Hello and welcome to the traveling introvert. Today, I’ve talked about Burnout in the past, but today I want to talk about why it is so common, the commonality of burnout, why almost every person that you talk to in a room will have experienced burnout in some way, shape or form, during their lifetime. And right now, more people the most probably experiencing burnout within the past two to three years.

According to dictionary.com, burnout is a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. And is categorized by feelings of doubt and disinterest. But most importantly, a decreased sense of accomplishment on achieving your goals. Burnout occurs when you feel like you are unable to meet the demands of your life, and you’re not getting the support that you needed to cope and carry on. And this is a problem that generally is caused by chronic stress.

When you are under chronic stress, your body is in a constant fight or flight state. This can lead to physical symptoms such as headaches, insomnia, gastrointestional problems, intestinal problems. Sorry. Burnout may also lead to mental health problems such as anxiety and/or depression.

Burnout has been coming increasingly common due to the demands of the life we live in right now. You’re expected to do more and be available far more than ever before. Technology, which is great, has made this possible for you to be connected 24/7. However, due to this, you are far more likely to take on too much, too much responsibility. And, don’t get me wrong, there’s never just one factor that contributes to burnout. But I’m going to talk about some of the most common ones.

Unreasonable workloads. When you are given or have accepted, more work than you can reasonably handle, it can lead to feelings of overwhelm and then anxiety. And this sustained, so it becomes chronic, then will eventually lead to burnout. One of the other things could be a lack of control. It’s not uncommon to feel powerless in a job or life when things aren’t working out quite as planned. However, a lack of control can also lead to feelings of powerlessness and almost despair. And so, this can contribute to burnout. How long will these unrealistic expectations? What expectations are placed on you that are unreasonable, and therefore you cannot meet them? Also, there’s a flip side of that. These unrealistic expectations can lead to feelings of failure and inadequacy when things don’t work out as you thought they would, no matter if they were realistic or not.

Another thing that can lead to burnout is poor work life balance. If you’re working too much and not taking enough time for yourself, it can lead to burnout. You need to try and set up your life in a way to provide time for you to relax and recharge and not be overworked, so you can avoid and/or recover from burnout. One area that is definitely overlooked when it comes to burnout is having a lack of social support. If you don’t have a support of network of peers, or accountability buddies, or a coach, or a mental and generally all of these things, it can be really tough to manage the stresses of life or your work. And this, along with some the way it works out, can lead you to feel isolated and lonely, which can also help trigger other negative emotions. And then you go in this downward spiral. So having that lack of emotional and social support can also lead to burnout.

Then, here’s one that is very, very common in the workplace, is a lack of appreciation. It is so disheartening when you don’t feel appreciated for your efforts. And it’s possible if you are doing something and you don’t believe what you’re doing is valued, it will lead to a loss of enthusiasm and the belief that your labor is meaningless. And we all know that people leave bad managers, not bad jobs, but if you have a good manager and your job, makes you feel undervalue, you will still leave, or just be led to burnout, because you’re just tired.

Then there’s a conflict of values. When your personal values conflict with the values of your job, your organization, or your manager, have definitely had a client where their values were at odds with their manager. They just found it really hard to carry on. When you experience this conflict, it can be very stressful. A lack of value alignment will lead to a sense of a dissonance and frustration, which can lead to burnout, because you’ve always got this, this conflict happening. That is a definite stressor.

Burnout is a serious problem that can profoundly impact your health and well-being. So, if you are struggling with burnout, or think you are struggling with burnout, please seek help and support to help overcome it.

Thank you for listening. This is Janice at thecareerintrovert.com, helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a great rest of the week.