there are unceasing demands and unmeetable expectations in your personal or professional life. But just because you have dealt with the stressor (the lion chasing you) does not mean you have dealt with the stress (your body and minds response to being chased by the lion). What has to change?
Fortunately, we can deal with the stress while the stressor still exists through quick, body-based actions that communicates to ourselves that we are in a safe place. This is very important because our daily stressors like getting the kids to before school care, commuting to and from work, or working in an open plan hot desk office, are with us day in day out.
Separating stress from stressors is the key.
We have to deal with the stress in our physical body by changing the bodies physiological state. This is especially important if your workplace culture (or family life) does not support you talking to your boss about burnout. How do you do this? Start by practicing with your gentler emotions and build up to the more intense stuff.
Here are three proven ways to help your body recognise the end of the stress cycle:
1. Go for a brisk short walk
2. Do 10 jumping jacks in your driveway
3. Tense every part of your body at once for 10 seconds and release.
Additional tips
Finally, if you are a boss or a parent or partner or friend and wondering how to tell if someone’s heading toward or is burned out then here are some things to look out for: there is a big dip in work productivity, lack of consistency, missing deadlines or check-ins, isolation or withdrawal, or lethargy. For each of us, and managers especially, it is important to regularly check in with our people beginning with something as simple as asking how their weekend was or more involved like helping them find ways to feel more in control of their time and energy. Small changes can result in big gains in managing stress.
