“When people say, ‘I hate Mondays,’ or ‘Thank God it’s Friday,’ these are cute little sayings, but what you’re telling yourself is, ’80% of my life sucks."

The main reason for being burnout isn’t necessarily being overworked. It can also come from being under-challenged. Burnout is chronic workplace stress that can result in feelings of being drained and being increasingly disengaged and cynical about your work.

Understanding burnout

When your phone is nearby, you may find yourself checking email apps and work notifications mindlessly to check in.First, recognize where this need to be available may be coming from. Then create boundaries about when you’re available, and share those expectations. Even if you need to be reachable, you can be intentional about how much work you allow to take up your weekend.

Technology controls you

Constantly complaining about your terrible colleagues and your boss on the weekend can feel like a stress release in the moment, but in the long-run, this rumination can make you feel even worse.Gain self-awareness and reframe your thinking. “What can I do about this?” or "How can I learn from this going forward?" are good questions to use.

Venting about work all the time

When people split their week up and start thinking of work as bad and the weekend as all good, that contributes to the problem.Bring your weekend into your week, and find engagement elsewhere: if that's when you connect with friends and family, find a way to make it a part of your workdays as well. Also, choose to engage during your free days with activities such as volunteering, arts or even starting a side hustle.

Living too much for the weekend

When you are experiencing burnout from the stress of your job, you can forget what time off is supposed to feel like. You can even develop bad habits on the weekend that are making you feel even more drained and overwhelmed on Monday morning.

Burnout and your free time

When you’re experiencing burnout, your tunnel vision of work, work, work can lead to trouble engaging in the world outside of it on the weekends.Be intentional. This doesn’t mean you can’t relax on your couch and watch movies, but be thoughtful about this plan.

Not engaging with the world

Burnout is not always your problem, but you should feel empowered to change what you can.When you trace your burnout to a systemic toxic source, you need to decide whether staying at this job outweighs what it is doing to your mental health.

Take responsibility

Burnout is a real occupational hazard, and it does not disappear when the workweek is done. The tired, snappy, apathetic employee at the office is the same person who still holds those grudges at home. According to the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases, the main criteria for burnout isn't necessarily being overworked.

RYAN HOWES

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