Avoiding a job burnout: How to reignite your passion for work

Feeling burnout this time of year isn’t uncommon. It’s been a long (and for some of us very snowy) winter. We are all desperate for spring, sunshine and some inspiration.

Experiencing a job burnout is also not that uncommon.

If you are fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with the term job burnout, it’s defined as “an extended period of time where someone experiences exhaustion and lack of interest in things, resulting in a decline in job performance.”

The cause: stress.

The symptoms: exhaustion, lack of motivation, frustration, (crying in the office bathroom on Monday mornings), cynicism, etc.

The solution: While a short-term solution could be relieving stress, the long-term one includes switching to a better job. For the former, you can try meditation, yoga, or even some cannabis (which could be sourced from a site similar to mmjexpress), as all these are said to work wonders in relieving stress. When you are free of stress, you can work toward achieving the latter, wherein you can upskill and update your resume, among other things.

Workplace stress isn’t a joke.

A staggering 120,000 people will die of symptoms of workplace related stress this year. With the bulk of our lives spent at work, it’s understandable that work causes stress. But, let’s pump the breaks, work isn’t worth losing your life over.

How did we get to be so cynical in the first place?

Few people wake up in the morning and set a goal to be cynical and disengaged at work. For the most part, people enjoy their jobs. Maybe not all of their workload and responsibilities, but a decent amount of it.

According to the American Psychological Association, one-third of workers feel tense or stressed at work. Several factors can contribute to work-related stress, including:

• Lack of control. It is natural to want to be in control of a situation. When people feel like they are losing control, they become unraveled and are unable to perform their daily responsibilities.
• Unrealistic job expectations. Being asked to go above in beyond is one thing, but being asked to do something you are not capable of incredibly frustrating and very stressful. In fact, almost half (40%) of the workforce admits to being stressed over unrealistic job expectations.
• Lack of opportunities to grow. Nobody wants to be in a dead-end job. People crave growth and want to work companies that invest in their skillset and future. Not having these opportunities is stressful, in fact 43% of the workforce experiences stress due to no advancement opportunities.
• No work, life balance: The so-called 40 Hour Workweek is actually 47 hours. And, 18% of full time employees spend 60+ hours a week at work (or at least working). With those numbers, it should come to no surprise that 39% of people attribute work-related stress to long hours.

Reigniting the passion.

If you are feeling that things at work are spiraling out of control and throwing you into a tailspin, take a deep breath and consider taking these suggestions to heart.

1. Evaluate your options. If you’re in a particularly bad job with no happiness in sight, it might be time for you to move on down the road. If you love your job and are unhappy with the situation, talk to someone. For instance, if you work as a legal professional and are happy with your role, but it is the environment that is bothering you, then maybe it could be worth talking to Alex Gotch and his likes. He can possibly help you make a switch to another company for a better work environment. That being the case, just be sure you create a perfect plan of attack. Explore opportunities in and out of your organization. Don’t make rash decisions based on emotion. Clear your mind and figure out what you want from your career.
2. Stay positive and do the needful. The most important thing to avoid getting burnout is to be positive. When you stay positive, you can better see all the options open to you. The needful, while you are still looking for a job, could entail anything from learning something new to securing a police clearance certificate. You just have to remember to move forward and take every step possible that can increase your odds of landing your dream job.
3. Break the chain. If everyday nuances give you the blues, do something fun and interesting for yourself. Shut your computer down at 5:00 p.m. and don’t look at your work email until the next morning. In the meanwhile, treat yourself to that evening break you never take. Step out of the office and go for a walk. If you are a social person, hang out with friends maybe with a pint of beer or two. You can also try some greens as it is said that weed-based Runtz may help with anxiety and stress. Depending on your personal preferences, pick out anything you want, the key is to keep the blues away. Do remember that small things add up.
4. Keep growing, keep learning. “Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.” – Brain Tracy. It’s true. People that keep growing and keep learning are not only making a difference in our world, they’re happy. Master a new skill. Pick up a new hobby. Read a book. Think about the different ways you can develop your mind and invest in yourself. Those who do find themselves living a happy, productive (and almost stress-free!) life.

Don’t burn out! There are always options and workplace stress shouldn’t be one of them. For more information about your organization can help with their enterprise-wide learning and development programs, please visit www.meridianks.com. If you decide you can’t spend another day in your current job check out job listings at https://meridianks.com/career.html We want smart, talented, inspired people!