This is not a story about work life balance, self-care, or quiet quitting. This post is about what happens when, frankly, none of those things are working and you’re finally ready to give up. This won’t be a happy, hopeful discussion. And nor will it preach the pros of perpetual positivity. This is what happens when you give of yourself to such a degree that nothing seems to matter. Maybe a better term might be workplace dissociation. Nothing feels real anymore.
Workplace burnout is an intense mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion brought on by a persistent hopelessness and perceived inability to direct the circumstances of one’s own professional life. No wonder, then, that more than 3 years of a global pandemic, incessant policy changes and mandatory regulations, heightened financial stressors and rising inflation, increased cost of living, external demands, political fearmongering, and generalized health anxiety have now led to this.
Yeah yeah. I know the old rule of thumb: if we all have to do it then it isn’t worth complaining about. Fair enough, but something’s gotta give, right?
We are having some powerful conversations these days about the meaning of work-life balance, and of what it means to be a part of a collective. Some of these conversations we could not have dreamed about having even a mere 20 years ago. Despite the newfound interest in mental health, and despite the we-are-all-in-this-together PR narrative, the reality is that when you are struggling with persistent burnout, you are chronically and decidedly alone.
This is not to discredit your friends, family, faith, and support groups. It is merely to suggest that burnout is a uniquely personal experience, as no two individuals share the exact same traumas, the same level of external support, nor the same personal boiling point. I’m still formulating thoughts on this topic, but I am beginning to think that companies, no matter how empathic they may be, are still ill equipped to deal with the reality of corporate burnout. I’ll talk about why that is in a moment.
We’re in the second quarter of the year 2023 and some folks are still yelling Where did all the workers go?! Three years later, so many are still left unaccounted for.
I’m here to tell you one thing: they’re tired boss.
According to its 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases, the World Health Organization defines burnout as a phenomenon resulting from “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” They go on to cite three main characteristics of those afflicted:
1) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
2) increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job. And
3) reduced professional efficacy
From the outside looking in, workplace burnout sounds like…well… a “You” problem. And that is a big problem in itself.
Anyone who’s witnessed burnout up close knows that it carries with it a whole battery of negative symptoms and side effects, namely cynicism, irritability, forgetfulness, insomnia, depression, anxiety, anger, substance abuse, and an increased susceptibility to chronic illness.
Simply put, a colleague suffering from burnout is generally not someone who others want to be around. Left unchecked, not only will productivity suffer, but their cynicism can slowly undermine employee morale, eating away at the company’s culture from within. It’s an incredibly toxic and unforgiving cycle, One that most companies are not prepared to deal with.
Some work environments are more people-centered than others, but if you’re dealing with a leadership team that values fast action and efficient decision-making over effective relational support and psychological safety, then there’s a very fat chance in hell that treatment for individual cases of workplace burnout will be taken seriously–let alone confronted on a systemic level. For the speed and efficiency-minded, it just seems more practical to cut out the “few bad apples.”
While the World Health Organization’s recognition of corporate burnout has been a very positive step towards raising awareness of this pervasive issue, many still believe that the classification doesn’t go far enough, arguing that it places too much onus on the individual employee suffering from burnout. As if they simply did a poor job of self-regulating and failed to keep their own stress levels in check.
And yet, over the past couple of years, the number of workers experiencing burnout seems to have skyrocketed and is at least partially responsible for fueling the Great Resignation of American workers. This is why so many companies these days are paying lip-service to the notion of work-life balance without actually having systems in place that ensure it.
Though it’s not always for lack of trying. The early 2020’s have already witnessed some thoughtful attempts at remediation by corporate leaders, including a few extra days of personal time off, mini field trips and coffee breaks away from the office, one on one “check-ins,” newly-recruited college interns to ease workloads, and spirited pep talks from upper management.
Still nothing beats the ability to work collaboratively (and respectfully!) with colleagues in order to bring projects into fruition. And nothing has been quite as frightening as the constant threat of loss of livelihood and the desperate, animalistic push towards survival mode and blind obedience.
What could be better than having your interests protected in the workplace just as fervently as the top execs? And what could be more satisfying than the sense that you are more than just an ever-churning cog on a mindless droning wheel?
This is a topic that’s worthy of further discussion. I’m looking forward to delving more into the current research literature surrounding workplace stress and burnout, including the implications for key decision makers.
I’ll say one final thing about being alone in the fight. Though it’s painful, though it’s costly, though the pressure may seem insurmountable, burnout can be a dynamic leader in its own right, teaching us valuable lessons about what we really need in order to thrive and be okay.
Burnout may not be 100% your fault, but it will 100% become your responsibility, one way or another. No one else really knows what to do for you–but consider yourself lucky if you have a few folks in your corner willing to try and troubleshoot.
l hold out hope for the moment when we can see structural changes that help prevent, treat, and cure prolonged burnout in our places of employment. Until then, my little flickering lamps, please use it as an opportunity to (unapologetically) reclaim autonomy over your own life. Whatever that may look like for you.
The Color Cubicle 