The perils of burn-out in business
At Sharné Consulting, we absolutely love seeing businesses flourish and thrive.
We know all to well, however that for businesses to flourish and thrive, they require employees and teams that flourishes and thrives.
Standing in the way of thriving teams and employees, stands the very real and overconsuming burn-out.
Burn-out is a word we often hear, we very commonly see, but when we are ‘in it’ we so often ignore its signs, symptoms and the fact that it is happening to us.
The Australia and New Zealand Autonomy of work Index 2021 found that a staggering 92% of serious mental health concerns in the Australian workplace are attributed to work-related stressors. Alongside the individual and emotional impact, these conditions cost businesses around $10.9 billion a year.
So what is burn-out, how do I recognise I have it (or that another team member might have it) and what do I do to avoid it – The Sharné Consulting Way!
What is it
Burn-out is one of those conditions that is very difficult to pin-point and define. It can generally be described as an ‘occupational phenomenon’ resulting from chronic workplace stress. Of course, it is the Sharné Consulting view and belief that no person becomes burnt-out totally because of workplace conditions and stressors, but typically an array of contributing factors force us there.
Considering we typically spend more than a third of our waking hours every week, for more than half of the years of our life, at work – it is our view that our work and working environment has a lot to answer for.
Not just in terms of causing it, but also in respect of housing an environment that identifies it, nurtures the symptoms of it and ultimately provides a space for people to work through it and thrive in!
How to recognise it
Recognising burn-out can be challenging.
As human beings, we are all engineered to survive, and that typically means denying anything that threatens our “safety”.
Unfortunately, even though burn-out is likely the very thing that threatens our safety (if we don’t have our health, what do we have after all?!?), as a society we tend to interpret ‘looking weak’, ‘looking like we are not up for it’ and ‘the inability to cope and manage’ as being more threatening – go figure!
This keeps us stuck in a cycle where we try to outperform, to outrun and to deny the very problem that is busy manifesting and there to stay unless we deal with it effectively and properly.
Some signs and symptoms to look for that indicates burn-out might be brewing:
- constant overwhelm for a considerable amount of time
- feeling hopeless, helpless and like you have nothing more to give
- lack of motivation for the things that used to spark joy
- little energy, like no matter how hard you try, you remain tired and you cannot seem to ‘get into the swing of things’
- feelings of emptiness, disconnect and like you are a spectator watching on
- avoidance, withdrawal and saying all the right things in the moment but not following through with the actions
The above are just some signs and symptoms of what burn out can look and feel like, and everyone will experience it in slightly different ways.
The most important thing, is to quite down the external noise and go within.
If something doesn’t feel right, and if you constantly feel like you don’t have a ‘handle’ on things, that you are ‘flying by the seat of your pants’, you are ‘uncentred’ and being pulled and pushed with no real centredness, then chances are you need to start asking yourself some honest and important questions.
There - I said it – I am burnt out – what do I do now?
Becoming conscious to burn-out and admitting you are either in it or heading towards it, is THE single most important step on the journey. So well done to you, that takes courage and an immense amount of grit and strength.
The easier option by far is to continue on in denial, to keep pushing forward like your energy supplies are limitless and to ultimately totally ‘melt-down’, which of course has far more serious and impactful consequences to you, your health and to those around you.
Now that you have admitted you are burnt out, or heading that way, there are a few things you should consider doing:
the first answer is always, to seek medical and professional help;
make sure you take some time out to yourself, no external responsibilities, or factors, and start exploring the symptoms and feelings and where they are originating from. Once you have identified the likely root of the problem / issue, it is much easier to know what to do, because you are working with the cause and not the symptoms;
seek external guidance to help you identify the above, if you are someone who struggles to ‘connect in’ with yourself enough to identify the root(s) of the cause;
make a list of ‘what is causing or contributing to burn-out’ and work through it, line-by-line, to come up with tangible and practical steps you can take now to address or reduce the load. For example:
if you are working over-time every week on an on-going basis, have the conversation with your employer. No burnt-out employee is good to their employers and most employers do care. They aren’t mind readers, however and it takes an honest and pro-active conversation to tackle the issue head-on between both parties;
if you are overloaded by family responsibilities, again have the conversation with your partner or other family members. Share with them what you are feeling and experiencing and seek to work with them to come up with ways in which the load can be shared or outsourced;
if you feel that you are ‘all give’ in extra curricular activities. Assess which of these are meaningful and cup filling to you, and which ones you might need to ‘put a pin in’ for now, whilst you regain your inner strength and power. From our experience, those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter #boundaries.
I can hear a lot of you thinking, yeah right, that all sounds good in theory - but in practice it is not possible or doable.
What is, or is not, possible – The Sharné Consulting Way – is always layered and layered by our own assumptions, core conditionings and limiting beliefs. Our key view and advice is, you can and should never assume, and don’t rule something out, before you have done all that you can and that is within your power, to set the boundaries, to have the conversations and to ask for the help you need.
Often, the biggest obstacle and barrier, is those that we set for ourselves in our own minds.
And at the end of the day, you are the only person who has to live in your body, live with your thoughts and experience your feelings and health. So you are first and foremost, accountable to you.
Waiting for others to play their part, may (or may not) happen, but what you do have control over is yourself, how you choose to speak up, the boundaries that you set and the help and guidance you seek and insist on.
You can always work with the Sharné Consulting Team too, through our Self-Discovery Workshops and Programs, which is after all how our Founder, Sharné, overcame her burn out and found her way from burn out, to abundance.
- The Sharné Consulting Team
Stay tuned for our next article, on what workplaces and businesses can do to ensure thriving businesses and teams!