Burnout doesn’t always start with a giant disaster at work. In fact, it’s usually the ‘harmless’ ideas we pick up that zap our energy & leave us running on fumes. Research shows (see the end) that some of these habits always lead to burnout. Here are thirteen of these. How many of these sound like you?
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Always-on equals worth
Logging out feels wrong for some people. That means that when their phone’s not nearby or their inbox is empty, they have to check. Just in case. The work itself isn’t important anymore, as proving you’re always ready is what matters. The problem is your brain doesn’t get the memo to rest. Being tired soon becomes feeling really tired.
Only I can do it right
After you hand over a task to someone else, you can’t help but check on it. Then you fix something tiny. And then it’s another thing. Before you know it, you’ve done half the job again because you believe you’re the only safe pair of hands. That’s not good. It forces you to hold way too much. When do you get a break?
Breaks must be earned
There’s no point in waiting for the magical moment when everything is done before you take a breather. That moment won’t show up. Ever. Skipping those moments to take a short pause will use up all your energy by mid-afternoon. That only makes finishing harder. As such, you’ve got to give yourself some time to recharge.
Saying no harms the team
Some people say “yes” so fast they barely hear the question. But not because they want more work. The issue is that they hate the thought of someone else picking up the slack. However, saying yes to everyone means saying no to yourself. And that’s usually a “no” to the things you need. Lunch, water & actual breathing room require effort.
Perfect planning prevents stress
A color-coded calendar and backup plans for your backup plans. Sound familiar? Some people believe that planning well enough means that nothing will go wrong. Except, of course, it does. You’ve also given yourself an extra job of keeping the plan perfect. It’s tiring to manage both reality & your version of how reality should look. So don’t bother.
Feelings are problems to swallow
The truth is, smiling through a meeting while you’re feeling furious inside is a bad idea. Feelings of frustration or stress aren’t always things you should bury. Why? Because holding it all in takes energy that you don’t need to waste. By the time you get home, there’s nothing left for…well, anything. Give yourself a break.
My role is whatever’s needed
You’re doing your job one moment. And the next, you’re covering for three others. You might think it’s fine because they need you. While that’s true, helping out all the time shouldn’t go beyond a one-time thing & become the new normal. It eventually means that nobody’s quite sure where your actual job begins or ends anymore. And that includes you.
Speed proves commitment
Being the fastest to reply often feels like a badge of honor. Ten seconds after you get an email, you’re on it, and any messages at night are no problem. But this sense of speed isn’t free. It cuts up your day into tiny chunks. Suddenly, you’re busy all the time, but you’re never actually finished with anything. Is that any way to live?
Work is who I am
It’s natural to feel good when your job’s going well. Equally, when it’s going badly, you might feel bad. Really bad. That’s a problem because it suggests that the job has stopped being a job and has become you. Tying your mood & your worth to work means there’s no real “off” button. Even on weekends, you’re still sort of at work.
Fairness should never slip
Believing everything must be fair is a problem. It turns every small issue & weird decision into something that sticks with you. You think about it in the shower. You think about it driving home. It doesn’t matter how tiny it is because it feels huge until you’ve solved it in your head. That can take a while. And the whole time, your energy keeps draining.
No room for mistakes
To some people, even a tiny mistake feels like the end of the world. They’ll triple-check an email & reword a report because they think it’s still not quite right. But such a habit turns quick jobs into long ones. It keeps their brain running nonstop because they don’t care about fixing real problems anymore. They’re simply avoiding anything that might look imperfect.
Effort must match reward every time
You might expect that work that takes a lot will lead to a reward that feels just as big. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Such a belief prevents you from slowing down because you’ll keep working even harder. You’re convinced it’ll even out. Yet that reward never comes & all that extra pushing burns more energy.
Only high performance counts as success
Good enough doesn’t exist in some people’s eyes. They believe hitting the target isn’t the goal & blowing past it is. As such, they’ll set goals that keep moving higher & higher, which continues even when their workload’s already maxed out. It’s a race they never really finish. Anything less than above and beyond feels like losing, when it really shouldn’t.
Sources
- The impact of mental resilience and self-efficacy beliefs on burnout among corporate employees
- Self-efficacy beliefs as a predictor of quality of life and burnout among university lecturers
- Burnout, depression, efficacy beliefs, and work-related variables among school teachers
- On the roots of interpersonal strain at work: The role of burnout and social self-efficacy
