Feeling and identifying the signs of job burnout is a powerful way to arm yourself with the strategies and resources needed to prevent it from bringing you down. So if it’s time to sit down with your manager or HR team, set up that meeting.
Explain that working longer hours is not leading to your most productive and happiest self. Most companies rather make a small adjustment than having to hire somebody else.

Approaching Burnout At Work

Health

Strong morning and nighttime routines increase your productivity levels, ability to focus, and improve your overall mental and physical health. Your routines can include a healthy meal, exercise, reading, meditation, enjoying time with your family and friends.
However you build your routines, they should be full of activities that bring you joy and fulfillment. Self-care is essential to dealing with job burnout.

Routines Against Burnout

It’s a syndrome that results from an extreme accumulation of improperly managed workplace stress that can lead to physical, mental, and social consequences.

Burnout Is An Emotional Exhaustion

When a person tends to always be “on, ” they become more likely to burnout. Many push themselves to the point of depression, exhaustion, and helplessness by working countless hours.
Workload reduction and coping strategies are necessary to prevent burnout. Not dealing with the problem puts you at risk of having to quit and retrain, which might bring a whole host of problems on top of the burnout.

From Burnout To Quitting

<ul>
<li>Being cynical and critical at work</li>
<li>Being irritable or impatient with co-workers, customers, or clients</li>
<li>Lack of energy to be consistently productive</li>
<li>Extreme difficulty concentrating on tasks</li>
<li>Lack of satisfaction in your achievements at work</li>
<li>Difficulty sleeping at night</li>
<li>Experience irregular physical ailments such as headaches and stomach aches</li>
<li>Lose enthusiasm for day-to-day responsibilities</li>
<li>Daily struggle to get out of bed</li>
<li>Resent people and things that keep you from working outside of work</li>
<li>Think that work is the only source of satisfaction.</li>
</ul>

Common Burnout Symptoms

To prevent a future burnout, when searching for a new position, consider the following:
<ul>
<li>Most countries have legal mechanisms that allow for at least unpaid leave.</li>
<li>Many companies have time-off policies for employees needing a mental health break.</li>
<li>Most interviewers are aware of their companies’ work-life balance and can inform you if it’s a good fit for your need for “offline” hours in which you’re unavailable for work issues.</li>
</ul>

Addressing Burnout

<ul>
<li>Use balance and prioritization in your workday.</li>
<li>Watch yourself for burnout indicators. If you’re close to it, reevaluate your working habits.</li>
<li>Set clear boundaries.</li>
<li>Avoid answering to work-related call outside of work.</li>
<li>Try not to feel guilty if you need to or can leave work early.</li>
<li>Schedule regular wellness check-ins with your boss and team so you can identify overburdened individuals.</li>
<li>Redistribute work if someone is at capacity.</li>
<li>If you feel depressed, anxious or highly stressed, seek help from a trained professional.</li>
</ul>

