A Quick Note on Burnout
Some resources to help understand burnout
Last week, I asked the question, ”Do we need to reevaluate our relationship with work?” I am still reading and writing my thoughts, but I got some good feedback that people liked the resources that I shared. I’m going to do a similar thing today but today’s topic is around burnout, and what it means for you.
I know we’ve all heard the term burnout before the events of the past 18 months but its hard to ignore how much it’s probably impacting society at large for a litany of different reasons. Over the past 6 months I’ve done a lot of reading and having a lot of conversations with my therapist, experts and other people I trust about this topic, especially as it pertains to the workplace and careers.
Just like I said in my other piece, I’m going to reserve a longer, more thoughtful article for another day, but I wanted to share a primer just to get the conversation started as I know it’s something a lot of people are thinking about right now.
What is burnout?
According to the World Health Organization, “Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion - this one is probably the easiest to understand, but just a general tiredness and exhaustion caused by your job
increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job - this one is about the depletion of empathy, caring, and compassion. As a result of burnout, it makes it hard to feel positively connected to the work that you do. As a result, you become distant, or feel extremely negative toward it.
reduced professional efficacy - an unconquerable sense of futility or feeling that nothing you do makes any difference. This is about either feeling like you are not able to do your job as well as you used to be able to do it, or if you cannot do your job as well as you used to be able to do it. For example, things that you used to be able to complete you no longer feel you can do.
Admittedly, when I first started learning about burnout, I was only familiar with #1, it took me some time to understand #2’s and #3, and how they play a role in burnout. Additionally, as of July 2019, the WHO officially has recognized burnout as a medical condition.
What causes burnout?
According to research from Christina Maslach, there are six main causes of burnout
Unsustainable workload
Perceived lack of control
Insufficient rewards for effort
Lack of a supportive community
Lack of fairness
Mismatched values and skills
A few comments on what else I think is at play, given the state of the culture of work right now:
The disease of more - Hall of Fame basketball coach and Executive Pat Riley often talks about the disease of more and how it prevents NBA Championship teams from staying together and being able to replicate success. The reason being is that once you are successful at, say winning an NBA title, all of a sudden everyone wants more - more playing time, more shots, more endorsement deals, etc. This is ultimately the downfall of many teams. The disease of more is also in my opinion alive in the corporate world. There is never an end, it's part of how the game is structured and the incentives are aligned around in order to win, so we just keep going. And it’s conditioned in all of us that we would (and should) want more. Over the last 18 months, working under duress has impacted all of us, and while we’ve made adjustments to handle what we need to handle, most of that has not made its way down to the actual sheer amount of work that we are expected to deliver. I think this has to do with the fact we are just conditioned to always want more.
“Workism” - This phrase, coined by Derek Thompson, is analogous to “hustle culture,” where work has become so central to our lives, identity and meaning that we’re encouraged (and championed) for throwing ourselves into our work. Again, this is not meant to criticize people who work a lot or who get a lot of meaning out of their work, but this idea that we always have to work and always have to be on does not always necessarily jive well with our own physical and mental well-being.
“Bandaids not stitches” - If you’re familiar with this phrase, it’s basically prescribing the wrong fix to a medical ailment. I do believe we are able to talk about burnout and address burnout in work cultures more so than ever before, but what it usually amounts to at many places is in “self-help” tactics and a yoga class. Those in of itself are not bad things, but they are not adequate in solving the scope of the ailment. (If you prefer other metaphors, think of bringing a knife to a gun fight)
The Great Resignation - I have talked to over 25+ people who have left their jobs over the past two months and anecdotally can tell you that many of these people felt that burnout was one of the causes that drove them to leave their jobs. While there were many other reasons for this, I do think one of the reasons why there are people resigning or quitting is due to the fact that some corporate cultures, work environments and leaders are not taking burnout seriously and are not creating space or investing in programs to help their people be well and recharge. People now feel empowered, either because they know they can find another place, or because they don’t want to deal with it any longer to change the circumstances, which causes them to look elsewhere.
