Workplace Burnout

Mike ** has come for cor counselling feeling anxious and tired. He reports poor sleep. He describes his job, the time pressure, the lack of support from his manager, the lack of role clarity and the workload. What makes Mike feel even worse is his belief that "everyone else is coping with it". I ask Mike about the hours he works and he replies "well I start at 830 and can usually get away by 630 or 730".

Mike goes on to describe working on weekends and replying to emails late in the evening. Mikes manager has told the team that "if you are a "team player you will postpone vacations from time to time". The manager never gives feedback and Mike doesn't know if he is a star employee or if he is the most likely to be let go. Mike also shares about the culture of bullying in the office.

Mike has reframed his burnout, not as a sign that he is in a toxic workplace but his belief that he is a less capable employee. I give him a Burnout Inventory to take to his office to photocopy and leave next to the water cooler. Soon nearly everyone in the office is talking about burnout and most are giving themselves a high burnout score. The team then can name the problem, quantify it, and begin to address it.

Burnout Inventory Test

For each of the following items rate as follows

0. = You do not experience this, or only occasionally

= This is true for you frequently, weekly.
= You experience this most of the time (daily)

Exhausted and tired
Irritable and with a short fuse
Difficulty making decisions
Difficulty in concentrating
Feeling hopeless "Who cares, why bother"
Forgetfulness
Frequent sleep disturbance, never enough sleep
Starting day feeling tired
Feeling worthless, a failure
Loss of enthusiasm or enjoyment about work or life
Change of appetite, overeating or lack of interest in food
Overlooking normal duties and responsibilities
Feeling unappreciated by others
Feeling burdened by pressures and responsibilities
Awareness of getting less and less done in the time available
Becoming too preoccupied with details
Unable to say no
Becoming inflexible or fussy
An awareness that you are driving yourself too hard at work
Becoming hypercritical or cynical with workmates, family, friends
Boredom with work or life in general
Loss of clear perspective on your life or work
Feeling out of control in areas of your life
Regular somatic symptoms such as headache, back ache, chest pain, cramps, ulcers, rashes, persistent colds, allergies, accidents, diarrhoea ( add one point for every symptom )

Assessing score

to 5 no problem, no hazard

6 to 10 ORANGE ZONE time to pay attention and make some changes

11 to 20 RED ALERT ZONE urgent changes or burnout will be inevitable

21 to 30 BURNOUT ZONE You are already burned out and heading toward clinical depression and physical breakdown.

As burnout become closer we enter a deprivation state that makes addictive behaviours much more likely such as drug and alcohol use, gambling, sex addiction etc.

Often, the way of working with burnout is with working with your beliefs such as

exchanging "I am the weakest link in our team" to

" I am doing well to cope in a toxic workplace where nearly everyone is struggling"

Mike changes his belief when he looks at the reality of his job and his workplace.

"I am paid for a 40 hour week but works 60 hrs"

"I have no regular lunch break or coffee break"

"I eat takeaways at my desk 3 times per week"

"My boss is a narcissistic bully."

When we are clear about the facts of our burnout situation and the effect on our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing we are much more likely to be motivated to explore options around making new plans, new habits and changes.

Often powerful change can be initiated in the workplace through the collective action of colleagues to change a toxic culture. Individual options and plans can be explored with your counsellor.

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