There are a lot of great articles that help people develop skills to handle stress and recover from burnout. This is not one of them.
Instead, we're going to direct our attention to your environment. We're going to look at the attitudes and behaviours that create the conditions for burnout. And we're going to challenge some myths about how and why burnout happens.
Burnout is more than just a fleeting moment of tiredness or pessimism. It's a crushing, chronic belief that you don't have anything left to give and nothing can make a difference. It's usually described as prolonged exhaustion mixed with feelings of cynicism and ineffectiveness.
If you want to check own current risk of burnout, try this quick self-assessment.
Burnout shows up in the way you talk to yourself, the way you interact with others, the way you respond to stress, and the way you react to opportunities. Once it takes hold of you, the burnout starts to fuel itself. Exhaustion leads to feelings of inadequacy which lead to a sense of disconnection which makes it harder to recharge. That's why it's important that we find ways to predict and prevent burnout.
Myth: Burnout is mysterious
Fact: We have 30+ years of studies explaining how and why burnout happens
We know exactly what factors create stress that leads to burnout. Some of the most common ones include:
Workload that exceeds your capacity
Lack of control and authority, especially compared to the amount of responsibility you feel
Mismatch between the effort required and the reward received
Lack of support and community
Clashes between your values and the values in your environment
Since burnout is predictable, it is also avoidable. If we know what to look for, we can see burnout coming. If we're willing to make changes, we might even prevent it from happening. That's why managers, leaders, directors, and other members of our community have to step up.
Myth: Burnout is personal
Fact: Burnout is systemic
Burnout is just too common and too predictable to keep pretending people bring it upon themselves. Burnout - and the associated turnover - are rampant in social impact and caregiving work.
When different people in different places working for different organizations experience the same symptoms in response to the same conditions for decades on end, then we owe it to them to learn from the pattern and try to make changes.
The truth is, organizations and leaders are choosing to put people into situations that lead to burnout. That breaks my heart. (And it sometimes makes me angry.)
When you experience burnout, it's because your community wasn’t there for you. Maybe leaders weren't trained or they weren't equipped to prevent burnout. Maybe they benefited from it. Maybe they didn't even know something could be done.
As long as leaders and organizations are under-resourced, callous, or ignorant, burnout will continue to be a problem.
Myth: Burnout is a sign of weakness
Fact: Burnout is a sign of strength
Burnout is not a badge of honour. It's not something we should aspire to. But it's also not something that should be stigmatized. It's not a sign that you "couldn't hack it" or that you "just don't have what it takes".
The qualities that make you vulnerable to burnout are the exact qualities we depend on to make communities healthier, safer, and more sustainable. We need people who care deeply. We need people who feel compassion and empathy. We need people who are willing to work hard to solve important problems. We need people who are motivated by goals other than money. We need people who are willing to put other people's needs ahead of their own. We need people are willing to engage.
We praise these qualities, right up until you burn out. Before burnout, you're dedicated, focused, and flexible. After burnout, you're a workaholic, a perfectionist, or a doormat who couldn't speak up for yourself.
Instead of blaming people for burning out or acting like they've let us down, we should be thanking them for all they gave and supporting their need to restore.
Myth: Burnout is a sign you have reached your limit
Fact: Burnout happens when you've passed your limit
Meaningful work tests our limits. There are times when we are pushed too far and times when we push ourselves too far. That's normal. It’s how we grow, how we come to understand our limits and our values.
Burnout is different. Burnout comes when the stress never lets up, when you go months or years without getting enough sleep, or when the mountain of work grows ever-higher. It comes when you can't choose how much to give. It comes when your limits aren't acknowledged or respected. It comes when your limits aren’t allowed to change.
By the time you burn out, disengaging mentally and emotionally is safer than showing up. Your body has nothing left to give. Your heart and your mind are depleted. You are trapped in a void way beyond your limits. It will take more than normal rest and relaxation to feel at home again.
Myth: If you take care of yourself, you won't burn out
Fact: Self-care can only do so much
Stressful conditions are usually created by external forces. For example, your managers, organization, or community may pressure you to perform, to meet unrealistic deadlines, to tackle impossible workloads, to react to shifting priorities, to swim in negativity, or to navigate your work without understanding your role.
For a list of common work-related stresses, see this occupational health and safety backgrounder.
There are techniques you can learn to help cope with stress, but all techniques have limits. If the pressure coming from your environment is greater than your capacity to rest and restore, then you will burnout.
Myth: The things you think when you're burnt out aren't true
Fact: Sometimes the little voice in your head is actually right
It's tempting to see burnout as an emotional - and therefore irrational - experience. After all, the symptoms of burnout are often related to feelings. We talk about feeling ineffective, feeling jaded, feeling tired, etc.
When we focus entirely on the emotional side of burnout, we fall into the trap of believing that burnout is responsible for negative thoughts. "I can't do this" looks like the burnout talking. We start to believe that we'll change our minds once we've had a little rest.
What if the voice in your head is onto something? "I can't do this" might be because no one can do this. "This is hard" might be because a task is impossible with the time and resources you have. "It feels like this will never end" might be a realization that your project will never achieve its purpose.
Yes, it could be the exhaustion talking. But it's also possible that you read your situation accurately. That's why you started feeling ineffective in the first place. Maybe your insight came first and the feelings came second.
When your gut is screaming at you to stop and re-assess, pay attention.There could be a truth you need to face.
Myth: We don't need to do anything about burnout
Fact: We need collective action to address and prevent burnout
We need caregivers and we need social change, so we need to figure out how to help more people excel in these fields. We need to make it possible for people to do this work for years on end. We need to build competency so the work is easier and organizational cultures are healthier. We need to understand and appreciate the social impact sector so the work remains meaningful.
At the very very very least, we need to take care of the people who are taking care of us.
Part One in the burnout series is called “Nonprofit culture is burnout culture and it needs to change.” You can read it here.