Let’s talk about burnout. At Laser Red, we understand the importance of detecting the symptoms of burnout and catching it in the early stages.

The odds are that the majority of millennials reading this blog have experienced some form of burnout in their work or personal lives. A recent study by Deloitte found that 40 percent of millennials are thinking about leaving their jobs in the next two years due to burnout. This figure is rather shocking, but may not come as a surprise to you if you’re experiencing burnout symptoms.

With increasing pressures inside and outside the workplace, let’s explore how you can spot burnout early on and how to help prevent burnout from consuming your life.

Signs & Symptoms Of Burnout

Let’s start by exploring the signs of burnout and how you can spot them in your day-to-day life. The signs of burnout can differ from person to person and can be physical, emotional, or behavioural.

Physical

Signs of physical burnout could be anything from the following list:

  • Fatigue
  • Pain in your back and muscles
  • Lowered Immunity
  • Headaches and Migraines
  • Disrupted or changing sleeping patterns
  • Change or loss of appetite

Emotional

Emotional burnout can show itself in the following ways:

  • Decreased Motivation
  • Feeling Hopeless and helpless
  • Detachment from reality
  • An increasingly negative outlook
  • Decreased sense of accomplishment

Behavioural

For behavioural burnout, you should keep an eye out for the following changes:

  • Isolation
  • Being late to events or work
  • Taking out your feelings on others

The Stages of Burnout

Now that we’ve touched on the signs of burnout, let’s look at the early stages and how this can develop as more time goes by.

Stage 1 – The Honeymoon Stage

Commonly known as the honeymoon stage, stage 1 of burnout is often compared to the burst of joy you get while on your honeymoon after a wedding. In work terms, this is a bundle of optimism and joy surrounding a new job prospect or task. Similar to the honeymoon stage, this can fizzle out after a period of time.

Stage 2 – The Low-Level Stress Stage

Once the honeymoon stage is coming to an end, you may start to suffer some flurries of stress. This can often go unnoticed, and you might push this aside as you’re focused on the task at hand. However, once these bursts of stress build up and become more frequent, you may start to notice physical symptoms such as fatigue and headaches.

Stage 3 – The Increased Stress Stage

If you haven’t tackled your burnout by stage 2, you’ll likely move into a stage of increased stress and fatigue. You may start to fall behind on tasks and make small mistakes that you have never made before. This can also affect your behaviour and you may become short with your colleagues and snap when people ask you questions.

Stage 4 – The Burnout Stage

Nearing the final stages of burnout you will start to see the stress consume your work and personal life. You’ll no longer be able to separate the workplace from your home. You may also start to feel the physical symptoms heighten and your behaviour will decline. Any motivation you had left will disappear and you’ll start your journey down the path of deteriorating mental and physical health.

How To Prevent & Recover From Burnout

Now we’ve recapped the symptoms and stages of burnout, we can move on to ways you can prevent and recover.

Talk to your manager or HR

When experiencing signs of workplace burnout, the first thing to do is speak to your manager or HR professional. You may want to create a list of issues to present, which will allow you to transparently discuss your causes of burnout in a trusted environment. You may be overloaded and overwhelmed with current tasks, and sharing this with your manager can allow you and your team to balance, prioritise and complete tasks. You may also want to discuss some time off with your manager, and see if you could take some well-being days to relax and recharge.

Take some time for yourself

Once you’ve spoken with your manager, you may have booked yourself some well-being days. Some time away from work can be a great way to recharge yourself and focus on hobbies and passions that you enjoy. It’s always worth noting that during this time you should try to push work to the back of your mind. Sometimes it can be hard to forget about upcoming projects and overdue tasks, but remember, well-being days are for you, and only you.

An example of how our team is taking some time to relax is by visiting a spa. As a reward for the marketing team’s hard work in the past year, Laser Red have treated us to a fully covered spa day. This allows us to step away from our computers, and completely relax and recharge.

Practise breathing, meditation & relaxation techniques

This may sound rather cliché, but making time for breathing exercises, meditation, and relaxation can help in those moments of stress. Whenever you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed, take yourself away from your workstation, make a drink, and take a moment to breathe. Meditation before bed can also help you to find a calm headspace before sleeping. Studies have shown that a lack of sleep can impact your work performance, which can deteriorate your mental health. A good night’s sleep can be a key factor in overcoming the dreaded “burnout.”

Know your limits and your role

As a millennial, you’re probably someone that doesn’t know when to say enough is enough, and you can be seen as perhaps a perfectionist, people pleaser or overachiever.

In some cases, these can be great attributes, but when it comes to burnout, you need to know your limitations. Generation Z is a great example of knowing what’s in your job description, and what’s not. Knowing your limits is not to say you won’t go above and beyond for your company or refuse to stay a minute past closing, it’s a way of prioritising your workload and creating a healthy work-life balance.

Outsource your work

A common reason why many people experience burnout is the level of workload they are currently undertaking. If you’re finding yourself overwhelmed with tasks and projects, outsourcing your work can be a great way to instantly take work off your plate. At Laser Red, we work closely with individuals at businesses to reduce their workload and improve results. Whether it’s a marketing, design or development task, we can assist you and take the weight of your role off your shoulders.

Talk to someone

In the later stages of burnout, we talk about the negative impact this can have on your mind and body. These symptoms can often be very hard to shake, and you might not bounce back after a few days away from work and some breathing exercises.

This means you may want to seek professional help by talking to someone. This can sound daunting, but it should be seen as a step in the right direction. Speaking to a counsellor, therapist, or life coach can help you get back on track and start to enjoy work again.

If you would be interested in speaking with a professional, we would recommend Fortis Therapy and Training. Fortis offer expert mental health and well-being services, that can support you through the stages of burnout and recovery. Fortis have multiple locations across Lincolnshire and offer both in-person and online sessions.

You should never suffer burnout or any other mental or physical illness alone, and if you’re experiencing any of the above symptoms, you should always speak up.