Burnout Archives - The American Institute of Stress

The hits keep coming. So how do we fight back against stress?

William Heckman — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 13:38:44 +0000

Do you ever feel like the world is against you?

Like everything that could go wrong has gone wrong? Like Murphy (and his law) has moved in and is squatting in your basement?

Sometimes, it can feel like the world is against you when one thing after another comes at you like rolling punches on a speed bag … and you’re the speed bag.

That’s certainly how I’ve been feeling lately. Battered, bruised, barely able to catch my breath, and still having to show up for everything, plastering a smile on my face and making the best of it.

Honestly, it’s exhausting.

Why do we do this? Why do force ourselves to pretend everything is OK, that we’re coping just fine, that we don’t need help? Is it shame? Embarrassment? The belief that acknowledging the challenges we are facing makes them real?

Maybe it’s a little of all of those things.

Well, I’m writing this column – once again sharing my own rawness and failures for the world to see – because I think it’s really important that we remind ourselves that everyone needs help sometimes.

And that’s OK.

Last week, my husband was rushed to hospital and spent the week in intensive care.

We nearly lost him and it was stressful beyond measure. In between trying to get to and from the hospital, managing my and our son’s respiratory infections, working, a uni assignment that was due, we had a house inspection we weren’t able to reschedule.

Then, this morning, I receive a phone call from my husband to tell me that we’ve received a “no cause” termination notice, so on top of everything else, we now have to try and find another place to live in a rental market that thinks it’s OK to charge $630/week for a townhouse without ducted air conditioning in Wodonga of all places.

I mean seriously. Get a grip.

At this point, what started out as a snowball rolling down the hill, has gathered so much stress and anxiety, panic and fear along the way as it rolls, it’s become something of an avalanche.

I’m finding myself desperately running in front of it as it careens down the hillside, trying not to be smothered by the immeasurable amount of stress-snow nipping at my heels as I find myself running more and more out of control, picking up pace I can’t handle.

Like I said, it’s exhausting.

I know I’m not the only person in this situation. Australian Community Survey (ACS) by NCLS Research asked Australians about their stress levels in December 2022 and discovered that 64 per cent of people rated their stress level as 5/10 or higher, with 40 percent of all Australians worryingly rating their stress level as 7/10 or higher.

I really don’t think we can lay claim to being the laid-back she’ll-be-right-mate nation of the world anymore, and we need to seriously look at how this is impacting people across Australia.

Stress is a natural part of our lives as it’s a normal human reaction that everyone experiences from time to time.

According to Dr Timothy Legg, It is a biological response to a perceived threat manifested through the physical and mental experience of the hormone release that produces the “fight-or-flight” response.

However, stress becomes a problem when you start to feel overwhelmed by it or it lasts for a long time.

So how can we manage it? How can I prevent the snowball turning into an avalanche and squishing me flat on the downhill spiral that appears to be becoming my life?

Well, that’s a very good question.

Looking at the cause of our stress is an important factor in being able to manage our stress levels as this holds the key to finding ways to prevent stress occurring in the first place. However, stress prevention isn’t always possible.

The American Institute of Stress said (in not so many words) that essentially it comes down to the Serenity Prayer: it’s about recognising there’s no point stressing about things you can’t do anything about, working out what you can do about the things you can change, and taking the time to work out what goes on what list.

Now, I just need to find the magic solution to fear and panic and I’ll be golden. I’m thinking something with four bedrooms and two bathrooms might have something to do with it.

By Zoë Wundenberg for THE NORTHWEST STAR

Photo by cottonbro studio

Photo by Yan Krukau

Are Workers Really Rage Quitting? Here’s What To Do Instead

William Heckman — Mon, 20 May 2024 23:06:08 +0000

Rage quitting is all the rage these days. In rage quitting, an employee basically tells their employer to “take this job and shove it.”

Sounds empowering, doesn’t it? However, you may want to take a deep breath before joining this movement.

What’s Fueling Rage Quitting

Frustrated workers are most likely to walk out the door in a fit of rage. If one more thing goes wrong, they’ll quit in a flash.

Work is a source of stress for many employed workers, leading to irritability, exhaustion, and difficulty regulating emotions. According to The American Institute of Stress, 55% of Americans are stressed during the day, and 63% of US workers are ready to quit their jobs to avoid work-related stress.

Everyone experiences stress from time to time. But what happens when stress levels impact physical and mental health? Eventually, something must give.

