In our last blog we covered how to identify burnout risks, and how to protect yourself at the recruitment stage by spotting which organisations or job roles might pose a high risk to individuals.

In this blog, we will cover some of the steps that individuals can take to lower their burnout risk and protect their mental health at work when they find themselves in a job role or organisation that may present a higher risk. A brief re-cap:

Burnout is an occupational phenomenon that can arise when an individual experiences poorly managed chronic stress at work. Symptoms include cynicism and extreme mental and physical exhaustion and a drop in performance. We may get to the point where we feel like we just don’t care anymore, or we find that we simply can’t perform cognitively as we used to.

Sometimes we say ‘I’m feeling a bit burned out’ when we really mean that we’re very tired; but burnout is a step or two above that. When we are truly burned out we likely need professional help to recover and recovery can take months or years.

Burnout experts, Dr. Christina Maslach and Dr. Michael Leiter identified 6 major mismatches that when out of whack can contribute to burnout. They are: Workload, Control, Reward, Community, Fairness and Values.

Yoga (as referenced in the title of this blog) is helpful for many people, but the advice we will give you in this blog is not a suggestion to practice better self-care and build resilience, but rather how to avoid getting burned out at work by understanding and controlling the risk factors.

Image credit: Grant Snider - **Incidental Comic**

To re-iterate: it is an organisation’s responsibility to control for psychosocial hazards at work including hazards that could lead to burnout. This information isn’t intended to put the onus on the employee alone, but rather, to help people protect themselves in the same way that we might identify and avoid or control physical safety hazards at work, in partnership with our organisations HSE procedures.

Learn more about Psychosocial Hazards and Psychosocial Risk Assessment and Management in our previous blog series beginning here.

Let’s talk about Work Overload

A workload that tips the scales towards burnout could be too high, too low, too constant (all peaks with no dips for recovery), too easy (monotonous and boring) or too difficult (we haven’t had sufficient training).

What we are aiming for here is like Goldilocks porridge - just right.

Can you get everything done within your normal working hours?
Do you feel engaged with your work to a level that feels right and usual for you?
After a big project or deadline, do you have periods of downtime?
Do you feel challenged some (but not all) of the time?

If you realise that there is a mismatch in your workload, it can be extremely difficult to raise this with your boss, especially in a culture that puts a very high regard on working hard and ‘getting on with it’.

No one wants to look as though they aren’t coping, haven’t ‘picked up’ the training provided or ‘can’t handle the jandal,’ within their chosen career. And admitting boredom at work may feel like career suicide.

What can you do if you are overwhelmed, or bored, at work?

Begin by reflecting. How do you feel? How long have you been feeling this way? Can you identify why? There is a difference, for example, between having too much work or too little work versus having too little control over your work (for instance, because you are at the mercy of other departments).

Artist credit: Bob - **Work Chronicles**

It may help to run the problem either by a qualified workplace Psychologist if you have access to one, or by a trusted and non-biased friend (someone who has an entirely different job).

Once you have identified the problem, and what you feel may solve it, consider discussing this with your leader. Go into the discussion with a plan.

Remember that workload is ultimately a management issue. It is the role of leaders to organise workload in a way that works both for workers and the organisation. But, leaders are not superhuman, and they may likely appreciate a heads up so they can solve an arising problem before it becomes unmanageable.

Depending on the relationship you have with your Manager and how secure you feel in your job role you could approach it like this

These tasks are taking me X amount of time, is that in line with what you expect?
I am not able to complete all of these tasks within my working hours, which would you like me to focus on?
Do you have any suggestions for how I can streamline my workload?
I can set aside some time to walk someone else through these tasks, but I cannot fit this project into my workload. Would you prefer to assign it to someone else, or can we move the deadline?

What if your job is too easy?

If your work is too easy, again, take some time to reflect on why and what would solve the issue within your current job role or organisation.

Have you identified additional duties within your team that you would like to take on? What is the process for promotion? Might your organisation be willing to sponsor additional studies or training to move you into another role? Is there a project or secondment that you would like to move onto?

Reflect on how you will feel if you are offered an additional challenge or project to fill your workload gap, but without additional compensation. Is it worth it to you to relieve your boredom? Will the extra duties be sufficiently rewarding in other ways, inherently or by way of experience that might lead to future salary increases?

What if an honest discussion with your leader is not realistic?

