Burnout, defined as a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion often accompanied by cynicism and detachment from work, is increasingly prevalent in today’s fast-paced world. If you’re reading this page you may have noticed one or more of the following signs:

decreased energy and fatigue
disconnection from work and people
lower effectiveness

Burnout affects millions of individuals across different roles and professions. No one is immune. Some researchers suggest the world is facing a burnout pandemic affecting people of all ages. Burnout is sadly costly. There is a collective public health and economic cost, lower productivity, more mental health issues, and lower quality of life. On a personal level burnout is often linked with depression and not easy to change alone.

Why it’s important to know if you’re at risk

Recognizing and addressing burnout is crucial for maintaining well-being and achieving a balanced, fulfilling life. If you’re a manager or team leader, detecting early signs of burnout is a critical part of people management skills. There are a number of well-established and validated instruments in psychology designed to assess burnout levels. In our experience, this is often the first awareness-raising step to providing important insights to create an action plan for recovery. Here are some of the benefits of doing something about this.

Recognizing burnout early allows for timely intervention
Take steps to maintain your overall health.
Find strategies to sustain your performance and satisfaction.
Get support to make recovery easier.
Maintain healthy interactions with family and friends.
Build a sustainable and fulfilling career path
Enhance your life balance and well-being.

“You might notice yourself checking things, picking at things, thinking obsessive thoughts, or fiddling with your own body in a routinized kind of way. These are signs that the stress has overwhelmed your brain’s ability to cope rationally with the stressor.”
― Emily Nagoski

Burnout Measures

Many of the most widely used burnout measures assess three dimensions of burnout: exhaustion (feelings of physical, emotional, and cognitive strain), disengagement (distancing oneself from work and experiencing negative attitudes toward work), and cynicism.

Here are the sort of questions you may see that I have used in my Psychology in Mental Health and Wellbeing Masters Dissertation to explore burnout in academic staff:

How often do you feel emotionally exhausted?
How often are you physically exhausted?
How often do you feel tired in the morning at the thought of another day at work?
How often do you feel physically weak?
How often do you feel like you are not motivated by your work?
How often do you feel like you are indifferent to your work?
How often do you feel like you are not able to recover sufficiently in your free time from the demands of your work?
How often do you feel like you are worn out at the end of the working day?
How often do you feel like you are completely burnt out?

But how do I know what really contributes to my burnout?

As someone with significant experience of working with clients who battle burnout, here are some of the key aspects you may want to consider exploring either on your own or with the assistance of a professional.

Your reaction to stressful situations
Why and how such situations trigger this response within you?
Your history of effectively coping with challenges
How your past impacted your stress management baseline?
Whether your life, work and client demands outstrip your resources.
Sources of burnout: inadequate resources, structural factors, mindset.
What habitual patterns keep you trapped in thinking and operating that fuel burnout?
Have you got unresolved past trauma that contributes to your burnout?
Whether your perfectionistic tendencies and/or inner critic sustain burnout.
What resources and help you need to make a positive shift?

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How we can help

At Make Time Count we help people develop and sustain fulfilling, balanced and meaningful lives using our Grid approach. To learn more

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