Burnout is one of the most commonly discussed topics among coaching clients and colleagues nowadays. It is interesting to note that burnout has the same impact on organizations and businesses as it does on individuals.

When one intensely focuses on or pays attention to a goal, a cause, a lifestyle or a relationship but fails to receive the desired reward, they may experience burnout, which is a state or condition of fatigue, exhaustion, or frustration. Burnout can be summed up as expectations not being met despite the amount of effort put forth; expectations divided by reality. No direct connection can be established between hard work and burnout. Burnout is directly correlated with hard work that produces little or no reward. Many people do, in fact, work to exhaustion and are rewarded with recognition, acknowledgement, and reward. Burnout is not an element of the equation for these people.

Have I reached a point of burnout?

Burnout progresses gradually. Burnout is not a single occurrence; rather, it is a gradual process. Erosion is similar to burnout. On one day, a huge boulder could be seen beneath the waterfall. On one day, when you come back, it has been reduced to half its original size. One day, it became a small stone, then a pebble. Burnout is an insidious erosion that can have pernicious effects.

Burnout can be indicated by a profound feeling of weariness, fatigue, or exhaustion that seems to permeate from the skin to the muscles, ligaments, bones, and even the cells of the body. You feel emotionally drained and close to your limit. Psychically, you exist in a realm of negativity, feeling dread, helplessness, hopelessness, negativity, cynicism, or frustration. Relationships in and out of work can become exhausting, leading to a deterioration in enjoyment and fun. An effort is made by work itself. Focus is challenging. Maintaining focus is a difficult task. Maybe you feel and become detached, even unattached, from work and the people in your life.

At its most extreme, burnout can lead to a complete lack of care or concern for one's own life, as well as one's work, family, and other aspects of life. One cannot even feel the energy of anger, resentment, or frustration in the extreme; there is no energy whatsoever. There is no feeling on any level, including mental, emotional, physical, psychological, or spiritual. There is just a numbness. I am feeling exhausted. Life in and of itself. It has become a huge effort.

Folks who once felt alive, enthusiastic, excited, energetic, juicy, passionate and wonderfully curious about life and living are curiously affected by burnout. In the process, their intention, passion and effort to reach unattainable goals destroyed them.

Burnout as the cause of organizations

Often, individuals mistakenly think that they are the only reason for their burnout. They feel that their lack of work-life balance, their disorganization, their striving for perfectionism, and their demanding manager are all to blame for their inability to achieve harmony in the way they live. On occasion, people can be the source of their own exhaustion due to self-sabotaging behaviors. However, not always.

Recent research is indicating that companies and businesses are, in fact, often one of the worst causes of burnout. The organizational structure today is often designed to create burnout. What do you mean by that? Impossible goals, countless layers of bureaucracy, stupid policies and procedures, lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities, cloudy and confusing goals, endless and pointless meetings, and a focus on people as functions without considering the "human element" are some of the organizational characteristics that can lead to burnout.

People at work start to experience burnout when they believe that no matter how much effort they put in, they will never reach success in a "no-win" environment. Burnout can occur when employees see the message of "impossible" and "irrational" written on the wall, due to the lack of honesty, logic, and clarity regarding the way business is conducted, expectations are defined, goals and results are determined, and roles are defined. If there is no tangible evidence that hard work leads to positive outcomes such as intelligence, right action and purpose, people often become hopeless, disbelieving, and skeptical.

Leading to burnout, one of the first behaviors is confusion about what is expected. If duties fluctuate on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, it can lead to burnout. People often end up competing with themselves. The workers feel confused, foggy, frustrated, and unhappy. They feel as if they are swimming upstream. Feeling hopeless, helpless and exhausted, they soon began. Feeling burned out.

Having unclear role definitions and not knowing what is expected of you can lead to burnout. For example, an employee and their boss may not be in agreement about the employee's role and responsibilities. Sometimes, this is a blind spot of which neither the employee nor the boss is aware. They each assume what they believe to be true about one another. When the boss's expectations are not met, they may assume the employee is incompetent, lazy or uninterested, which causes the employee to accuse their boss of being unfair, a bully or overbearing. This leads to frustration, resentment, and ill will, no matter which way it is approached. Burnout is a state of mental and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress.

