The Cost of Professional Burnout - Balancing Career & Health

We all deal with work-related stress from time to time, but it shouldn’t stop us from living our lives. We used to wear the ‘workaholic’ label like a badge of honor, but in recent years, we’ve been challenging this idea, recognizing the importance of work-life balance.

But what happens when work-related stress follows us home at the end of the day? When it stops us from enjoying time with our families. When it stops us from sleeping at night, when we get to a point when work-related stress damages our mental health and makes us sick, we could be experiencing professional burnout.

Professional burnout doesn’t just have an impact on the person suffering from it. It affects their loved ones and the people around them. It can also have a massive impact on businesses and workplaces if not managed properly.

Let’s take a closer look at the reasons behind professional burnout and the implications of sacrificing our mental health for the pursuit of professional success.

A Closer Look at Professional Burnout

Professional burnout is the result of chronic workplace stress that hasn’t been managed properly. Sufferers are left feeling exhausted, upset, and unable to carry out their roles at work. ¹ Professional burnout can cause a whole host of physical symptoms, as well as impact our mental health – we’ll explore that later.

It’s also more common than you might think, and it seems to be on the rise. A recent survey found that over 40% of US office workers felt burned out at work. Data gathered by job search and review platform Glassdoor showed that mentions of professional burnout were up more than 40 percent in 2022 compared with 2019. ²

Businesses have also noted an increase in the levels of professional burnout. A survey of US HR executives reported that over 70% of companies had seen an increase in the number of employees citing professional burnout in 2022, a 35% percentage point increase compared to 2020. ³

We don’t need to look far to see just how damaging professional burnout can be, both to workers, companies and wider society. During the pandemic, burnout in healthcare workers reached critical levels, with around 60% of clinicians reporting symptoms of exhaustion, depression, sleep disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. We also saw that 20% of healthcare workers quit the profession entirely. ⁴

The Consequences Of Professional Burnout

When things get busy at work, we can forget to take our eyes off our screens and check in with ourselves and how we’re feeling. Professional burnout can sneak up on anyone, so it’s important to keep an eye out for its calling cards.

Some of the physical symptoms of professional burnout include:

Feeling exhausted
Frequent headaches
Frequent gastrointestinal problems (cramping, bloating and indigestion)
Trouble getting to sleep and waking up in the morning
Unable to fight off common illnesses like colds ⁵

Alongside physical exhaustion, the mental health implications of professional burnout could be:

Trouble concentrating
Feeling depressed and low
Feelings of worthlessness
Lack of interest in things you used to enjoy
Suicidal thoughts ⁶

The cost of professional burnout for the individual is clear; it also has an impact on the workplace too. Employers have a responsibility to ensure the well-being of their workforce on a human level, but it’s also good for business.

A happy workforce is a productive company. If people are happy in their work, they’re more likely to be engaged and creative. This, in turn, bodes well for customers, who will no doubt get a better experience as a result. In short, well-being in the workplace benefits everyone. ⁷

How Can We Kick Professional Burnout To The Curb?

One way we can combat professional burnout is to maintain a healthy work-life balance. It’s fine to love your job, but not at the expense of your family, friends, and, most importantly, your own well-being, sense of peace, and happiness.

Just remember, when you signed your employment contract, did you also sell your soul? No. You didn’t agree to work every hour available. You didn’t agree to take phone calls on non-working days or sacrifice time with your family to work on your days off.

Here are some tips for making sure work stays at work.

Set Boundaries

With so many of us now working from home on the regular, it’s easy for work time to spill over into home time. Be disciplined, set a time when you finish work, and stick to it. ⁸

Take Time Off

If machines are left running all day long for months on end, guess what? They break. Workaholics often brag about never taking a day off, but it’s nothing to be proud of. In fact, it’s a one-way ticket to burnout. If you feel unwell, don’t be a hero, take a goddamn sick day! ⁹

Don’t Be Afraid To Say ‘No’

If you take on more and more at work, you’ll quickly run out of steam. Saying ‘no’ to people can be uncomfortable, but there’s a way to do it gracefully. Express your willingness to help, explain why you can’t at that point in time and offer an alternative solution if possible. ¹º

Explore Holistic Practices

Activities like mindfulness and meditation can do wonders to alleviate work-related stress. By focusing on your breathing and focusing on how and what you feel at that precise moment without judgment. You can apply this practice at work by dealing with patience and openness and without judgment. ¹¹

Summing Up

Professional burnout can have serious consequences for those who suffer from it. It can wreak havoc with their mental and physical health, leading to significant harm and unhappiness.

Professional burnout is also damaging for businesses and wider society, as we have seen with the burnout of healthcare workers.

Employers and the workforce must work together to make sure well-being in the workplace makes it impossible for professional burnout to thrive.

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