Burned out. What a wonderful phrase! It means you need VACA! Like what’s seen in the cartoon, I think this term should be dealt with utmost seriousness and care. Because it happens. It’s not an excuse to be dramatic ( I just wish it was). It happened to me and it could happen to anyone. Anyone who has been working, initially loved and exerted so much for their jobs or careers or whatever professional term it’s called, has a tendency to get burned out. Some have miraculously avoided it. Some overcame it. Some are recuperating still. And some are realizing it when it’s already too late.
Sharing with you an article I read this morning in AOL, Signs that you are Burned out on a Job. It’s funny, on my way to work with my dad this morning, he asked me if he could just entirely quit his job because he’s had enough. He just wants to fully retire, which he has been planning um…10 years ago, ever since the idea erupted. He said he doesn’t feel passionate about his work anymore. The harmony in his office with his colleagues and friends is not present. He doesn’t even know why he gets up every morning and manages to sit there in his office, attend meetings, talk to people, make transactions when he clearly knows he’s not happy. If not only for security, preparations and money, he would’ve flown to his hometown right now, enjoying his house by the beach being away from it all. Is it another one of his midlife crisis or just a typical burnout? For me, that’s a perfect example of being burned out. Only that, he like most, realized it too late to prevent it. I mean, hello, he’s already 54 and he’s been planning to retire 10 years ago, but he’s still there…chugging until the last flicker goes out. I don’t want to see him exhaust that last spark. That would be scary.
I’ve had major burn out moments since 19 years old, coupled with crazy schedules, towering deliverables and clash of people’s personalities. I started rough and I could vividly remember the horrors. Friday always seemed to be a glorious miracle of life and Sunday, having dinner with the family after mass, felt like The it’s the Last Supper. In the mornings, you couldn’t eat breakfast because your stomach’s full of butterflies that feed on deadlines and the thought of people you’re not excited to bump into. The hectic metropolitan setting doesn’t help uplift the ambiance as you enter the cramped up elevator silently listening to the hard thumping of your heart. You enter the battlefield and couldn’t wait for the sun to set. When you go home, looking yourself at the mirror, you’d honestly think that Stresstabs were invented because of you.
Sounds familiar?
There are different reasons for being burned out. There are also different approaches to acknowledging and coping with it, but the symptoms are the same. According to Dr. Todd Dewett, author of the book “Leadership Redefined,” being burned out doesn’t happen overnight. It usually involves in tiny little chunks that make it hard to distinguish if you’re just having dramatic stressful moments or actually already in the process of burning out. Backed up by Jim Bouchard, author of “Dynamic Concepts of Personal Power.” He said that “most people will experience temporary periods of burnout or imbalance.” It doesn’t take a genius to know that continuous and long imbalance can be dangerous to ones health, relationships with other people and can sabotage your job.”
I know a couple of friends who are trapped in the professional world doing things that they know they don’t want to do, but can’t seem to think of anything else to pay for their bills. Been there. I know a couple of friends who know that their fluctuating schedules, working conditions and deliverables seem to regularly compromise their time with their families, loved ones and well beings. Been there. I also know some whose life revolves around the toxicity of work just because their personalities crave for it, neglecting other aspects of their lives, which results to massive imbalance and adherence to temporary remedies. Been there. I also know some are not lucky enough to work with encouraging and positive people, conducive working environment and sufficient compensation. Been there. But how do you know if these things have already affected your balance? How would you know that these reasons have burned you out?
According to AOL, there are symptoms to look into to know if one is burned out: (Continuous)
1. Your professional relationships don’t matter anymore
True. Almost everyone I know seem to view this as the make or break deal. Others hate their jobs, their offices even their bosses, but still seem to find the strength from their coworkers. People can stay in a grumpy work environment as long as good professional relationship stands. That’s why if you’re not comfortable with the people anymore, or you find them literally not uplifting your tired and confused situation, then there’s really something wrong with it already.
2. Quality of work isn’t what it used to.
Very very true. It happened to me at the latter parts of being burned out. I’m not interested with my work anymore. I’m just forcing myself to get up and work everyday. It reflected in my quality of output. It was mediocre, dull and sometimes inaccurate. I really couldn’t care less anymore. As long as I pass it on time and go home, that’s good enough for me.
3. You’re not goal-oriented anymore
In connection to symptom number 2, you just couldn’t care less. You pass mediocre work not to impress anyone. Promotion is not a big deal for you anymore. Your goals have become reduced to mundane issues of life. There’s no bigger picture than deciding what you’ll have for lunch. Everything else becomes so comfortable and so boring.
If you feel these top three symptoms, all at the same time in such convincing degrees, well I guess you’re already in the process of burning out. Do not wait for it to consume you or put you on a professional coma. Do something about it. Get a long vacation. Talk to your management and reinstate your goals. Concentrate on your work and leave it after 5:30 and spend quality time with your friends. Or else…make that dreaded change. Resign.
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