HR Director of the Zarplata.ru service Vera Manevich told how to distinguish real burnout from physical fatigue and what will help maintain energy during work. We are publishing an article based on the results of her presentation at the ProductSense conference.
Burnout in the 21st century is the most common reason for changing jobs. It’s convenient to say “I’m burned out”; there’s even a certain trend in this. But so far, many people misunderstand this term and confuse it with various conditions - from ordinary fatigue to depression. Therefore, self-medication and various tools do not always help.
Three types of burnout
The first type of burnout
is when an event occurs for the first time. For example, a child was born, an exam, a deadline or any other first experience is ahead. We don't know how to work with it yet. Tension arises: it seems that we are under pressure, and our strength is already running out. But as soon as the situation changes: the child is with his grandmother, the exam is over, the deadline has not been missed, everything returns to normal. We get enough sleep, exercise and come to our senses. Often in such situations, people do not realize that they were on the verge of emotional burnout. This is a relatively easy case.
Second type of burnout
more difficult: it is associated with the monotony of work that does not end. For example, a sales manager makes the same type of calls, and a product manager looks for hypotheses and sets tasks for designers. It's a chore that can be compared to unloading an endless freight train. One can unload it 40 hours a week, another - 80, and Elon Musk - all 120. At some point, a person thinks: “I like my job, now I’ll push it a little and there will be a jump.” But then the boss comes and says: “Better unload.” And this remark comes with an additional weight on top. The man continues to unload the train, and the weights are piling up. Then the internal tension begins to go off scale, but you still need to move. I think this is familiar to any working person.
The third type is pseudo-burnout.
This is a situation where a person seems to be burnt out, but in reality, he has lost motivation and is disappointed. Twenty-year-old junior-plus developers who come running to me and say: “Vera, I’m burned out!” fall into this category. The team lead runs after them and laments: “My developer is burned out, Vera, he’s going to die! Give him an urgent day off and a week’s vacation!” “Burn out” guys write on Facebook and immediately receive a shock dose of empathy and support. And that's it, they are happy with themselves.
Burnout is a disease
In conventional medicine, we have not used self-medication for a long time, but in the field of psychology - please. Yoga, meditation, time management, and now we are doing great, fighting burnout.In fact, burnout is a disease. Burnout was first recognized as a disease at the World Health Assembly in Geneva in 2021. If a person has real burnout, only a psychiatrist can help him. No everyday methods or business practices will help here. At the same time, people often confuse professional and emotional burnout.
Know that you are alone, only you have such problems, no one can help
So, you already hate your job and life in general, you don’t want to wake up in the morning, and when you wake up, you can’t get up? Great, you're burned out. How can I make the situation even worse?
First of all, there is no problem. Admitting the presence of burnout is admitting your own weakness. You are not an ordinary person to experience weakness and negative emotions, sometimes rest and recover.
Secondly, keep to yourself. If you suddenly feel like talking about your problems, don't do it. Don’t even tell your loved ones, they still won’t understand. You definitely shouldn’t discuss problems with your manager. He will think that you have always performed so poorly, and not that you are burnt out or tired.
If you are a leader, then you are under the gun, everyone is looking at you. You are a leader! You must be smarter and stronger than everyone else - 24 hours a day, every day of the week. No concessions for yourself or others!
Professional and emotional burnout
Professional burnout
is a process of personality deformation due to workload and stress. For the first time, such a condition was recorded by doctors. Medicine is a field in which specialists must develop every day in order to save people. But mortality and incurability do not disappear anywhere. Doctors improve their skills, increase their expertise, but people still die. Ultimately, this leads to disappointment in the profession. A 2021 study found that one physician commits suicide every day in the United States. This figure is higher than in any other profession.
Emotional burnout
not work related. It extends to all areas of life and is characterized by the fact that a person does not want anything and is deprived of energy. I assume that in the IT field, emotional burnout occurs more often than professional burnout. Because developers don’t deal with administrative routine, don’t write code “on the table” and don’t get paid three kopecks.
Give up meaningful goals
You can have meaningless goals, but you should not have great aspirations that would be practically unattainable within one lifetime. You shouldn't strive to change the world around you for the better. The maximum is improving your life through the purchase of material goods, the joy of which disappears in about a week.
“Why conquer the stars? Why waste yourself on improving the lives of others? Why give hope? Why should I sleep? Why wake up? Why move? Why am I living? - this is exactly what your train of thought should look like.
