Odds are you have somewhat flexible job hours. That is to say that you are not working an assembly line, solely focused on increasing efficiency, not productivity. Burnout kills motivation which quickly turns into a death sentence for productivity. Luckily burnout doesn’t just happen out of the blue. Identify the signs, turn it around, and save yourself from its destructive fallout.
You become a Negative Nancy
If you find yourself (or a colleague) becoming increasingly pessimistic about every potential project or idea presented burnout may be on the horizon. Pessimism at its core shows a lack of faith that team members are capable of doing as good a job as the individual. It also shows a steep drop in willingness to put in effort to make something successful.
Apathy reigns supreme
Missed deadlines? Meh. Didn’t follow-up with a client? Oh well. Dropping the ball on your responsibilities doesn’t only reflect negatively on you but it also brings your team down. You know burnout is imminent when you’re unfazed by team projects falling through the cracks one after another.
Your weekday personal life becomes a distant memory
No matter how many hours a week you work you have to put time aside for yourself. Even if it’s to watch one episode of your favorite show, enjoy your favorite snack in peace, or take you dog on a long walk there has to be “me” time built into your day. Forgetting who you are outside of the office leads to disdain within it.
Changes in your sleeping pattern
People are biologically programmed to be higher functioning at different times of the day. That’s perfectly fine. When you notice extreme changes in how you sleep it could be due to stress at work. If you used to be a morning person but now it is a struggle to get going in single digit times your body might be telling you some aspect of your environment is weighing you down.
Perpetually counting down
30 minutes til lunch. 2 days until Friday. 1 week until my vacation. When all you do is look forward to the next time you’re away from work, there’s a problem. Ask yourself what you’re trying to run from. Why do you want to be away from work? Disconnecting from the job is a good thing but habitually wanting to be away from it is no way to work.
Burnout is a natural occurrence. It lets you know that it might be time to try something different in your life. Turning a blind eye to the symptoms helps no one but recognizing them ahead of time might help you work through it or move-on to your next adventure.