What you should do about this
Read the articles and listen to the podcasts - I am providing a list of links, articles, books and podcasts that are helpful to better understanding this topic and how it relates to you. After listening and reading reflect and evaluate if (and how) burnout is affecting you
Check your health benefits - Companies are trying to do more to help their employees so make sure you are aware of what they are doing. Not every company is doing enough and as I said earlier just using your companies wellness subsidy may not be enough, but if you have resources I encourage you to take advantage of them
Look out for your teammates and peers - One of the points that Emily Nagoski makes in her book is that “the one solution to burnout is caring deeply about others.” Paula Davis also makes this as she tries to approach burnout by starting with managers of teams because it helps spread the word. Even if you don’t think you are impacted, your teammates, direct reports, and people that you care about in your life are impacted by it. Start by checking in on them to see how they are doing, sharing with them resources, or just acting like a trusted person they can come to if they have questions
Speak to a licensed medical professional - The resources below are a great start, but if you are concerned about how this is impacting you, you should talk to a licensed medical professional. As someone who has dealt with this, going to my doctor and therapist was immensely helpful, and got me on the right track.
Resources on Burnout
I’ve read and listened to all of these, and if you want to learn more, recommend these to get started:
Article: Beyond Burned Out (HBR)
If you are looking for a robust but streamlined understanding of burnout, what causes it, and how you can reflect on how it's impacting your current state of life this is the article to start with.
Burnout: The Secret to a Happier Life
In her book “Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle”, Emily Nagoski explains how to fight burnout to live a much happier life. The book is a good read, but if you don’t want to read the book the article is worth reading. One of the things I liked about the book is that they talk a lot about the importance of stress, and working through it versus running away from it. They also talk about how wellness is kind of a sham (a yoga class isn't the answer to your problem) and instead talk about how employers need to own some of this problem in creating better structures for people (especially women and other marginalized populations) to thrive.
Article: How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation
Ann Helen Peterson is one of the best writers on topics related to culture and society. Even though she wrote this over 2 years ago a lot of it still rings true today. As a millennial I could easily self-identify with many of the themes in the article. What’s been interesting to me is that since she wrote the article there have been a lot of critics (love the internet) about it and most of them as you could have probably guessed come from the Boomer generation.
Article: What if people don’t want a career?
Charlie Warzel wrote this article on his Substack a few weeks ago and it spawned an incredible backlash. As you’ll read in his subsequent article, he had to close the comments thread down and even got a few thinly veiled death threats. One of the things Charlie covers in here is a thread on TikTok where people more or less bash on the traditional career path. It’s a good read (and read the follow up too)
Article: Is it Stress or burnout?
Many of us know what stress is, but sometimes we don’t quite understand burnout. This article, written by Paula Davis, walks us through the difference between the two, and how to know what you are feeling.
Your Burnout is Unique, Your Recovery Will Be Too (HBR)
Research has shown that burnout is not an individual problem but an organizational one. It’s not just you, but rather, the broader system you are a part of. That said, the way that you respond to burnout will be unique to you, and this article does a good job articulating the role of the individual versus the role of the organization + culture.
Article: How to Measure Burnout Accurately and Ethically
Part of the reason I started this article with the definition of burnout is because sometimes it is misunderstood or misrepresented. One of the biggest takeaways from this article is understanding that burnout is a spectrum, and you can have symptoms of burnout without clinically having it. To technically have burnout, all three of the elements of burnout need to be present, but just because they aren’t doesn’t mean you don’t need to do something about it.
Podcast: Burnout with Brene Brown and Emily and Amelia Nagoski
If you’re more of a podcast listener, this is the interview Brene Brown did with Emily and Amelia about their book on burnout.
Podcast: Beating Burnout at Work
Paula Davis is a former lawyer turned Burnout and Resilience Coach + Trainer + Author. She burned out running her own law firm and now focuses on helping leaders and organizations but healthy workplace cultures. This is a good interview to learn about some of the causes of burnout but also how teams and people managers within organizations can find ways to get rid of burnout within their teams which can often lead to greater improvements in the overall culture and organization.
Podcast: Burnout and Living at Work (Natalie Rachel)
Natalie Rachel is a behavioral economist who went through her own experience with burnout before turning to help others. She found that "with burnout, rest doesn't touch it," you need a deeper strategy.
Conclusion
There’s a lot to unpack with this topic, but I hope that this is a start (or continuation) of how you choose to think and reflect about your own state of health. If you have questions or want to chat more, don’t hesitate to reach out.