We’re seeing a surge in employee quit rates due to several factors, including unrealistic work expectations, company layoffs, and overworked employees. People are getting to the point where they believe quitting is their only option.

The Negative Effects of Rage Quitting

Hollywood has done a great job of helping us fantasize about quitting our job on the spot. The perfect example of this is Tom Cruise as Jerry Maguire, who grabs Flipper the Goldfish and quits his soul-crushing job. In the end, he goes on to make millions.

Here’s What You Can Do Instead of Rage Quitting

When things start to heat up, it’s better to take a few deep breaths before making a hasty decision. Think about what’s really bothering you. Then, schedule a meeting with your boss to discuss your situation.

If, after doing so, you still believe quitting your job is the right move, you can give proper notice or look for a new job while you’re still employed.

While the allure of a dramatic “rage quit” may be tempting in the face of workplace stress and frustration, resisting that impulse is crucial.

It may be tempting to fantasize about a dramatic Hollywood-style exit, but the reality is far less glamorous. Burned bridges, tarnished reputations, and financial insecurity await those who give into their anger. The high road may not be the easiest, but it is the one that will serve you best, both now and in the future.

By Roberta Matuson

OP Forbes

Photo by RDNE Stock project

Stayed up all night? Here’s how to feel better

William Heckman — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 15:24:01 +0000

It was a dream come true for millions of Taylor Swift fans, after the superstar released her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” at midnight on Friday. For Swifties who stayed up to listen and savor every last tune, perhaps over and over, the shock of that morning alarm was probably “like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street.”

Losing sleep can wreak havoc on your mind and body, experts say. In fact, missing out on just one night’s sleep can trigger physical symptoms, such as upper respiratory issues, aches and gastrointestinal problems, studies have shown.

A lack of sleep also slows reaction times — so be careful while driving — and worsens logical reasoning and the ability to perform tasks such as reading complex sentences and doing simple math.

However, there are actions you can take after lost sleep to make it through the day in the safest way possible, according to experts.

Get some sunshine after the midnight rain

Follow Swift’s lead by flooding your eyes with light as soon as that pesky alarm goes off. Use natural sunlight to see “daylight,” or turn on artificial lights, especially those in the blue spectrum, which tell the body to wake up.

“The strongest reset for the circadian system is bright light,” said Dr. Phyllis Zee, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

“Light in the morning changes the oscillation of your circadian clock genes at both a cellular and molecular level,” she told CNN in a prior interview. “You are also training all your rhythms, whether it’s sleep, blood pressure, heart rate or your cortisol rhythm to be earlier.”

Shake it off (literally)

Shake off the grogginess the next morning with a mini dance party to Swift’s catchy tunes, suggests Mina Dasgupta, the 11-year-old daughter of sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, a pulmonary and sleep medicine specialist at Huntington Heath in Pasadena, California.

“Research shows that movement can boost circulation and increase alertness, helping you shake off that sleepiness faster,” Daddy Dasgupta said.

“So, blast your new favorite (Taylor) song and move your body to get the blood flowing and dance away those drowsy vibes,” Mina added.

You can also follow the pop star’s lead and “strike a pose,” Dasgupta said. “Yoga, that is.”

“Try to carve out some time to engage in light yoga or stretching exercises to get your blood flowing and invigorate your body,” he said. “Yoga and other low-impact exercises have been shown to reduce stress, perfect for shaking off the sleepiness.”

You may need to calm down

Symptoms of daytime fatigue include a lack of motivation to accomplish everyday tasks, a lack of productivity at work, memory problems and a low interest in being social, experts say.

There is another side effect as well: You may find yourself going ballistic over the slightest slight, perhaps even feeling like a “nightmare dressed like a daydream.”

“Sleep loss is strongly associated with reduced empathy and emotional regulation, often resulting in miscommunication and retaliation during conflict,” Dasgupta said.

Without enough sleep, your brain functions less efficiently, affecting your coping skills, according to stress management expert Dr. Cynthia Ackrill, former editor for Contentment Magazine, produced by The American Institute of Stress.

“We don’t have the bandwidth to recognize our choices, get creative or just see that we can choose not to be irritated or irritating,” she told CNN previously. “Irritability is one of the key signs of stress and poor sleep.”

Don’t do ‘coffee at midnight’

Swift may sing about having coffee at midnight while in love, but it’s not a good idea to overcaffeinate throughout the day as you struggle to shrug off sleepiness.

“It could limit your ability to sleep well that night,” said sleep specialist Kristen Knutson, an associate professor of neurology and preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

brain, Dasgupta suggested.

