Recognising and Dealing with Burnout
It is important for us to take a step back to recognise and acknowledge the feeling of being "burned out". We are not as effective or efficient when we work long hours, miss meals or forego nurturing our personal lives for sustained periods of time. If you feel that you or someone on your team may be experiencing burnout, be sure to address it right away.
We'd recommend taking a burnout test to get the ball rolling:
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To get ahead of a problem, be sure to communicate with your co-workers or Team Lead if any of the following statements ever apply to you:
- "I am losing interest in social interaction."
- "I've lost the motivation to work." - Everyone has days when they don't want to work but if you hear yourself saying this often, you're on the road to burnout.
- "I often feel tired." - Indicative of being overworked for prolonged periods of time.
- "I get agitated easily."
- "I've been hostile to my coworkers." - You see yourself "snap" at people for no apparent reason.
- "I've been having headaches often." - A headache can manifest itself for multiple reasons but if you catch yourself only having headaches on work days, it is time to evaluate your situation.
What to do in the case of potential burnout
If someone is showing signs of burnout, they should take time off to focus on things that are relaxing and improve their overall health and welfare.
As a manager/team lead, it is your task to evaluate your team's state of mind. Address possible burnout by discussing options with your team member to manage contributing stressors and evaluate the workload. Some things to help with this:
- Try to follow each of your team members' work habits. If they start being less efficient, or working more hours, they might be on the road to burnout.
- Try to keep track of when they had their last paid day off. If they hadn't had a personal day in a long time, look closer at their behaviour.
- Make sure you let your team members know they can talk to you about their challenges.
- When you recognise symptoms of burnout in others, help them to get out the "Burnout trap". Don't just tell people to take a break, but help them arrange things so they can take a break. Ask why they feel they can't take a break (there are almost certainly real, concrete reasons) and then ask permission to get busy putting things in place that will overcome those barriers. People might be trapped by their own fatigue, being too worn out to find the creative solutions needed to take a break.
Tips to avoid burnout