How to prevent and cure burnout
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Twitter Facebook Google+ LinkedInBurnout is the combination of three emotions: exhaustion, negativity and ineffectiveness. The feelings of negativity and ineffectiveness are what differentiate it from regular tiredness or exhaustion. And it’s different from depression in that it’s purely work-related — you don’t burn out from relationship issues or life stressors
Root causes:
- Their goals and targets feel genuinely unachievable
- Their goalposts for success keep moving
- They don’t have enough autonomy
- They don’t feel like they’re mastering new skills
- Rewards, recognition and workload feel unevenly distributed
- The work culture feels competitive or unsupportive
- Their job requirements don’t fit with their personality and strengths
- Their job requirements don’t fit with their values and dreams
Burnout first aid: time off
- Make it okay to flag when people feel overstretched
- Praise under-promising and over-delivering
- Encourage people to be clearer about their boundaries
- Build holiday time into execution plans
- Protect your team’s time — for example, let them periodically turn off Slack notifications or try ‘Deep Work Wednesdays’