“Research shows that short naps can improve alertness, mood, and cognitive performance, helping you recover from sleep deprivation quickly and get that much-needed boost of energy to get you through the day,” he said. “Just make sure to keep it short and sweet — don’t oversleep and end up in a deeper stage of your sleep cycle, he added.

Then try to go prioritize sleep that night, Knutson suggested in an email.

“Plan to go to bed on time, if not a little earlier,” she said. “In the hour or so before bed, engage in relaxing activities to prepare yourself for sleep. And of course, listening to Taylor Swift counts as long as you turn it off before bed!”

CNN’s Madeline Holcombe, Kristen Rogers and Ashley Strickland contributed Taylor Swift lyrics to this article.

Original Post CNN Health

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN

Photo by SHVETS production

Sick of work already? Micro-stresses (or your childhood) could be invisible causes

William Heckman — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 15:04:34 +0000

As holidays fade and the working year springs into focus, some of us might feel dread. How can work stress creep up? And what are the signs of burnout?

Paula Davis remembers all too well the feeling that would overcome her after just a few weeks back at work following a blissful break. Like many of us, she would take annual leave and try to forget about the workload, the petty office politics, the anxiety-inducing emails – and for a few days it would work. But then, as a new working year loomed, it was as if the leave had never happened. The now-former lawyer sums it up in a single word: dread.

Eventually, Davis diagnosed the cause: chronic burnout that no amount of leave could cure, and went on to write a book, Beating Burnout at Work, in the hope of helping others manage workplace stress.

Many of us have experienced similar feelings – or will over the next few weeks as the working year begins in earnest and we encounter, once again, those gossipy co-workers, pointless mandatory meetings and, now that school’s back, too, the unavoidable and impossible “work-life” juggle. These daily hurdles don’t even need to be particularly noteworthy to impact our quality of life and physical wellbeing; indeed, as a pair of US academics have explained, seemingly trivial “micro-stresses” can ripple outwards like a stone thrown into a pond.

So how can we create a more congenial life this year? How is it that people seem to do it so much better in some other countries (such as France, home of the multi-course lunch and month-long summer holiday)? Is there anything in quiet quitting, lazy-girl jobs and silent partners? And might you suffer from ergophobia?

What is it about workplaces …?

The frustrations and indignities of paid toil have long provided a wealth of material for social observers. US poet Theodore Roethke spoke of the “inexorable sadness” of pencils and manila folders. British poet laureate John Betjeman hated watching the one-time village of Slough being turned into an industrial park in the 1930s, bemoaning its “air-conditioned, bright canteens, tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans, tinned minds, tinned breath”. Though pity the young clerks, he implored. “It’s not their fault that they are mad, they’ve tasted Hell.” Slough was naturally the go-to location for The Office, the BBC sitcom written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant about awful bosses and make-work paper shuffling.

Charles Dickens was perhaps the most penetrating critic of the emerging modern workplace with his withering descriptions of lawyers’ offices (Bleak House), workhouses (Oliver Twist) and the grimy streets of Hard Times, “inhabited by people equally like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same sound upon the same pavements, to do the same work, and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and tomorrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next”. Oof.

Much of our behaviour at work remains inexorably influenced by unconscious patterns laid down in our childhood.

We do, overall, have it better today. For many, work is not necessarily “Hell” but a setting in which we hope to find personal satisfaction, build relationships, achieve ambitions and earn enough to fund a decent lifestyle. Yet beneath its laminated surface, the modern workplace can still be a conflict zone, fraught with anxiety, paranoia and narcissism. At least, that’s the picture painted by London psychotherapist Naomi Shragai in her book, Work Therapy, or The Man Who Mistook His Job for His Life.

Based on her conversations with clients, Shragai describes a world of perfectionists, people-pleasers, gossips and bullies, suggesting that much of our behaviour at work remains inexorably influenced by unconscious patterns laid down in our childhood. “We all carry unresolved conflicts inside us that we’re not aware of much of the time,” she tells us from London. “If unchecked, these unconscious motivations can sabotage our ambitions and desires.”

One client had particular issues with female superiors. “He always imagined they were undermining him and intending to make him look bad. But, of course, that wasn’t the case. What he was actually reacting to was a historic relationship with his own mother, who was very intrusive, wanted to know everything about him, and always made him feel as if he was bad.” Another client was convinced his boss was a bully, yet that did not match co-workers’ assessments. “Why did my client misread his boss as being a bully? As it turned out, it’s because his father was.”

