Overcoming Burnout

Posted on December 31, 2021 by Sandra Menzies, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

WHO defines burnout syndrome in the 11th edition of the International Classification of Disease (ICD) as a “syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed." It is characterized by three dimensions (1) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, (2) increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and (3) reduced professional efficacy.” Burnout tells us our life is out of balance.

In a December 2021 Harvard Business Review article by Liz Wiseman “Is Your Burnout From Too Much Work or Too Little Impact?” Ms. Wiseman proposes that burnout may not be a function of too much work but a sense that the work we are doing does not add value.

She proposes increasing the impact of your work without adding more hours.

1) How much of your work challenges you? Are you feeling engaged, curious, and part of solving problems that have visibility and challenge you to stretch yourself? How can you add challenge without adding volume?
2) What are your signs that you are burned out? Are you short tempered, irritated, unimaginative? Knowing these can help you realize that you are ready for a change.
3) Find meaning in the mundane. We all have aspects of our work that must get done yet we hate doing. How can you see value in doing those mundane tasks and doing them well?

In a previous employer we had to track what work we did and how many minutes we spent on different task daily. This activity seemed like busy work. Yet when I learned how these data were used to by the company. I realized that this mundane task was important and deserved accurate and complete time-reporting.

As a career and leadership coach, I help people identify burnout and devise actions to guide them in their recovery from burnout.