I’ve long been interested in the dynamics of burnout in the workplace. As a career counselor I’ve noticed that the phenomenon of burnout isn’t limited to certain types of work, but the request for help often is. Those in non-career-path jobs tend to solve the problem very elegantly: They quit and find other work.
But the higher up you move, or the more career-based your work, the more likely you are to struggle with decision. In thinking about my clients over the years, I’ve noticed at least three reasons for this:
1. They studied hard to enter the field. Individuals in these careers may invest years or even decades in their educations, including internships, residencies and other modes of on-the-job training, before launching fully into the work world. It’s a wrenching decision to walk away from that investment.
2. They get public recognition for being in their field. Many licensed professions – doctor, lawyer, teacher, for example – are also highly respected by others. That’s probably not coincidental. As a culture, we’ve considered the careers that require the most preparation to be the most worthy of commendation. As one of my clients told me, “When I say ‘I’m a nurse,’ that means something.”
3. They often feel called to the work. It’s always hard to switch careers. But if you tumbled into your work based on a random job application in your 20s, that’s probably going to be less heartbreaking to leave than if you’ve dreamed of being a lawyer since you were 12 and now realize you can’t tolerate the profession.
Of course, not everyone struggles to leave their work, regardless of what they’ve put into it. I met a former firefighter recently who told me he woke up one day after 17 years in fire service, turned to his wife and said “I’m done.” He hadn’t been feeling burned out or unsatisfied, but once it was over, he knew it. Three weeks later he and his wife were back in their home state; not long after that a high school friend helped him start in a new career.
Stories like that are breathtaking to me, but also rare. I think people more frequently ignore the internal message that it’s time to move on, choosing instead to “gut it out” until something improves. Sometimes that works; frequently they feel they have no choice but to try, given their family circumstances or finances. And, of course, very often they really don’t want to leave the profession behind. They just need their work to feel better.
If you’re in this latter group – burned-out workers who can’t easily, or don’t want to, change professions – you need some strategies for getting through this rough patch. And if you’re in the group of burned-out workers who are ready for a change, you’ll want some ideas for moving forward.
In next week’s column I’ll look at ways to leverage your current profession while jumping off into new directions. In the meantime, here are steps to manage or overcome professional burnout:
Look at your life holistically. Is it only your work that bothers you? Try experimenting with non-work changes, such as starting or quitting volunteer activities or hobbies, to see if you can re-balance your life.
Take a vacation. Not to be too simplistic, but perhaps you're just tired. If you really believe your career is at stake, taking two or three weeks off is not too big of an investment to make.
Exercise and eat right. I know: nag, nag, nag. But you can hardly doubt the importance of these self-care steps. Before you toss out your profession, you need to know if your burnout is from your work or from your lifestyle.
Fix what you can at work. Can you remember when you were excited about your work? What was different then – the workload? The people you served? Your bosses or co-workers? If you can identify even small changes to make, you might be able to revitalize some aspect of the experience, at least long enough to examine your career in more depth.
Compartmentalize. If you can't improve things by rebalancing your life or making adjustments to your work, you might need to find your own happy place. Do whatever you can to keep work at work, and to give yourself someplace to go mentally several times during the day: Take five-minute yoga breaks, listen to music on your headphones, think about someone you love, etc. And if things are really this bad, read next week's column for ideas about moving on in your career.
About the Author
