In the last week I have spoken with a few people who have felt a bit close to ‘burnout’. This has been clear in conversation and as indicated by this tool, developed with my colleague Steve in Australia.

You probably have met someone who has become burnout through their work, or maybe exhausted from some of their voluntary roles and obligations.

You will know it is a tough place to reach – and getting back from that point can take a while.

As this 4 step model illustrates burnout can be the ‘natural’ result from a stress response to pressure.

So, if ‘prevention is better than cure’, what are the options?

1) avoiding pressure might be useful – for example if you are hugely overburdened and are only coping by sleeping less, ‘running faster’ and cutting corners. Here you are looking to change your context. Maybe changing your job or negotiating some different obligations at work and home. This may be a temporary thing after a period of grief, for example

2) however for many of us pressure is inevitable (and to a degree desirable), so how to cope with the resulting stress becomes the key place to focus. Here you are looking to change your response – for example with exercise, meditation, reflection, coaching (or supervision or counselling), hobbies. This self assessment might be of use in thinking about your personality and how you respond. As this classic – and old – 1983 advert illustrates, some people have sources of personal energy that will keep them going longer than others. “Know Thyself” is key. Which sort of ‘bunny’ are you?

3) one self-preserving and common response to stress amongst staff in many organisations – especially those with an (?initially) attractive noble purpose – is cynicism: to management, to colleagues, and even to the end user such as patients or clients. However, this response can make the work and working environment more wearing and stressful for colleagues (and often to the cynic too). So cynicism isn’t sustainable for an institution long term, nor probably to the individual themselves either – as cynicism can be associated with over-eating, drinking too much, misery etc leading to ill health.

4) Once burnout is reached the key actions are acknowledgment, seeking help – and being kind to yourself and stepping back from the patterns that created the situation. Please let me know if you would like more information on this.

Being a bit self-focused maybe…
Be Ambitious in your plans.
Be Insightful about your capacity.
Be Kind to yourself (and others).

Tags: behaviour