Burnout isn’t a me problem. It’s a workplace problem.

You can’t stretch, breathe or rest your way out of burnout if you keep going to the same work environment.

If you are feeling more stressed than usual at work or maybe you find yourself aligning with the “quiet quitting” movement, the real issue may be job burnout. 

According to a Deloitte study, 77% of professionals have experienced burnout in their current jobs. That is a big percentage, which means, you likely work with peers that have, are currently, or will experience the chronic stress leading to job burnout. 

When I was experiencing my own burnout, I scoured the internet to learn more about it and how I can recover from it. What struck me the most is that most of the advice sees burnout as an individual issue. Yet, the triggers of burnout are based on work environment and culture, something an individual has little control over. When I learned that there were several factors at work causing my stress, it clicked. I was doing things at home: exercising, sleeping a full night’s sleep, doing things I enjoyed. And I was going back to work in the same environment, with the same stress triggers, and expecting to get better. Nope. 

It wasn’t until I identified the triggers and started working with my manager to better manage or avoid the triggers, that my burnout started to improve. 

Triggers of burnout at work

Think of these triggers as waves at the ocean. Maybe in the beginning they were low in frequency and easy to manage. But the waves have become larger and more frequent, making it harder to recover in between, until they knock you down completely. Look at the common workplace triggers of chronic stress and identify the one(s) you are experiencing:

• Too much work; unmanageable workload with unreasonable deadlines.
• Always on expectations; including monitoring and responding to emails in real-time.
• No feedback provided.
• Excluded from decisions.
• Not heard. A coworker provides the same idea you did, but was heard, while you were ignored.
• Your manager lacks empathy.  
• Meaningless or undervalued work; work is not challenging or meeting your skill level. 
• Lack of recognition; or recognition for the wrong things. 
• Micromanagement.
• Unfairness in the workplace. 
• Unreasonable demands or expectations. Unclear demands or expectations.
• Team conflicts or toxic relationships.
• Rigid schedules; no autonomy or flexibility in schedules.
• Lack of psychological safety.
• You are put in ethical dilemmas without support. 
• Normalization of chronic stress. Overwork is a badge.

How do you recognize this in your work or the work of your peers or supervisors? Research shows that there are several negative impacts of workplace burnout that include organizational, psychological and physical. 

Christina Maslach, PhD, is one of the leading researchers on workplace burnout. She says, “We need to reframe the basic question from who is burning out to why they are burning out. It is not enough to simply focus on the worker who is having the problem – there must be a recognition of the surrounding job conditions that are the sources of the problem.” 

Amen to that!

Employers need to monitor burnout

Workplaces should be measuring burnout in their employees and stop pushing the responsibility back to the individuals. Getting to the root cause of burnout and addressing the issues needs to be part of healthy workplaces. Supervisors need to be trained on how to spot the signs of chronic stress and work with their direct reports to find the root cause and tackle it together. In my experience, this is still a new topic and not something most managers are aware of, and honestly, they are likely in the same boat. 

Communication and learning is key here. Find information, like this post, and share that information with your supervisor and attempt to engage in a problem-solving session together. 

Steps toward a healthier workplace

While chronic stress has many causes, employees can bring attention to issues and work with their supervisors toward improvements. Here are some things you can do.

1. Reflect and identify which of the common triggers listed above are impacting you. Know that there are likely several and may have different approaches to resolving them.
2. Have an open, curious dialogue with your surpervisor. If your workload is unmanageable, ask about adjusting deadlines or deligating work to others. Come to the conversation ready to offer some ideas.
3. Share with your peers and see if they have similar concerns and can be a partner on working through solutions.
4. Have a clear expectation for both you and your supervisor about the decisions made and when to check back in to make sure the suggestions are addressing the issues.
5. If talking with your supervisor is not productive, it may be better to temporarily reduce your work hours, move to a different position, or a different job.

It is important to build a support system for yourself while working through the triggers that cause job burnout. I can’t emphasize enough how valuable a therapist is, as an outside party, to help you navigate the conversations and decisions you need to make to improve your wellbeing.

Here are some books on burnout that can provide support:

The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It. – Jennifer Moss

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. – Amelia and Emily Nagoski

The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It. – Michael P. Leiter and Christina Maslach 

Are you experiencing burnout at work? What is your biggest trigger and how are you addressing it? Share your story in the comments.