How to identify and treat burnout
The good news is that burnout can be treated. First of all, you need to understand your internal state, which is not always associated with burnout. It often happens that the energy that a person expends and receives are not equivalent. And this is a key demotivating moment.
To cure burnout, you need to understand that it is stress. It arises from physical overload and spreads to the psyche. Stress manifests itself in different ways: loss of appetite, poor sleep, decreased tone, and weakness. To determine burnout, you can take the free Boyko test. But it is better to contact a psychiatrist with the results.
Burnout should not be confused with depression. Depression is a disease with similar symptoms, in which the psyche suffers first, and then the physical condition. You can take a free depression self-assessment test.
The table shows the differences between burnout, depression and pseudoburnout. to enlarge.
How to treat
If you are concerned about the symptoms described in the table, you should start by visiting a psychiatrist. It will help you determine what is happening to you.If the burnout phase is deep, you cannot do without medication. Only a psychiatrist can prescribe them. You may also need to consult a psychologist or coach to learn how to manage stress and personal effectiveness.
If you are depressed, you will most likely be prescribed therapy, but a psychologist and coach alone will not help.
Associate yourself with work and take all failures personally
This point is closely intertwined with the previous one. You are your job and nothing more. Every failure at work is akin to your death or some kind of incurable disease. However, it will be difficult for you to perceive work failures as your own if you do not limit your life exclusively to work. Therefore, fulfillment of the previous point is mandatory.
I also recommend taking personally the failures of colleagues, other people’s dismissals, quarrels, the boss’s bad mood and other things that are far from you. The coronavirus crisis, by the way, is also your personal failure.
Energy Types
For an ordinary person, terms are not so important.
Burnout or pseudo-burnout does not matter. The point is that a person feels bad: there is not enough energy, there is no mood, the tension does not go away. It is believed that a person has different types of energy. They are depicted in different ways, for example, in the form of a pyramid. The base level is the physical energy needed by the body. Emotional energy is drawn from different emotions: both positive and negative. Of course, emotions with a plus sign make us happy. Intellectual energy is the power of the mind. The highest level is spiritual energy, and this is not about religion, but about the meaning of life. If it is missing, other levels of the pyramid can easily collapse.
To diagnose your internal state, you first need to ask yourself a question: how am I feeling?.. Write down the answer in the form of 3-5 sentences. The next question is: am I living a fulfilling life on a scale of 10? The answer to the second question must be sought in those very few sentences. Perhaps you are not pursuing your own goals, but those planted by someone else. Or, for example, you spend too much energy defending yourself from an annoying client or a stubborn manager. You need to maintain a balance of energy and spend enough on yourself, and not on neighbors and relatives.
To globally monitor your condition, use a diary and be honest with yourself. Learn to identify action items: what energizes and depletes you. If you do this exercise consistently, it will be easier to achieve energy balance.
Regularly devalue your results
It doesn’t matter what you have achieved in your career, there is always someone above you, you are still “working for your uncle.” And even if you are a successful entrepreneur, remember that Zuckerberg became a dollar millionaire at the age of 22. You have not overtaken him, which means you have achieved nothing.
When you devalue every result achieved, it is much easier for you to focus on failures. Remember that you simply have no successes, only failures, mistakes and problems.
The most interesting thing is that your worthlessness at work can easily be carried over to the rest of your life. Especially if you already associate life with work.
Why does burnout happen?
I think that the underlying causes of burnout lie in the educational system. In the Soviet Union, we were taught that A's are good and D's are bad. Be sure to compare students with each other. At the end of the quarter, the class teacher said: “Excellent students, stand up. Let's give them a clap." “Not excellent students” could only think what was wrong with them. They also pressed with authority: if you fly, then like Gagarin, if you study, then like Lomonosov. We got on the rails of this system and lost ourselves in it. In the summer of 2021, Forbes published an article about the reasons for the burnout of an entire generation.
The second point that provokes burnout is related to interpersonal communications. Everyone knows that feedback is important. For example, I do one-on-one on Mondays. Sometimes, if the situation is stable, you want to skip this conversation. And then it turns out that the person really lacks communication. The main principle here is: you need to feel comfortable in communication.
We managers seem to be constantly learning, but recent studies have shown that we most often use a primitive carrot and stick method. While there are models such as situational management. It allows you to approach a task from the point of view of a person’s resources: is he ready or not.
