Kick out burnout

How to recover from burnout in a few steps

- Lebby Eyres

Burnout is a buzzword which is often bandied about when we feel a bit tired at work and overwhelmed by life. In fact, it is a syndrome with clear symptoms, including exhaustion and feeling cynical about your work, which was recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019. It not only affects workers' lives, but also the economy.

It is not a modern phenomenon, either. Graham Greene’s 1961 novel—A Burnt-Out Case—is about an architect worn down by his job. In 1974, Bob Dylan sang about being “burned out from exhaustion”.

In the same year, Christina Maslach, a professor of psychology at the University of California, started to research the phenomenon. She says: “Someone told me, ‘lawyers call it burnout’ and that term captured the feelings people were expressing to me.”

If you are exhausted, feeling negative and your performance has dropped at work, you may well be suffering from burnout—but how can you get back on track?

What is burnout?

The WHO defines burnout as “a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”.

Prof Maslach, who is also the author of 2022 book The Burnout Challenge, explains: “Burnout is a stress response to those chronic job stressors. A stress response is a normal human response to threats or challenges, and it’s a good thing usually. That’s how we cope. But recovery is the issue.”

“When you run a marathon, you recover. Chronic job stressors—we liken them to pebbles in your shoes—are the daily things that are always in the way. But the optimistic note in the WHO definition is that stressors can be managed,” Prof Maslach adds.

Symptoms of burnout

The three main symptoms of burnout are:

*Exhaustion

*Feelings of negativity or cynicism towards your occupation

*Reduced professional efficacy including difficulty processing information or making decisions