The pandemic has made stress and anxiety familiar terms for just about everyone. But what does a true case of burnout look like?
Part of the problem with the burnout conversation is that we often misapply the word, or use it too loosely. The World Health Organization has updated its definition to clarify that this is something that happens within the context of work. Put simply, burnout is the manifestation of chronic workplace stress.
Everyone has everyday work and life stressors to deal with, and this stress exists on a continuum. One way to know if you are moving out of the stress zone into something that looks like burnout is to understand the three dimensions of burnout. The first is chronic physical and emotional exhaustion. We often just stop right there in defining burnout, and as a result, we misapply self-care and stress-management strategies to tackle exhaustion. But there is more to it. Burnout also entails a sense of chronic cynicism. People start to bug you, particularly your clients or the people you are called upon to work with, serve or help. All of a sudden their calls come in and you think to yourself, ‘Do we really have to have this call? Can’t you figure this out on your own?’
The third dimension of burnout is a sense of lost impact and disengagement from your work that leads to a ‘Why bother? Who cares?’ mentality. If we just have a bad day, sometimes we’ll say, ‘Ugh! I’m so burned out!’, but in reality we are not using the term correctly