That’s the Freudian flavour to Shragai’s work, but she is equally interested in how organisations make an impact on us, and we on them – “a mix between psychoanalytic and systemic practices”. Ironically, she says, people from difficult backgrounds navigate this landscape most readily – “in their home life, they had to be hyper-vigilant and the same hypervigilance can be a superpower in the workplace” – while those who have enjoyed comfortable upbringings can both struggle to read toxic situations and collapse at the first sign of negative feedback. “It’s not all plain sailing for these people who come from wonderful, warm, caring backgrounds.”

What’s the difference between stress and burnout?

You know the feeling: something happens – a snide comment, a harsh email, an aggressive driver during your commute – and your shoulders tighten, the adrenaline pumps, perhaps there’s a pain in your stomach. What’s happening physiologically, says neurobiologist Seena Mathew, is “you release cortisol when you are stressed and your body returns to ‘normal’ after the stressful event has subsided”.

“If you are experiencing constant stress, then you will have cortisol released for extended periods of time. This can lead to fatigue as your body is running in a constant fight or flight state, constantly driven by the sympathetic nervous system.”

The trouble with micro-stresses, they say, is they go unrecognised and so are inadequately processed.

This chronic stress, says Mathew, from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Texas, can lead to various unwanted physical ailments, including lower immune system functioning, increased inflammatory responses, and an increase in muscle tension and pain. It has also been associated with cell ageing, disrupted blood-sugar levels and poor sleep.

“A lot of people are chronically stressed, which can lead to burnout,” says Perth psychologist Marny Lishman, who defines burnout as “a more kind of severe and chronic state of not just stress but emotional, physical, mental and spiritual exhaustion”. Panic attacks and depression disorders are burnout’s bedfellows, along with what was coined in the 19th century as ergophobia – the excessive fear of the workplace – from the Greek “ergon” (work) and “phobos” (fear), which is not specifically listed as a disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders but probably should be.

We might be less aware of what authors Rob Cross and Karen Dillon call the micro-stress effect: tiny, “pernicious” triggers. “Micro-stresses may be hard to spot individually, but cumulatively they pack an enormous punch,” they write in Harvard Business Review. “For example, if your teammates fail to complete a key task, you’ll have to clean up their under-delivery and have an uncomfortable conversation about what happened. In addition, you’ll have to ask your partner to take your child to the dentist, even though it’s your turn and the child likes that you always remember to pack their favourite toy. And beyond that, you might not have time to work on a professional development project as you’d planned to.”

Cross and Dillon explain that a healthy person usually responds to typical everyday stress – being admonished by the boss, bearing down on a deadline – through something called allostasis, which helps re-regulate our system after a stressful encounter (typically described as the fight or flight response a caveman experienced after coming across a dentally over-endowed tiger). The trouble with micro-stresses, they say, is they go unrecognised and so are inadequately processed.

Even micro-stresses can lead to burnout, they warn, or at least have us on the edge of it. Which tallies with the experience of Paula Davis, who describes burnout as an insidious malaise that creeps up on you, even if you try to deny its existence. “You might think, ‘Wow, I just have to deal with this’, or ‘I’ve got bills to pay’ or ‘It’s, you know, our busy season’. We try and explain it away. And then the further down the road you go with burnout, bigger decisions have to be made. You may need to ask, is this the right team that I’m on? Am I working at the right organisation? Is this really what I want to be doing?”

So how can we minimise the effects of work stress?

Short term, there are many ways you can decompress around work, although they might be Band-Aid fixes if the real problem is your employer, not you. Any decent GP will tell you to cut down on alcohol (a glass of wine or two at knock-off might help you unwind but increases your vulnerability to anxiety and other maladies in the long run); ditto smoking. Coffee is a more personal thing, but dozens of espresso shots a day are unlikely to help you relax. Exercise is obviously good, especially if it floods your system with dopamine, the chemical that gives you a feeling of wellbeing. Even a decent walk will go some way to doing the trick.

Then there’s a host of more creative suggestions. Visit a forest, say Japanese researchers, for a spot of shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing” or “taking in the forest atmosphere”). Take three deep breaths, say plenty of psychologists. Pause and mentally name the capitals of 20 countries or the 50 states of the United States (don’t forget Hawaii and Alaska). “Check in with your toes. How do they feel? Wiggle them,” suggests TheNew York Times. Try systematic muscle relaxation, clenching and relaxing the muscles in first your hands, then arms, then shoulders … and so on for up to an hour. Or buy a skipping rope, rub a piece of velvet or write down your worries, which apparently helps.

