With the rise of hybrid and remote work, the boundaries between personal and professional lives have blurred.
Many employees feel they are required to answer e-mails, messages and phone calls at any hour of the day or night to show their commitment to the organisation, says Kumar Rajagopalan, vice president-strategic initiatives and head of operations, Dexian India.
Kindly note the image has been posted only for representational purposes.Photograph: Kind courtesy Yan Krukao/Pexels
Workplace burnout is no longer restricted to high-pressure jobs or leadership roles.
It affects all employees regardless of age, experience or seniority.
When ignored or left unaddressed, it can significantly affect a person’s physical, mental and emotional health.
I have listed five dangerous habits we are all guilty of that are leading to burnout and how to fix them:
1. Wearing ‘always available’ (in and out of work) as a badge of honour
With the rise of hybrid and remote work, the boundaries between personal and professional lives have blurred.
Many employees feel they are required to answer e-mails, messages and phone calls at any hour of the day or night to show their commitment to the organisation.
The result?
Employees never truly disconnect mentally. This eventually leading to chronic stress, poor sleep and lower productivity levels.
Organisations should develop policies/procedures that enable employees to adhere to defined working hours.
Employees need to learn that just because they have access to resources, they don’t need to be productive 24/7.
2. Not taking breaks to ‘get more done’
Most professionals believe that they are capable of increasing their productivity by working through their lunch and other scheduled breaks.
However, as you continue working without a break, your ability to concentrate becomes more difficult and your mind will eventually feel fatigued.
Giving your mind a break will allow it to recover, assist in creative thinking and help maintain concentration all day long.
Before entering a long meeting, take a short walk and stretch. Or simply stand away from your computer for five minutes.
Small breaks can significantly increase your productivity and mental health.
As you seek to be viewed as a dependable employee, you may often agree to every task, meeting or project that comes your way.
Over time, these additional obligations will build a level of unmanageability regarding your established workload and timeframes.
To accomplish these newly accepted projects, you will end up with additional stress levels.
Prioritise your responsibilities based on your work description.
Communicate your limits and work obligations to set realistic expectations.
Remember that setting boundaries and communicating your limits does not demonstrate weakness. It shows your emotional maturity and the ability to effectively manage time.
Your manager also plays a key role in establishing a structure as to how work is assigned and completed.
This simple understanding will ensure that no single high-producing employee continues to be burdened with more work because they are more efficient.
4. Measuring your productivity as an employee by hours instead of outcomes
Many companies reward working long hours instead of focusing on what has been accomplished.
As an employee, you may often stay online after finishing your work just to demonstrate to your employer that you still have something to contribute to the company.
This kind of atmosphere encourages ‘presenteeism’ versus actual productivity.
Talk to your manager and make her/him understand that employees should have their performance measured based on the quality, efficiency and outcomes from the work performed instead of the number of hours that you were at your desk.
When companies focus on how to measure employee performance based on employee outcomes, the individual employee will have greater flexibility to work, experience less stress and produce a higher degree of performance.
5. Recognising early signs of burnout
An employee may be experiencing burnout if s/he is..
- Exhausted all the time
- Feel like s/he is in a fog (have memory issues)
- Is easily irritated
- Complain of regular headaches (or migraines)
- Have difficulty sleeping, and/or
- Feels unmotivated
Most people believe these are caused by significant amounts of stress. However, these are concrete signs of developing work-related burnout.
Do not treat burnout as your weakness or inability to perform.
Communicate your needs and priorities; acknowledge your limits.
Recognising the signs early and seeking timely help will reduce the impact and also improve your overall wellbeing and productivity.
How to create healthy work behaviours
Preventing burnout requires both — the employees and the organisation — to work on a few things. These include:
- Employees must ensure job responsibilities come with suitable boundaries. For example, avoid responding to work e-mails after office hours or say no to unrealistic deadlines under managerial pressure.
- Employees must communicate when work becomes unreasonable or unmanageable.
- There should be enough time to refresh and/or rest during work hours. For example, set aside a 10-minute break to step away from your desk and/or go on a short walk/coffee break before you step into another long meeting.
- Organisations must create clear job specifications and work hours that provide an employee the opportunity to perform in a healthy work environment. It is the responsibility of the manager/leader to set realistic deadlines and encourage employees to have a healthy work-life balance.
It is important to remember that job definitions are not established by how many and/or how few hours an employee is working but by providing adequate support, flexibility and the ability for your teammates to function without jeopardising their health.
