Are you on the verge of burn out?
Many burnout victims only realize too late – when their bodies start going wrong – that they have gone far beyond what they can tolerate. Don’t wait until you can’t move anymore before you take action…
The earliest definition of burnout, coined by the psychologist Herbert Freudenberger in 1970, highlighted the three main symptoms:
- Depersonalization: manifested in a loss of interest, with the individual becoming emotionally detached from their work. This seems to affect men more than women.
- A drop in the sense of achievement: the person puts in more and more effort but achieves less and less, losing the sense of what they are trying to achieve.
- Emotional exhaustion: seemingly more common in women.
Burnout is not confined to the work environment: activists or parents, for example, can also fall victim to it. What should you do if you recognize yourself in at least one of the above traits?
- Pay close attention to the health concerns that often go hand-in-hand with burnout rather than thinking: “It will pass”.
- Manage the causes of the stress. They are almost always many and varied.
- Look after other people as well to create a “revitalizing bubble” around you.
Although we have known about burnout for over 50 years, it still comes as a surprise to us and can take different forms in different people.
© Copyright Business Digest - All rights reserved
