Career burn out can occur for just about anyone, young, middle aged or older and in every career field out there but especially for people who’ve just kept pushing through it for long periods of time.
Common symptoms of burn out
- depression – sadness
- mental, emotion exhaustion – "bone tired" feeling
- over-reacting to situations
- negative thoughts, attitude and emotions
- lack of concern over job/career
- frustration
- angers easily
- feelings of powerlessness and being out of control
- sleep disturbances
- weight loss or gain
- inability to make decisions or to think clearly
This is not an exhaustive list, but some of the more common symptoms. It is critical that steps be taken to overcome burn out before it causes major impact and damage to your life’s goals and directions.
Things to help offset career burn out
- Take some time off if at all possible.
- Reduce as much stress as possible.
- Clear your calendar as much as possible.
- Get fresh air and physical exercise.
- Eat healthy, organic foods and avoid junk food, caffeine, etc.
- Do more activities that energize and lift you up.
- Get extra rest.
- Counseling may be needed.
Make a list of duties and tasks in your daily life that are both energy draining and energizing on separate sheets of paper, try to increase those things that are energizing and living giving. For the tasks that are draining, try to either delegate those things, enlist the help or friends or family, or really evaluate how important they really are. It's a strong possibility that many of those things are just not that critical in the whole big picture of life. We tend to make a bigger deal out of things and circumstances than are truly warranted.
Don’t ignore career burn out; that’s the worst a person can do and generally it will only worsen the situation. It's one of the strongest indicators of work life balance being off.
Some burn out is more short term, and taking some of the above steps will cause it to simply pass on its own with a little TLC. Other forms of career burn out are more long term and debilitating, and the solution needed to address it will be more radical. Take the measures needed in each case because burn out can cause serious long term health issues.
If the burn out is severe, it may take more radical steps to address, including looking at a career change or some extended time off. Sometimes, when things get really out of hand, this is the only time we’ll make serious changes that are needed. Change is difficult, especially when there is a lot at stake, like our livelihood. There are times in our lives when the only time we will implement change is when the pain not to change is worse. Therein lies the rub with career burn out.
Valerie Garner - Hi, I'm Valerie a midlife lady who loves to learn new things, photography, reading, writing, and drinking coffee with friends. I've ...
