Pause before you throw in the towel

CHENNAI: Do you catch yourself saying, “If only I could have another vacation to the mountains, I dont feel I could carry this much longer.” very often? Symptoms of burn out and unmanaged stress at the workplace can lead to feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion. Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job and can also pave the way for reduced professional efficacy.

What you should do when you are burnt out:

Sit back and take a wider look at things. It will help you reset your priorities. A burnout can either be caused from your own relationship with your job, or the simple fact that the job just doesn’t suit your personal nature.

Before quitting, ask yourself if you can change how you relate with my job. Is it your own mismanagement of stress which is causing the problems.

Reassess the situation you are in. You might want to look into potential reasons to then formulate a solution. The reasons could be lack of control, unclear job expectations, dysfunctional workplace dynamics, work-life imbalance, etc.

If you can spot clear reasons, try to have a conversation with someone and try to bring change rather than continuing to deal with the burnout. Over time, burnout can lead to excessive stress, fatigue, insomnia, heart disease, high blood pressure and other health complications.

Stress management:

In many cases, when we start to relax, we find that some problems are not stressful but challenging and enjoyable. Relaxation makes a big difference. Seek social support

Take frequent breaks

Get adequate sleep everyday

Get adequate exercise everyday Practice mindfulness, especially when you start to feel the burnout Take a vacation if you really want it! Seek professional help if you need

If there is no way that the job can provide a relaxing work atmosphere, you might want to start evaluating your options. Know the consequences of quitting, and weigh them against already existing or potential health problems. Saying ‘no’ when needed can be one of the most powerful gifts to our own selves.

One of the most important things that we, as individuals, should do is to understand that we have put ourselves in tricky positions. When we start to take responsibility of our existence, we can start to take active action rather than be stuck in a victim mentality.

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