Recognising the signs and symptoms of burnout can help you find practical solutions to aid recovery.

Last week we looked at the way exhaustion can impact a business owners’ ability to function effectively. Feeling exhausted is the warning sign that you could be on the road to burnout. Recognising the signs of burnout before it catches up with you could prevent a lengthy mental and physical recovery.

In this week’s blog we will look at the signs and symptoms of burnout and consider some practical solutions to aid recovery.

Work related stress and employment related mental health concerns can be difficult to identify. Many employees and business owners alike accept feeling tired, irritable, and lacking energy as part of the expectations of modern working patterns and expectations. However, what can be missed all too often, is that an employee could be suffering from work related burnout.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognised burnout as an “organisational phenomena” in 2019 and not a medical condition. The WHO cited “burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed” (1) making it increasingly difficult for medical professionals to clearly identify that a patient’s symptoms are as a direct result of their working environment and expectations.

Therefore, how do the symptoms of ‘burn-out’ manifest themselves? Every person reacts differently to work related stress and mental illness, but some of the physical and emotional signals are:

Alienation and withdrawal from work-related activities: People experiencing burnout view their employment status as increasingly stressful & frustrating. They may become disaffected about their working conditions and their work colleagues, senior members of staff and even their employers themselves.
Physical symptoms (this list is not exhaustive): Chronic work-related stress symptoms may manifest themselves as headaches, stomach aches, feeling dizzy and nauseas or suffering with intestinal issues.
Emotional exhaustion: Burnout causes people to feel mentally and physically drained, often feeling unable to cope and feeling extremely tired, lacking energy to get their work done and often times feeling irrational about otherwise seemingly simple tasks.
Reduction in performance: Burnout can affect everyday tasks at work, with individuals feeling negatively about completing tasks and finding concentrating a challenge and often lack creativity or drive to engage in anything. (2)

These are only a few of the signs and signals that an employee or business owner could be suffering from or on the verge of burnout.

So, how can individuals try and prevent these symptoms and strive to find a semblance of work life balance?

Note: Virtually Smart Ltd are not medical or mental health experts. If you feel unwell, are suffering with mental health issues or feel you are suffering with burnout please do contact your General Practitioner.

Mindfulness

Practising ‘Mindfulness’ can take on so very many different forms, but the main element which can be beneficial in a stressful environment, is the notion of being mindful and in the moment. Some mindfulness practitioners advocate that even the smallest moments throughout the day, can have the greatest impact.

One such example is the notion of stealing a few moments outside, breathing in the air, being aware of your surroundings, which in turn can give the brain time to ‘re-boot’ helping you to be more proactive and productive upon your return to the work environment.

If you are unable to remove yourself entirely from the working environment, then perhaps creating a thankful list is another mindfulness technique. Consider all of the things you are thankful for in your life and write them down in a diary or notebook.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, access this part of yourself and remind yourself of the life you have beyond work, creating a sense of calm to your overworked mind.

Getting enough sleep and avoiding screen time before bed

It is no great secret that plenty of rest and good quality sleep enables the body and mind to rejuvenate. However, research also proves that being on a phone or having screen time right up to the moment of sleep doesn’t allow the brain to unwind enough and can make the brain too active to be able to produce what is known as ‘good quality sleep’.

Too much screen time directly before sleep can act a little like having too much alcohol and can cause the same symptoms as an alcohol related hangover the following day. Going to work already feeling befuddled and lethargic cannot set anyone up well for the day ahead.

Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, hydration and exercise

Eating well not only fuels the body, but also the mind. Ensuring you strive to ensure you eat a well-balanced diet, can for some, be challenge. However, with an ever more mindful focus on eating well and health; the options and availability are endless.

Keeping hydrated and avoiding copious amounts of caffeine throughout a working day, can help body and mind. Your brain needs fluids to remain active and can become dehydrated if not hydrated effectively. Plenty of water, low sugar juices and fruit teas are a refreshing way to remain hydrated. Often when people feel hungry, it is that they are thirsty, such is the power of the bodies needs for hydration.

Fitting exercise into the very busy lives we all lead can be challenge. But there are so many ways to incorporate even small amounts of exercise into a week. Simple things like a brief brisk walk to get your heart rate up or if you have a dog, taking them for a walk can make a huge impact on your overall wellbeing.

Phone apps with 5/10/15 minute workouts are readily available and could be incorporated into a morning routine, lunchtime or even before bed.

Many companies are now offering discounted gym membership or even onsite gyms and exercise programmes for employees, often free of charge.

This is no quick fix and with the pressures on the UK workforce being considerable, striving and sometimes fighting for a semblance of a work life balance is a challenge.

However, to remain functional and efficient whether as a business owner or an employee, we can find ways of reminding ourselves that there is a life beyond employment and those moments, those memories are what need to be held on to, if you feel yourself slipping towards burnout.

Written by Katy-Jane Mason on behalf of Virtually Smart Ltd.