The third point is balance. If you develop very quickly, absorb a large amount of knowledge and perform new tasks in a short time, this can lead to burnout. At the same time, there are top managers who sit in the same company for eight years and say: “Everything is fine with me, but it seems that I’m burning out.” Everyone has their own comfortable middle; it can only be determined experimentally, periodically “burning” on one side or the other. At the same time, you need to understand that stability is the opposite of development. If you want to grow and maintain balance, you will have to burn yourself a little, but try to do it consciously.
Ignore everyday problems
It is advisable that you have a whole range of long-unsolved everyday problems. Dirty dishes, unwashed clothes, uncooked food, unwashed floors, unkempt children or pets - the more the merrier.
From unresolved problems, you will not only feel that same sword of Damocles over your neck, but also constant dissatisfaction with life. If a problem can be dealt with in 10–30 minutes, put off solving it as long as possible - the stronger the effect will be.
If there is chaos at home, it will be in your head and at work. There are no better conditions for burnout.
How to deal with burnout
The problem of energy shortage is especially relevant in the IT sector.
Everything here is developing so rapidly that it is appropriate to recall a quote from “Alice Through the Looking Glass”: “You have to run as fast as you can just to stay in place, and to get somewhere, you have to run at least twice as fast!” Therefore, the lack of energy now is the evolution we have come to. It is very fashionable to talk about this. I’ll tell you about the methods of combating burnout that I practice myself.
First method
- do not chase multitasking. There was a period when this quality was necessarily indicated in vacancies. I believe that you need to take on one or two tasks, immerse yourself in them and enjoy the process. This allows you to maintain energy at the desired level.
Second method
- monitor communication hygiene. I avoid communication that does not lead to comfort and development. Vyacheslav Polunin has a great expression: “Only communicate with those you want to hug.” This means that you need to create a comfortable atmosphere around you. For example, sometimes having dinner at your favorite place or buying some things because they contain the necessary energy. But here it is important not to run after trends, but to focus on yourself.
Third method
- ask yourself the question: if I have a day left to live, and I can do anything, what will I spend it on? The answer to this question allows me to understand whether I am moving in the right direction. Sometimes I ask myself this question every day and I like to answer it. This is a realization that I have only just come to: you need to think about yourself first. Because only I can feel my own happiness.
Energy can become a new pattern of efficiency. If we reflect and determine how much resources we have here and now, this will have a positive impact on our work. We need to be responsible for ourselves, because no one else will do it for us. Just take a break from life and be happy.
Who is at risk?
The following are most susceptible to professional burnout:
- Those who communicate a lot. If your job requires you to communicate with employees, partners, suppliers, or clients, be careful. You shouldn’t let absolutely everything pass through yourself; be reasonably detached.
- Those whose business is unstable. Economic and political crises can hit some businesses like a rollercoaster. If you are constantly concerned about how to survive in this crazy world, not go bankrupt and make at least a little profit, you will not work for long in such stressful conditions.
- Those who are prone to excessive self-criticism and introspection. Sometimes you need healthy indifference: if it doesn’t work out, you give up, move on, and move on with your life. If you blame yourself for all your problems, you are not far from depression.
- Those who started a new business. It would seem that there is no point in getting burned out: it’s a new thing, know how to improve and develop. But a new business is fraught with a huge number of new difficulties and problems that need to be solved immediately, right now. Many people, instead of grit their teeth and comprehend the basics, fold their paws and give up what they started.
Types of professional burnout
conclusions
- There are three types of burnout: professional, emotional and pseudo-burnout associated with loss of motivation and disappointment.
- True burnout is a disease and needs to be diagnosed early. However, burnout should not be confused with depression. If you are concerned about the symptoms described in the table (section “How to identify burnout”), you should start by visiting a psychiatrist. It will help you determine what is happening to you.
- The causes of burnout often lie in children’s complexes, uncomfortable communication, or an imbalance in personal balance.
- To combat burnout, you first need to spend enough energy on yourself. The ways I can recommend: don’t multitask, monitor communication hygiene, and think more often about your needs and desires.
The ProductSense Product Management Conference is one of the projects of the ProductSense team.
We transcribe reports from our conferences and write articles on them. We thank editor Elena Egina for preparing this article.
Surround yourself with toxic people
Everyone knows at least one person for whom nothing good exists. Such people are easy to recognize by their eternal dissatisfaction: with the government, with their superiors, with colleagues, with neighbors, with their own and your results...
The most useful thing for speedy burnout is toxic colleagues. Can you imagine how cool it is to devalue your own and the team’s achievements together?
Another indicator of the desired toxicity of the team is frequent quarrels and internal corporate intrigues. Get involved in all sorts of scandals or wait to be involved in them.
