Have you ever felt so overwhelmed that you can barely hang on? Like a car up on blocks trying to run an engine without fuel, and you’re going nowhere? If so, you’ve probably experienced burnout.
Burnout is not like regular stress. It’s a long-term situation that can damage your body, upend your mental health, and threaten your closest relationships.
Employee burnout is a global problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) classified it as an “occupational phenomenon.” According to a Deloitte survey, 77 percent of people say they have experienced burnout at their current job. 91 percent say that unmanageable stress or frustration impacts the quality of their work, and 83 percent say burnout can negatively impact personal relationships.
What about outside of work? For most people work doesn’t end when you leave the office or log out of your computer. Dinner must be made, the house has to be cleaned, bills have to be paid, and the list goes on and on.
If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, you are probably wondering what you can do to recover from burnout. To answer this question, I interviewed Dr. Hollie Sturgeon, a pharmacist, and burnout coach to learn about the steps to overcome burnout. Keep reading to learn about her five-step process to recover from burnout.
1. Discover Your Friction Points
The first step to recover from burnout is figuring out what parts of your life are causing you the most friction.
“You need to dig down and actually figure out what those friction points are,” said Sturgeon. “Because if it’s too big, if it’s so much noise, you don’t know what to fix.”
This can be hard to do when you’re whole life feels overwhelming. You need to take a step back and try to zoom out from your problems. Think of your problems like holding a piece of paper in front of your face. When you do this it’s hard to see anything else.
To take a step back try writing down each of the issues that are causing you stress. When you’re done, put a star next to the problems that are affecting you the most. Congratulations, you have identified your friction points.
2. Define The Problem
Once you’ve discovered your friction points, you need to specifically define the biggest problem.
“I recommend picking one friction point,” said Sturgeon. “Because most people have many, and some people want lots of little wins, some people want to go for that big win, but you have to do whatever works best for you.”
Focusing on your biggest problem is likely to have the most impact. For example, if your biggest friction point is that someone constantly interrupts you in meetings then focus on that issue. Write down the problem, how it is affecting you, and whether there’s anything you can do to address it.
3. Identify Goals To Fix Your Problem
Next, when thinking about your biggest problem, you need to write down steps you can take to fix it. Let’s consider another example, where the biggest problem is low pay. What are some steps you could take to remedy that issue? You could:
- Research the pay range for your position to determine what a fair rate should be.
- Ask your boss for a meeting to discuss the pay discrepancy, and what you can do to earn a raise.
- Consider whether you need to find a new position.
With these steps written down, you now have a roadmap to start recovering from burnout.
4. Set A Timeline And Do The Work
“If you set a goal, you follow your goal,” said Sturgeon. Once you’ve identified a goal, and the steps you need to take toward that goal set a timeline. Otherwise, you’re going to keep going down the same path without taking steps to fix your problem.
Then commit to doing the work. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Use your timeline to motivate you to take each step that you’ve outlined. When you do this, try to do it without expectation. There’s no guarantee that doing the work will fix your problem, but it will give you more information that you can use in step five. You also know that if you don’t take action nothing will change.
5. Evaluate Your Progress
The last step to recover from burnout is to evaluate your progress. Did you do the work to achieve your goal? Was the result what you were hoping for?
“If your goal was to get a pay raise by the end of the year you have to check back in. You have to debrief and say where am I with this situation” said Sturgeon. “Maybe you got a pay raise, but it was a nickel, and that’s totally not cool, that’s almost offensive. Or maybe you got two dollars. So, debrief, was that enough to adjust my friction level to the point where my burnout is actually being adjusted.”
The true end goal is to reduce your friction levels. So, if you’ve taken steps to fix the problem at your current job and the friction is still the same then you will at least have the knowledge that you tried to fix it and were unsuccessful. That could be enough information to help you decide to leave if that’s what is required.
Know When To Get Help
While this five-step process to recover from burnout works, it can be hard to implement on your own. One of the biggest challenges, when you are experiencing burnout, is finding any additional motivation to implement life changes.
A burnout coach like Dr. Sturgeon or a therapist can help guide you through your problem. I have also developed a way to quickly reduce stress called Burnout First Aid. You can use that method for relief as you work long-term to overcome burnout.
Whatever you do, don’t wait. Burnout will grind you down and affect your health. Get the help you need before it’s too late.