Burnout Prevention Strategies

<div>
<img src="https://blog.trello.com/hs-fs/hubfs/burnout.png?width=647&amp;name=burnout.png">You're in back-to-back meetings all day. You and your team talk about all the exciting projects you'll work on. But when you finally have time to put your head down to actually do the work, it's late in the evening after you've managed to scarf down some mac&amp;cheese and successfully avoided exercising for the 5th week in a row. 
You're literally burning the candle at both ends. Heck, your candle is barely a flicker of light. And all those exciting projects? You don't feel the fire like you used to when you started your job. 
Unfortunately, my friend, you are experiencing job burnout. 
It's true that we have an <a href="https://blog.trello.com/complexity-bias-hustle-culture">obsession with the hustle</a>, especially in the United States. If you're not working more than 40 hours per week, you're not working hard enough. The willingness to work long hours in the hopes of rapid career growth has a name, and it's not spelled B-O-S-S. 
You may hang your hat on an "I can do it all" attitude to feel accomplished and secure in your job. But what this attitude doesn't rely on is reality. When you try to do everything all the time, you're mostly likely to only achieve one thing: burnout.
Burnout is emotional exhaustion. It's a syndrome that results from extreme workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, according to the <a href="https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http://id.who.int/icd/entity/129180281">World Health Organization</a>. Burnout can lead to serious physical, mental, and social consequences but it doesn't happen overnight. <a href="https://hbr.org/1996/07/when-executives-burn-out">The Harvard Business Review</a> aptly describes burnout as a slow fizzle-something that builds over time before imploding.
In particular, burnout is common among high-level executives, who typically reach their positions since they are typically chronic achievers. There are cautionary tales from successful leaders that serve as a lesson in what not to do.
Despite how it presents itself, there are ways to avoid burnout and still grow in your job. There are several cautionary tales from successful leaders which you can use as your guide as to what not to do. In this blog post, you'll learn from their experiences and will learn a few strategies so you can recognize and hopefully prevent job burnout in your own career. 
<h2>The Burnout Sabbatical </h2>
<img src="https://blog.trello.com/hs-fs/hubfs/burnout2.png?width=647&amp;name=burnout2.png"> When a person tends to always be "on," they increase their likelihood of crashing and, well, burning. According to a <a href="https://www.monster.com/about/a/dangerously-stressful-work-environments-force-workers-to-seek-new-empl4162014-d3126696">2014 study</a> by Monster, 61% of employees have experienced illness because of work-related stress, with 42% deciding to quit to avoid burnout. Many executives, managers, and employees push themselves to the point of depression, exhaustion, and helplessness by putting in infinite hours to grow their companies or in their role. Since they don't have the strategies to cope, the only option they see to cure their burnout is to take flight and leave their position. Here are a few stories of this exact situation: 
<ul>
	<li>James Green, the former CEO of Giant Realm, an online advertising firm, began dreading his commute through New York's Penn Station each morning. His role as a "turnaround specialist" meant often selling off companies and firing hundreds of people. Though emotionally drained, he never hinted at his condition because leaders cannot be "<a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323687604578469124008524696">emotionally erratic.</a>" Instead, the stress led him to sell off his company so he could sail around the world with his family before returning to New York as the CEO of another internet advertising business.</li>
	<li>Similar to Green, Dustin Snell, the founder and CEO of Network Automation Inc., reluctant to equate the feeling of "<a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323687604578469124008524696">running in place</a>" to a burnout, took a year and a half off to spend time with his newborn daughter. He eventually returned to his company as CEO with new perspective. </li>
	<li>Some leaders, however, don't have the opportunity to take years off only to reclaim their jobs and titles. At Lloyds Banking Group, PLC chief Antonio Horta-Osorio left his role of less than a year for a two-month rest. His business was hurt and an <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323687604578469124008524696">interim leader was put in place</a> in case he did not make it back to the company at all. But he returned, well rested, and began the battle all over again.</li>
</ul>
The average non-CEO often can't afford to take several months or years off, but there are mechanisms in place for employees to take time for their mental well-being. In the U.S., the <a href="https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/1421.htm">Family and Medical Leave Act </a>(FMLA) grants employees of 12 months or more 12 weeks of unpaid leave, while their job and health benefits remain intact. While this leave is most often used for women on maternity leave, it's available for anyone who has a qualifying condition, such as depression or anxiety.
In general, <a href="https://blog.trello.com/taking-breaks-key-productivity">taking breaks</a> is key to better productivity. Many companies have sabbatical or paid time-off policies for an employee needing a mental health break who would like to return to work after a period of time. When searching for a new position, consider these benefits so you can enjoy a full work life balance without having to quit your job. 
<h2>Answer Passion Instead Of Email</h2>
<img src="https://blog.trello.com/hs-fs/hubfs/follow_passion.png?width=647&amp;name=follow_passion.png"> 