Your loved ones, family and friends should be at least indifferent. They should only be interested in their own problems. If you are surrounded by people with whom you cannot share difficulties, you are on the right track. There is no point in talking about asking for help at all.
Encouraging initiative
Back in the late 80s. last century, the American company USDA Forest Service realized the importance of encouraging the initiative and innovation of its employees. Led by an executive named Floyd Marita, the company developed the "Spirit of Project" program, which proved that changing the organizational climate could have a beneficial effect on a company's productivity and financial position. Thus, reforming the corporate culture led to the fact that over 4 years, employees proposed more than 12 thousand innovative ideas, which ultimately helped optimize the company’s work, increase efficiency, improve customer service and reduce costs.
Research shows that employees who are not afraid to take initiative and take responsibility for the ideas they propose feel needed and have a clearer understanding of their place in the team.
Moreover, encouraging initiative on the part of management helps employees express themselves, reveals their creative potential and motivates them to further develop their abilities.
Manifestation of the syndrome: key symptoms, stages
The syndrome develops secretly and gradually: a “burning out” employee is not immediately noticeable. The first to come under attack are workaholics who devote the lion's share of their free time to work, work extremely hard, and get little rest. At the initial stage, the body endures stress and fights fatigue. He soon gives in, starting a strike. When a failure occurs depends on individual circumstances and the endurance of a particular employee.
Early symptoms are often confused with regular depression. Employees with signs of burnout:
- experience severe fatigue, apathy;
- lose optimism, interest in work, the world around them;
- become morally exhausted;
- are not inclined to communicate, have a negative attitude towards colleagues and clients;
- indifferent to the results of labor;
- do not strive for career growth;
- They don’t see the point in their efforts.
There are several stages of burnout:
- initial – minor changes in behavior are observed, the specialist makes minor mistakes, is forgetful, misses nuances, and neuropsychic tension sets in;
- intermediate – interest decreases, the need for communication decreases, irritability increases, and persistent psychosomatic disorders arise;
- final - burnout literally incinerates the employee, dulling the idea of life values, causing complete apathy, sometimes - the destruction of personality.
In order to quickly get out of a destructive state, it is important to identify what is wrong at the initial stage. A “burning out” specialist usually does not realize the seriousness of what is happening. The victim could use help - from relatives, colleagues, immediate supervisors.
Experts identify three groups of factors that provoke the development of symptoms:
- Physiological. They manifest themselves as insomnia, physical exhaustion, poor concentration, skin diseases, excessive weight loss or gain.
- Social. They are expressed in increased irritability, nervous breakdowns, emotional indifference, an excessive sense of responsibility, turning into fear of work.
- Behavioral. The employee is indifferent to his responsibilities, is late, tries to leave early, disowns responsible tasks, withdraws from colleagues, and abuses alcohol.
Sometimes the symptoms are “viral” in nature, covering the entire company. This is evidenced by the physical and emotional instability of the vast majority of personnel, characterized by similar signs and behavioral patterns. The company suffers from inadequate staff turnover, a tense atmosphere reigns in the team, and conflicts regularly arise.
Advice from sociologist Vladimir Savelyev
If you have planted a splinter, it should be removed. If you have an infection, you need to defeat the pathogen. And if you experience burnout, you need to eliminate stress. It's simple.
Work needs to be done from two sides: from the organization and from the person. It is necessary to eliminate sources of constant non-productive stress. Unproductive stress, unlike productive stress, does not add value from a business perspective. For example, deadlines are a source of productive stress. They help you complete the task on time. But a constantly working hammer drill behind the wall is a source of unproductive stress.
Pay special attention to overloads. Overload and overwork is a signal that something needs to be changed in the organization of work.
Self-prevention of burnout is possible. First, rest as soon as you are tired. If you are thoroughly tired, take a vacation. No work on weekends. No work after work. Spend this time on family, leisure, and self-development. If you feel guilty about not working during your vacation, consult a psychologist. If you don’t have time to solve problems during working hours, improve your skills.
Second, consider how to minimize your own sources of stress. Master time management to manage your tasks. Request feedback from your manager. Have a heart-to-heart talk with the colleague who is hurting you. Most likely, everything is not all right with him either.
Another life hack: try to find external meaning in your work. How does your work help solve other people's problems? How does it improve the world around us? How does it allow you to grow? Answer these questions and you will significantly increase your level of stress resistance. As the classic said, “if you know the why, you will survive any how.”