Or try a dose of even more stress. The University of California San Francisco has examined the fundamentals of “hormetic stress”, the theory that short, sharp shocks to the system can build resilience or even reverse chronic damage. Techniques include hyperventilating, deliberately holding your breath, intermittent fasting, or – as the Scandinavians knew long before universities were invented – taking ice baths or going cold-water swimming.

Former journalist Annie Lawson draws on a far older method of self-preservation: Stoicism, the ancient philosophy that seems to be having a moment today (founded by Zeno in about 300BC, popularised back in the day by Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius). Lawson was forced to re-think her attitude to work when she moved into corporate life and lost much of the autonomy she had previously counted on. She recalls: “There was a day where I had four meetings with the same people but in different meeting rooms, essentially talking about the same thing. I had this existential crisis: Oh my God, I’m going to die and my only legacy will be sitting in meetings with people using language like ‘deep dive’ and ‘strategic paradigm’.”

In the self-help section of a bookshop, she found Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, one-time Roman emperor and follower of Stoic philosophy. “It grabbed me. The central principle that underpins it is, do not worry about what you can’t control but focus on what you can control. And I think if you take that to the workplace, it’s amazing how many little irritants just fall away.”

Another key principle of Stoicism, she says, is having a sense of purpose and drive – or work ethic – and to expect that in pursuing goals, you will encounter obstacles, among them annoying people. “And when you do that, you will not be disappointed, you’ll be well-prepared – because the workplace is, quite frankly, filled with them.”

Many of the experts we spoke with agreed that opting out of office politics is rarely a solution. Says Shragai: “People are always moaning about work politics but, essentially, politics is relationships. So people who say, ‘I don’t do politics’, what they’re saying is, ‘I don’t relate to people and I’m not very interested in what’s going on here’.”

‘As soon as I let go of my identity being entirely wrapped up with work then I felt freer in the workplace and, in many respects, I think I performed better.’

Author Annie Lawson

Instead, sit back and try to understand what makes the people around you tick, what motivates them, and amend your behaviour accordingly, especially if you’re a manager. Personality profiling is, of course, nothing new but there are some broadbrush ideas that can help, according to Michelle Duval, the founder of F4S, a company that, among other things, uses AI to improve online communication between colleagues.

Duval has collected data, for example, suggesting that, broadly, Baby Boomers and Gen Xers thrive when they have specific goals to achieve. “But when we look at Millennials and Gen Z, they have nearly zero focus on goals.” Instead, she says, younger workers may be more process-oriented, preferring to solve problems and overcome challenges as they arise. “We help by helping people to understand themselves and to understand their team, and then to be able to motivate managers based on the people you’re working with.”

Lawson eventually adapted some of what she learnt into her own self-help book, Stoic at Work, which examines how the Stoics welcomed feedback of all kinds, why you should be wary of compliments (flattery can derail you from your purpose) and whether, just perhaps, that annoying colleague is actually you. This year, she says, “I went back [to work] without the sense of dread I know everyone has where they think, ‘Maybe I should change jobs’. Because I thought, what is my grand purpose? And I’ve just meditated on that problem. What do I really want out of life?”

Her conclusion? “My grander purpose isn’t just the job I have. And the thing that makes me happy is having a creative outlet and a social life and family. As soon as I let go of my identity being entirely wrapped up with work then I felt freer in the workplace and, in many respects, I think I performed better.”

What about the bigger picture, though?

Sometimes, of course, the problem is not you, it’s them. The workplace might be actually unprofessional and unpleasant. Or your immediate boss truly is a psychopath. No amount of toe-wiggling is going to help that. “We have to stop thinking about preventing burnout as solely something that individuals have the ability to do or that they should do,” says Davis. “Burnout is the individual manifestation of a workplace system or culture issue.”

Many seem to have come to this conclusion post-pandemic, after a period spent working from home shone a light on irritating workplace practices we had previously considered were a given. If you believe what you read on social media, by 2022-23 our younger generations were either resigning en masse (the Great Resignation, presumably for those who could afford it), “quiet quitting” (doing the bare minimum), or hoping to snag a “lazy girl job” (which seems to be a sinecure that pays the rent and perhaps funds overseas holidays). “Silent partners”, meanwhile, are apparently colleagues who turn off the Zoom camera, say nothing in meetings, make Monday their in-office day and quietly slink into obscurity, albeit while getting their work done.