Burnout doesn't just exhaust a person's mind and body. For some, it's spirit that suffers the most. Employees who spend long hours at a job can begin to lose their <a href="https://blog.trello.com/passion-projects-at-work">passion</a>. Two of the <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/11/beating-burnout">most common symptoms of job burnout</a> are cynicism, or lost enthusiasm in your day-to-day responsibilities, and inefficacy, or the lack of self-confidence and capacity to perform these responsibilities. 
A former Yelp employee wrote a manifesto under the pen name " <a href="https://eev.ee/blog/2015/06/09/i-quit-the-tech-industry/">Eevee</a>," claiming they would never return to the tech world again. After working excruciatingly long hours, they found they could not manage to have any sort of personal life in their downtime. Eevee wrote: 
" The breaking point actually came during a two-week vacation at the end of May. The first week was relaxing, productive, glorious. Then I passed the midpoint and saw the end of my freedom looming on the horizon. Gloom descended once more. The difference was striking, and I knew I had to stop." 
This turning point was freeing for Eevee, noting they no longer cared about the work they were contributing and that they couldn't wait to start the rest of their life.
Glynnis Macinol also found that her work life was consuming her real life. In an <a href="http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/advice/a2521/burnout-essay/">essay for Elle</a>, she wrote:
"I was resentful of anything that caused me to miss work, including, but not limited to, people who expected me to hold uninterrupted conversations over dinner." Eventually, she ditched her dream job and smartphone and took great pleasure in answering the "What do you do?" question at cocktail parties with one word: nothing. 
She equated her very real burnout to being tired, stressed, bored, and in need of a vacation and a lobotomy. Her new life of nothing was scary, but totally liberating.
While it's common not to want to return to work right after a vacation or long weekend, the daily struggle to get out of bed may mean you've pushed too hard at one job, like Eevee did. Or perhaps you're feeling like Glynnis, who couldn't sit down for dinner without picking up her phone to check email.
It's crucial to notice this internal struggle when it comes up and make a conscious effort to schedule free time each day to check-in with yourself. How are you feeling? What are your stress levels throughout the day? Are you feeling exhausted at the end and beginning of each work day? 
It's also important to have a conversation with your manager about what work-life balance means to you and to explain that you really appreciate <a href="https://blog.trello.com/phone-notifications-ruin-productivity">"offline" hours</a> in which you're unavailable for work issues. Confronting these warning signs before it comes to ditching your entire career for good is important, as finding a new job and new passion can be even more daunting.
<h2>How Did You Reach Destination Burnout?</h2>
<img src="https://blog.trello.com/hs-fs/hubfs/how_did_i_get_here.png?width=647&amp;name=how_did_i_get_here.png"> 
Still not sure if you're experiencing burnout? These are the most common symptoms according to <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/burnout/art-20046642">Mayo Clinic</a>: 
<ul>
	<li>Cynical and critical at work </li>
	<li>Irritable or impatient with co-workers, customers, or clients </li>
	<li>Lack energy to be consistently productive </li>
	<li>Extreme difficulty concentrating on tasks </li>
	<li>Lack of satisfaction in your achievements at work </li>
	<li>Difficulty sleeping at night </li>
	<li>Experience irregular physical ailments such as headaches and stomach aches </li>
</ul>
Then there are the leaders whose intention is to focus on self-care regularly and it slowly slips away. Often, those whose free time is replaced with work are telling themselves it is because their job is the newest passion:
<ul>
	<li>For Angela Benton, keeping up the level of passion and intensity with her company NewME became a challenge. She was exhausted and, despite the hours she worked, totally disconnected from her purpose. Her answer was to become "<a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3037554/how-the-most-successful-people-conquer-burnout">more deliberate with her time</a>," carving out a few minutes or hours to reconnect with herself through meditation. </li>
	<li>For Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post and unabashed proponent of sleep, she literally <a href="http://www.inc.com/ilan-mochari/leaders-rise-fall.html">didn't know how she got there</a>. "There" being the floor of her home office after waking up in a pool of blood. Seriously freaked out, Huffington asked her doctors to run several tests but nothing was clinically wrong. She was just burnt out, which led to passing out, hitting the corner of her desk, and cutting her eye open. Since her fall, she's been more mindful of the way she works and it's clear reevaluating her schedule is doing wonders, as she's even more successful than she was pre-2007 burnout.</li>
</ul>
While passion for your work is a powerful and motivating force, it can't be your only reason for existence. Just look at the companies that are changing the way we look at job perks and benefits, including things like <a href="https://blog.trello.com/mindfulness-and-productivity-go-hand-in-hand/">meditation classes</a>, gym memberships, sports teams, and book clubs along with the regular medical and PTO benefits.
<h2>Avoid The Crash (And The Guilt) With These Burnout Prevention Strategies</h2>
