🔥 Are you cruising for a burnout?🔥

Work stress isn’t just about your productivity or your joy. It can have deep and long-lasting effects on your health.

I've worked in Marketing, PR, and Sales in some capacity since I was 16 years old, and - as a coach - I've watched clients fall into the same traps over and over again. In a tough economy, it's hard to imagine walking away from a well-paying position; but burnout will cost you so much more in the long run.

In fact, a recent Sky News report found that 76% of workers had been off work due to stress over the past year, highlighting its significant impact on absenteeism. The United States Department of Labor reports that 83% of workers suffer from work-related stress and 54% claim that work stress affects their home life. 

Taking this further, according to OSHA, workplace stress contributes to a significant number of deaths annually in the U.S., potentially around 120,000. 

So, if you want to keep working long term, it's necessary and pertinent to avoid work-related stress where possible to protect your long term working viability. Burnout isn't a joke. Burnout isn’t a fad. For some of us, addressing burnout is the literal difference between life and death.

Here are some signs that you might be reaching the brink of "healthy" stress and what to do.

1. You feel unappreciated.

It may sound petty to say that you don't feel your work is valued, or isn't getting the praises and promotions it deserves; but mental health research (verywellmind, Amy Morin LSCW) shows that over time, this lack of appreciation causes erosion of self worth, decreased motivation, and depression. To address this, you can first look for ways that appreciation is being shown. If not via promotions, perhaps it's the way your work is repeatedly praised in meetings, or used as an example. However, that only goes so far. At a certain point - if promotions, raises, or other aligned rewards are not being given - it is time to realize that your kindness is being taken advantage of and set boundaries (LinkedIn). Stop staying late. Stop committing to extra projects without increased payment. Stop doing the most. And if that change in your behavior has negative consequences, it's time to find a place that will align your work results with incentives.

2. You are bored.

Friends. I am on the spectrum. I do not settle easily. If I'm in a meeting, I'm not just listening to what you're saying, I'm considering the impact of this communication on our week, our month, our year and our future as human beings. I'm seeing ripples, building a decision tree, and contemplating the immediate and eventual changes that come as a result of this communication. I'm engaged. I'm never bored. Not even a little. I'm anxious; but not bored. So - for me - it's a red flag if my brain is tapping out. It means that this just isn't pertinent. Or that it's so bad, I can't face it. Or - and this is where it's truly time to face the music - that no one will change what they are doing because of anything I say. A lot of people mistakenly believe that boredom is due to laziness, or a dry topic, or a bad speaker; but if something will change what you do, you will pay attention to it. Good work requires engagement. Engaged employees are 17% more productive (Forbes) and have 41% less absenteeism (Gallup). Further from Gallup, we see that engaged employees are less likely to be obese, less likely to suffer from chronic disease, and more likely to eat healthier and exercise. So, if you’re bored at your job, you’re not only hurting yourself in the general sense; but less engaged workplaces are 70% more likely to have a workplace accident (Gallup). If you are bored, make a move. Whether it’s a new job within the company or outside it, your responsibilities need to change.

3. You are working insane hours, and don’t see an end to it.

Look, we’ve all had that one big project that seems to take over our lives. For me, working with Disney at a big CPG was sometimes this project. As a producer, it was a shoot that wasn’t financed for what it needed to accomplish. As an actor, it was a new director who didn’t know how to create a schedule to take care of their talent. If it costs you more than half your day for weeks, months, and years on end, however, this job is not for you. Studies show a strong link between long working hours and increased risk of stroke and ischemic heart disease. A WHO study indicated that working 55 or more hours per week is associated with a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of death from ischemic heart disease compared to those working 35-40 hours. The pre-indication factors that you may be working too much are things like not getting enough sleep, reduced productivity, and impaired cognitive function - like memory blips, inability to focus, and poor or delayed decision making. If you’re seeing any of these, it is time to have a conversation with your employer. Either you need to decrease your workload, decrease your hours, or change to a position that requires less time. It’s not laziness - though certainly a bad manager will read it thus - it is self-preservation. A good manager will also recognize that it is you ensuring there are fewer injuries, less poor decision-making, and more productivity within the hours worked. If you don’t have a good manager, you need a new one. Working for your current manager at your current company is literally increasing the chances that your life will end early.

Madonna once said, “I’ll sleep when I dead”; but what we don’t realize when coasting towards burnout, is that living that way will hasten death, at worst.

At best, it will end your ability to work with your full cognition, physical health, and family. 

If you’re experiencing this, and need some coaching to help you decide what to do next, I hope you’ll reach out.

A little postscript:

If you’re experiencing a mental health crises as a result of work, you should look for a good therapist (here are the Top 8 in Portland) counseling program, or group therapy unaffiliated with your company. While we all wish we could find assistance for these items at the office, HR teams are built to protect the company first. A great HR team will help the company prevent the behaviors by mangers and executives that make employees unhappy. However, if the company’s behaviors are already out of alignment, an unhappy employee is a liability (see why above).

A better plan is to avoid burnout by actively setting boundaries to avoid working too many hours or feeling unappreciated. Volunteer for projects that excite you to avoid boredom. Then, if you start seeing the red flags above, change jobs. You’ll be glad that you did.