Burnout can be caused by a third factor: simple overload. An overload does not necessarily mean that an employee can handle additional expectations, tasks, and responsibilities. Better results are not produced by more work. The manager often makes assumptions which are unwarranted. If the employee takes on too many duties, the task load is not handled efficiently. Overload can result in resentment and frustration. Burnout is a state of mental and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress.

to this problem can be found

This problem can be solved.

The solution to the issue, which lies in your own hands, is you and the way you work. You will need to contemplate whether anything will alter if it is your organization and its culture. Perhaps the final solution, though not easy, is to leave, simply.

If you are experiencing burnout, your first step should be to take time for yourself, reflect deeply on the situation, and investigate the underlying causes. Afterwards, think of steps to take to either reduce or get rid of the amount of burnout you are feeling.

are often beneficial

Self-reflection questions are often beneficial.

Have you developed a habit of taking on more work than you can handle? Why is that so?

Does your boss continue to give you more work than you can reasonably handle? Have you spoken with your boss if so? What was the result?

Have you ever experienced feelings of helplessness or hopelessness while at work? Are you frustrated and resentful? Why do you ask?

Is there a culture of overload at your organization? Why did you rewrite the sentence? What led to that happening? Do managers and supervisors think it is fair to be overloaded? What is their justification for overloading employees?

Do you and your boss have a shared understanding of your respective expectations? Have you had a discussion with your boss about the inconsistencies if not? Why isn't it?

Are you aware that burnout can have serious physical, mental, emotional and psychological repercussions if you're feeling burned out, and that these repercussions can manifest sooner rather than later? Is that acceptable? Are you deciding to accept it? Do you refuse to acknowledge the burnout you are feeling?

Do you find that you work hard but receive little recognition? What steps can you take to resolve this issue?

What actions can you or your organization take this week and this month to lessen the burnout you may be feeling?

SpiritHeart and Peter G. Vajda, Ph.D., 2007. All media rights reserved.

This article may be reprinted in its entirety, including the author's information.

The author of this book is John Smith.

John Smith is the author of this book.

Burnout is one of the most commonly discussed topics amongst coaching clients and colleagues these days. Burnout, interestingly enough, affects both organizations and businesses, as well as individuals.

If the reward that was expected from intense focus or attention to a goal, cause, lifestyle, or relationship does not materialize, burnout can manifest as fatigue, exhaustion, or frustration. Burnout can be described by a formula: expectations divided by reality (which does not match up to your expectations) multiplied by the effort you put in, will result in burnout. No direct link exists between hard work and burnout. Burnout can be a direct result of hard work that produces little or no reward. Many people indeed work themselves to exhaustion and are rewarded with recognition, acknowledgement, and reward. Burnout is not something these people have to worry about.

Have I reached a state of burnout?

Burnout is a gradual process. Burnout is not a single occurrence; it is a gradual process. Erosion is similar to burnout. On one day, you saw a massive boulder beneath the waterfall. On your return one day, it has shrunk to half of its original size. One day it became a small stone, and then a pebble. Burnout can be an insidious and pernicious erosion from within.

A deep feeling of weariness and exhaustion that pervades the body, from the surface of the skin all the way down to the cellular level, are among the initial signs of burnout. You feel emotionally close to the brink. You psychically exist in a world of negativity, feeling fear, powerlessness, despair, pessimism, or annoyance. Relationships in and out of work can become exhausting and no longer fun or enjoyable, causing them to suffer. Becoming an effort, work itself. It can be challenging to concentrate. Maintaining focus is a difficult task. Maybe you feel detached, even unattached, from work and the people in your life.

At its worst, burnout can cause a person to feel apathetic and disinterested in life, their job, their family, and everything else. There is no energy whatsoever, not even the energy of anger, resentment, or frustration in the extreme. There is no sensation, either mental, emotional, physical, psychological, or spiritual. There is just a numbness. I am exhausted. Life itself is the most precious gift. It has become a huge effort.

Folks who once felt alive, enthusiastic, excited, energetic, juicy, passionate and wonderfully curious about life and living curiously find themselves affected by burnout. In the process, their intention, passion and effort to reach unattainable goals ultimately destroyed them.

