Work-related burnout can happen to any professional at any time in his career, and for a variety of reasons. Avoiding work burnout can involve finding someone to confide in about work stress or focusing on maintaining a positive attitude about one's job. Sometimes, avoiding professional burnout can mean working to establish a healthy work-life balance and making sure one has a healthy lifestyle away from the office.
In most cases, a worker may not realize that he is burning out, but the problem can leave a worker feeling disconnected, tired, frustrated, and depressed. Often, workers dealing with burnout dread another day on the job. There are ways of recognizing the signs of professional fatigue and avoiding burnout in the workplace.
Many jobs come with challenges and stresses caused by external and internal sources. Occupational stress can be managed through participating in work stress-reduction programs, developing personal care habits, and getting emotional support. Avoiding burnout can be as simple as talking to someone in confidence when work becomes something to dread or situations at work become unbearable.
Often, avoiding burnout is achieved by having a more healthy attitude towards work in general. Instead of viewing work as a necessary evil of life, it’s important to have a positive attitude towards a job and the privileges a job allows working adults. While not everyone has the ideal job, being able to have the freedom to work and earn a living can give workers a great sense of accomplishment that many other life experiences don’t offer.
Sometimes workers derive emotional gratification from a certain occupation or role at work. While it’s natural to have a certain sense of pride in one's type of work or job achievements, finding personal identity through a job can spell trouble and cause professional burnout when things don’t go as planned. In addition, if the worker were to lose the job, the sense of identity may also be lost and this can lead to depression and loss of self esteem.
Perhaps one of the best ways of avoiding burnout at work is taking care of personal health by eating correctly, getting plenty of exercise, and getting adequate rest daily. A worker who is experiencing burnout can also ask for help from a supervisor or the human resources department so that stressful matters can be dealt with appropriately before he becomes overwhelming, thus avoiding burnout in the first place. A worker who experiences continual feelings of burnout should consider obtaining counseling to develop a healthier strategy for dealing with work-related stress to avoid burnout.