Two ways to avoid burnout are to use balance and prioritization in your workday-and making sure these practices align with those of your organization. It's common for people to have misconceptions of what their boss expects of them. In <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3058928/this-minor-work-habit-is-burning-you-out-for-no-good-reason">one poll, </a> managers were asked how many of them expected employees to answer emails in evening hours and 20% answered yes. When posed the same question, 80% of employees assumed their bosses wanted after-hours emails answered promptly. 
Feeling the signs before they happen, such as not caring, not sleeping, running on adrenaline, and/or feeling like you are drowning probably mean it's time to sit down with your manager and HR and acknowledge that <a href="https://blog.trello.com/4-day-workweek-more-productivity/">working longer hours </a> is not leading to your most productive and happiest self. You might just be surprised at the results. 
Just like a pot of boiling water, job burnout can take a while to hit but when it does everything boils over and makes a mess. 
Staying in tune with yourself and following these strategies can help you prevent from reaching a point of no return. 
<h3>Set Clear Boundaries </h3>
You can avoid burnout by setting boundaries and priorities in your job-and making sure these practices align with those of your organization. It's common for people to have misconceptions of what their boss expects of them. In <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3058928/this-minor-work-habit-is-burning-you-out-for-no-good-reason">one poll,</a> managers were asked how many of them expected employees to answer emails in the evening hours and 20% answered yes. When posed the same question, 80% of employees assumed their bosses wanted after-hours emails answered promptly.
It's also key for leaders and managers to mimic the expectations they have of their teams. Sheryl Sandberg, preacher of having it all at Facebook, took years to not feel guilty <a href="http://mashable.com/2012/04/05/sheryl-sandberg-leaves-work-at-530/">leaving work at 5:30 pm daily</a> in order to eat dinner with her children. If a successful and talented COO of a multi-billion dollar company struggles with leaving work on time, what is the average worker to do?
Schedule Regular Wellness Check-Ins with Your Boss And Team During your <a href="https://blog.trello.com/trello-team-meetings">team meetings</a> or 1:1's with your boss, add in a few minutes to discuss how everyone is feeling and if anyone is at capacity on projects on tasks. Typically, if you or someone on your team has a full to-do list, then someone can step in to assist. By openly communicating needs and availability, the team can keep a pulse on its overall wellness. 
Seek Professional HelpIf you are experiencing feelings of depression, anxiety, or high stress, don't hesitate to seek help from a trained professional. If you don't feel comfortable speaking with your boss or team or don't have the opportunity to talk transparently about your depression, anxiety, or stress, professional help can support you on your path toward emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness. 
Build Strong Routines Thats Protect Your Work-Life Balance <a href="https://blog.trello.com/best-productive-morning-routines">Strong morning and nighttime routines</a> are proven to increase your productivity levels, ability to focus, and improve your overall mental and physical health. These routines are like bookends to your day. Your morning and nighttime routines can include a healthy meal, exercise, reading, meditation, enjoying time with your family and friends. However you build it, your routines should be full of activities that bring you joy and fulfillment. <a href="https://blog.trello.com/self-care-for-productivity">Your self-care</a> is essential to keeping job burnout at bay. 
<h2>From Job Burnout To Fired Up</h2>
Feeling and identifying the signs of job burnout is a powerful way to arm yourself with the strategies and resources needed to prevent it from bringing you down into the trenches of despair. So if it's time to sit down with your manager or HR team, set up that meeting. Raise your hand and explain that <a href="https://blog.trello.com/4-day-workweek-more-productivity/">working longer hours</a> is not leading to your most productive and happiest self. You might just be surprised at the results.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in March, 2017 but has been updated with a whole heap of new information and ideas.Good or bad, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Find us on Twitter (@trello) or write in to <a href="mailto:support@trello.com">support@trello.com</a>.Next: <a href="https://blog.trello.com/foggy-brain-4-ways-to-better-leverage-your-off-days">Foggy Brain? 4 Ways To Better Leverage Your Off Days</a> 
</div>

You're in back-to-back meetings all day. You and your team talk about all the exciting projects you'll work on. But when you finally have time to put your head down to actually do the work, it's late in the evening after you've managed to scarf down some mac&cheese and successfully avoided exercising for the 5th week in a row.

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Tips From Job Burnout Survivors: How To Heal From An Overachiever Attitude

Approaching Burnout At Work

Routines Against Burnout

Burnout Is An Emotional Exhaustion

From Burnout To Quitting

Common Burnout Symptoms

Addressing Burnout

Burnout Prevention Strategies

Why Burnout Is A Broken Promise

What Causes Burnout and How to Overcome It

5 Powerful Ways to Bounce Back from Creative Burnout -RescueTime Blog

Bite‑sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Tips From Job Burnout Survivors: How To Heal From An Overachiever Attitude

Approaching Burnout At Work

Routines Against Burnout

Burnout Is An Emotional Exhaustion

From Burnout To Quitting

Common Burnout Symptoms

Addressing Burnout

Burnout Prevention Strategies

Why Burnout Is A Broken Promise

What Causes Burnout and How to Overcome It

5 Powerful Ways to Bounce Back from Creative Burnout -RescueTime Blog

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career