Admitting that our workload is too high or too low can be a frightening prospect, and for good reason. Understanding of workplace mental health risks has improved but stigma still exists and impacts people at work.

Spend some time reflecting on the thoughts behind your worry. If you are getting stuck in rumination, try a visualisation to distance yourself from your thoughts. Imagine that you are standing on a pier, and each thought is a boat passing by and then sailing away.

It is normal to feel some anxiety before any difficult conversation. Consider whether your worry about how your leader will respond is based on experience. How have they reacted in the past? See our blog here for tips on managing fear and anxiety.

Consider the potential outcomes objectively. Remove yourself from the situation and imagine you are considering a colleague with the same experience and options. Is it really likely that this conversation will lead to negative outcomes?

If that is really the case, first consider if this is an organisation you want to be a part of!

Secondly, think about re-framing the conversation to remove yourself specifically.

If your workload is not well managed, it’s very likely you are not the only person feeling this way. Rather than approaching the discussion from a personal perspective, ask your Manager how workload can be re-organised to make things better for the organisation.

The canary in the coal mine (how Work Overload,Control, Fairness, Values, Reward and Community intersect).

When we are chronically stressed or dis-engaged at work, we typically look to the volume of work or the nature of the work we have as the culprit, but the other mismatches that Maslach and Leiter identified can be equally or even more damaging.

Control

How much control do you have over your work? Can you choose to organise your work in a different way, to focus your energy on tasks that you enjoy? Can you choose to delegate tasks? Can you choose your own tools, methods, re-arrange deadlines in a way that fits or do you need to ask permission?

Fairness

Is the work split evenly between the team? Are you covering for anyone, or is another individual seemingly able to pick the most interesting projects? Could the work be organised in a way that fits the team better?

Values

Are you proud of the work that you / your team / your organisation does? How do you feel when you tell others about what you do? Do the company’s values (as they are practised) align with your own? Do you feel like your work has a wider impact? Does it have meaning? Can you extract joy and/or purpose from what you do?

If you are feeling disengaged at work, it may be a lack of meaning or purpose rather than a lack of workload. You don’t need to be saving the world to feel a sense of alignment with your values at work. Things like providing good service and value to clients, having a robust recycling system, cycle to work scheme or robust inclusiveness and mental health support systems can help, and these may be areas where you can get involved.

Reward

Reward isn’t always financial. By all means, if you feel unrewarded, clarify the process for salary and financial benefit increase. But reflect on how you feel unrewarded. Is it a lack of recognition? Can you identify and focus on inherent rewards such as increasing the meaning that you find in your job role? What would help to reduce the mismatch between the workload and the reward you are getting?

If raising the topic of reward feels too difficult, suggest it on behalf of the wider team. ‘I have some ideas for how we could improve morale by increasing recognition to help people feel appreciated.’

Community

It may not be the amount of work per se but rather our social environment.

Do you feel a sense of connection and camaraderie with your colleagues? Is bullying and discrimination an issue? Do you feel like you belong at work?

If the answer is no - reflect on why, and what ‘good community’ at work looks like for you. Broadly speaking, humans are social creatures and we all need a level of connection to thrive, but that level looks different for different people and we have different perceptions of how much of our connection we want to experience at work vs home.

Community means having low interpersonal conflict, belonging, and feeling a positive sense of sharing our working experience in a group.

Maslach and Leiter found that burnout can be contagious - people who are heading toward the burnout spectrum can cause greater levels of conflict at work either by interpersonal aggression or disrupting the flow of work. Consider whether your colleagues, if grumpy, absent, ‘not pulling their weight,’ or aggressive, may themselves be burning out.

In conclusion

When it comes to burnout, workload is very important but it isn’t our only worry, or our only solution. We can remove some of the burden of stress by managing all six of the potential mismatches that contribute to chronic workplace stress.

Our organisations should be bearing the brunt of this management with robust psychosocial risk management and control, however, we can protect ourselves by increasing our self-awareness via knowledge and reflection, and taking positive steps to avoid or control our exposure to burnout risks.

Need help Managing Psychosocial Risk, reducing Workplace Stress and preventing or recovering from Burn-out?

Glia is here for you.

We are a team of highly experienced registered Psychologists who are experts in the world of work.

Contact us for Psychosocial Risk Assessments, Burnout Recovery Coaching, and virtual or in-house workshops to support mental health in the workplace and reduce the impact of stress, anxiety and other psychosocial hazards at work.

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