“Burnout is what happens when you
try to avoid being human for too long.”
–Michael Gungor

What Is Burnout?

Burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by:

  • Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
  • Increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job
  • Reduced professional efficacy

This is considered in occupational context and should not be applied to experiences in other areas of life. Ask yourself, how many times have you felt burnout in your career? Those who are highly engaged in their work are more likely to have burnout, not necessarily people who just “clock in and clock out.” Just because someone is productive does not mean they aren’t at risk. Why do we keep putting ourselves in stressful situations? Stress can be an addiction.p>

  • People want to make sure they are good enough and want to feel valuable.
  • It can give you the sense of feeling significant and important.
  • There’s a sense of guilt and fear of not doing enough.

As long as stress is satisfying those needs, you will not get rid of that behavior. Start flipping how you are satisfying your needs in order to get rid of that behavior.

Burnout Signals - Emotions And Feelings If you are feeling like this every day, you may be burnt out:

  • Physical and emotional exhaustion Lack of energy
  • Feeling sad or hopeless
  • Lack of joy from things that used to bring you joy at work
  • Diminished connection with colleagues Feeling like you are not contributing anything to your job

What Is The Cause?

  • Heavy workloads
  • Job insecurity
  • Frustrating work routines (too many meetings, far too little time for creative work)
  • Crunch on downtime that is necessary for restoration
  • Burnout = Low Resources + High Demands High

Resources

  • Supervisor support
  • Rewards and recognition
  • Self-efficacy and work

Low Demands:

  • Low Workload
  • Low cumbersome bureaucracy
  • Low to moderate demands on concentration and attention

What’s Needed?

  • Employee support/high resources
  • Acknowledgment/feel good about work
  • Opportunities for recovery from stress
  • Mental and emotional well-being

Reevaluate

  • Zero-base meeting calendar
  • Team up the A-players
  • Culture around "precious time" and wellness

Mark Comiso has over 25 years of experience in founding, building and scaling numerous companies. He’s been with start-ups and publicly traded companies, including digital marketing agencies, SaaS companies and much more. He’s renowned for helping other entrepreneurs grow their own businesses, and as a longtime member and leader within Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), he’s well-suited for the task!

Do you know anyone we can help?

We LOVE clients and we want more like you! If you know of any business owners that could benefit from one or more of our services, we would appreciate an introduction. I promise we will treat them with kid gloves! You can drop us and introduction email: Sales@FairoaksIT.com