Burnout as a result of organizations

Too often, individuals falsely assume that they alone are responsible for their burnout. Feeling as though they are somehow responsible for not being able to find harmony between work and life, their inability to plan, organize, prioritize, schedule and execute tasks, their desire to be perfect in all that they do, and the fact that their manager's expectations are exceedingly high and demanding, they struggle to achieve a sense of work-life balance. At times, people can be their own worst adversary and the source of their own burnout. However, not always.

Recent research is indicating that companies and businesses are, in fact, often one of the worst causes of burnout. Today, burnout is often a consequence of organizational structure. What do you mean by that? Impossible goals, numerous layers of bureaucracy and foolish policies and procedures, ambiguity in roles and responsibilities, vague and puzzling goals, unnecessary and pointless meetings, and an attitude of viewing people as functions rather than as individuals are some of the organizational characteristics that lead to burnout.

People at work begin to experience burnout when they feel they are in a "no-win" environment, with no matter how hard and long they keep working, they will never achieve success. Burnout can occur when the signs point to "impossible" and "irrational", when there is no reasonable explanation for how business is managed, how expectations are set, how goals and outcomes are measured, and how roles are defined. When there is no correlation between toiling diligently and perceiving tangible progress (i.e., results, along with "light" as in the form of "insight", "correct choices" and "purpose"), people become despondent, disbelieving, and jaded.

Confusion about what is expected is one of the first behaviors that leads to burnout. Burnout can occur when responsibilities shift on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. People often find themselves competing against themselves. Workers experience confusion, foggy-mindedness, frustration, and unhappiness. It feels as if they are swimming against the current. Feeling hopeless, helpless, and exhausted, they soon began. Feelings of burnout.

Having unclear role definitions and not knowing what is expected of you can create burnout. For instance, a worker and their superior may not be in agreement about the worker's duties and obligations. Sometimes, this is a blind spot of which neither the employee nor the boss is aware. They each assume what is known to be true about the other. When the boss perceives that their expectations are not being met, they may assume the employee is incompetent, lazy, or uninterested, which in turn causes the employee to accuse their boss of being unfair, a bully, or overbearing. Frustration, resentment, and ill will are caused by a major disconnect, whichever way it may be. Burnout is a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion.

Simple overload is a third circumstance that can lead to burnout. An employee may not be able to handle the overload if extra expectations, tasks, and responsibilities are placed upon them. Better results are not produced by more work. Often, the manager makes assumptions that ought not to be made. If the employee takes on too many duties, resulting in an overload, the task load is not managed effectively. Overload can lead to resentment and frustration. Feeling overwhelmed and exhausted due to burnout.

to this problem is not easy

This problem does not have an easy solution.

The solution to the issue of you and the way you work lies in your own hands. You will need to consider if anything is likely to change when it comes to your organization and its culture. Perhaps the final solution, though not easy, may be to leave - simple as it may be.

If you are experiencing burnout, the first step is to give yourself time to reflect deeply and identify the root causes of the burnout. Afterwards, think of measures to decrease or remove the level of burnout you are feeling.

will be provided.

Self-reflection questions will be provided.

Have you developed a pattern of taking on more work than you can handle? Why is that so?

Does your boss give you more work than you can reasonably handle? Have you spoken with your boss, if so? What was the result of the action?

Have you ever felt helpless or hopeless while at work? Are you feeling frustrated and resentful? Why did you do that?

Is there a culture of overload at your organization? Why did you do that? What led to that happening? Do managers and supervisors think it is fair to be overloaded? What is the justification they give for overloading employees?

Do you and your boss have a mutual understanding of the expectations each of you have of the other? Have you had a discussion with your boss about the inconsistencies if not? Why isn't it?

Are you aware that burnout can have serious physical, mental, emotional, and psychological repercussions if you're feeling burned out, and that these repercussions could occur sooner rather than later? Is that acceptable? Are you choosing to accept it as it is? Do you deny that you are feeling burned out?

Do you feel that you are putting in a lot of effort without getting much in return? What steps can you take to resolve this situation?

To reduce burnout, what one or two steps can you or your organization take this week and this month?