Burnout

 

When I check in with my clients at the beginning of a session on what emotion(s) they are feeling, the most common response I hear is, “I’m overwhelmed.” Working with ambitious, driven, women leaders lends itself to this common response.

After further probing, the realization that they are facing and experiencing burnout causes mixed reactions. One being shock that there is a reason behind their loss of motivation for work they used to love. Another being relief, that their inner critic who is pushing them to “just work harder” is not the answer.

Burnout is a widely experienced work issue and has continued to increase in prevalence over the last few years. The World Health Organization defines it as “resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” While this is true, this puts a lot of the responsibility on the individual to simply manage stress better.

In reality, we are discovering that burnout has more to do with our workplace environment and culture and less to do with the individuals. It is a “prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job.” Essentially, we are emotionally and physically exhausted all the time. We lack motivation or passion. Yet our to do list never shrinks.

What do we do about it?

I could list out a multitude of strategies, tools, and tactics to employ to try and help alleviate this stress. Work boundaries! Self-care! More sleep! Reduce media consumption! While these are helpful in some cases, they are not so much in others. You’re telling me I have to work harder and add more to my plate before I can feel better?

Instead, I am sharing some of the science behind burnout and how we can leverage it to move through it instead of fight against it. In addition, I have provided some resources and journal prompts below that I have personally found helpful. I also found tremendous success in working with robust support. Whether that’s a coach, therapist, or family member.

The Science of Emotions

Emotions are like tunnels; they have a beginning, middle, and end. We feel emotions constantly all day, every day and unless they are processed, they are physically stored in the body. We typically do not give them time or attention to process, which is why we can get stuck in the middle of the emotion “tunnel”. Sometimes these tunnels are stressful, and we get stuck in a stress cycle.

Burnout takes place when we get stuck in an emotion and don’t complete the stress cycle.

In order to complete the stress cycle, we need to examine the distinction between a stress and a stressor:

  • We have a fight or flight reaction (stress) to a charging hippo (stressor).

  • When we remove the hippo, it doesn’t remove the stress.

To get to the other side of the stress/ tunnel, we must signal to our body that we are safe. The reason we must do this is that we are primarily feeling beings, so we can’t think our way out of it. We must show our body in its own language that the stress has been removed.

Safety Signals for our Body

  • Intentional breathing - 90+ seconds of full belly inhales and exhales.

  • Receive a long hug - at least 20 seconds of a reciprocal hug. This releases oxytocin, the warm fuzzy feeling hormone.

  • Pair Movement + Stress: This is a fun one. Imagine that your stressor (e.g. your upcoming big presentation) is something that you can run and crush while you are on a treadmill, or hit on a punching bag.

  • Connecting meaningfully with others - laughter, intimate conversation, and time spent receiving support from a friend.

 

Journal Prompts

Grab a cup of tea, a pen and paper, and spend 5 minutes on each question.

  • What situation keeps getting me stuck in the stress cycle?

  • What does my body need that it is not receiving?

  • What resources do I have and what support do I need?

 

Additional Resources

 

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