Yet there was something in the new terms, says US author Sarah Jaffe. “What quiet quitting, in particular, describes is something that organised labour refers to as work to rule, which is a process of doing exactly what your job description is, often in meticulous detail, and no more, as a way of exerting power.” (Jaffe recently published Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted and Alone.) Just be careful it doesn’t backfire, she warns. “If you’re the only one at your workplace doing the bare minimum, and all your co-workers are still doing the most, staying late, eventually your boss will notice and then you’re in trouble.”

One Swedish council even considered a scheme to give municipal employees a paid hour every week to go home and have sex.

This pushback seems a little depressing, however, when considering the alternative – trusted co-operation between employer and employees that helps everybody integrate their work and life.Evidence suggests that, at least in some industries, shorter working hours can benefit everybody. Some trials of so-called four-day weeks (typically spreading between 30 and 32 hours over a working week) have resulted in measurable reductions in burnout, lower stress overall and a 44 per cent drop in absenteeism. Several four-day trials in Iceland between 2015 and 2019 suggested workers’ wellbeing improved with no hit to productivity. Another study of Australian organisations reviewed by Swinburne University researchers reported some workplaces even had a productivity bump.

Yet the jury remains out: while a long-term trial, run over two years in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, that cut hours to six a day, showed multiple benefits for workers, it came at an unsustainable cost, thanks to having to employ extra staff to fill gaps in sectors such as aged care that required round-the-clock staffing.

Even working full-time, however, the Swedes routinely enjoy perks we can only dream of: a cash allowance to spend on wellbeing activities, “fika” – the sacrosanct workday ritual of meeting for coffee and pastry – and flexible working hours . In 2017, one Swedish council even considered a scheme to give municipal employees a paid hour every week to go home and have sex. The Spanish still cherish siestas, even though surveys suggest fewer people actually take one these days. The French, too, guard their spare time as if their lives depend on it. For many, a month-long summer holiday remains de rigueur. An hour must be reserved for a proper lunch – indeed, eating at your desk is strongly discouraged. And more than 1 million people took to the streets last year to protest against plans to extend the state pension retirement age from 62 to 64 (in Australia, it’s 67).

What we do have in Australia is a culture of long weekends – mini breaks that can sometimes do more good than longer holidays, since they demand zero planning and require little more than relaxing. The “hack” is to add some days of annual leave. Many Australians can, for example, organise 16 days off in March and April this year by booking an additional eight days of annual leave around the Easter public holidays, and another nine consecutive days with an annual-leave burn of just four days around the King’s Birthday in June.

Then, when you’re back at work again, incorporate a little of what you found most relaxing on leave into your day-to-day, says Lishman. “Whether it’s going for a swim or going for a sunset walk. How can you incorporate that into your life on a weekly basis, not just on your holidays? You don’t want to get to the finish line and be completely exhausted. You want to be able to enjoy life all the time, not just on your holiday.”

Visit: STRESS.ORG

Originally posted by THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

By Angus Holland

Photo by Valeria Ushakova

Photo by MART PRODUCTION

Photo by Paul Efe

An ultimate guide to handling your stress in 2024

William Heckman — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 15:57:18 +0000

Katharine Manning, author of “The Empathetic Workplace” shares tips for identifying, mitigating, and managing daily stressors.

[Photo: Aiony Haust/Unsplash]

Whether it’s caused by difficulties at home, challenges at work, or turmoil in the world, stress is ubiquitous. And unfortunately, it’s not going away. When we don’t recognize and manage our stress, it can be detrimental to our success at work, to our relationships, and to our health.

For this new year, make a commitment to taking better care of your wellbeing by developing some tools to mitigate stress, navigate stressful situations more effectively, and build up your strength to handle the stressors heading your way. Here are a few techniques that can help you handle your stress better in 2024.

IDENTIFY AND MITIGATE DAILY STRESSORS

British-Canadian writer Robert W. Service once wrote “It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out; it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.”

If we want to get a handle on our stress, we have to start small. Every day, annoyances, interruptions, and slights chip away at our resilience. Often, they are so tiny or so commonplace that we don’t even realize that it’s happening. We walk in our front door and our stomach clenches, but we don’t recognize that it’s because our spouse’s shoes are scattered across the entryway—again. We sigh at the caller ID signifying a coworker’s newest request for information that he could have gotten without interrupting us, but we pick up the phone nonetheless.

These are small energy drains, but over time, they leave us with less and less of a reserve of energy to handle the matters that are actually important.

The first step, then, is to begin to recognize those small energy drains. One for me is the Legos that my kids strew across my home. Perhaps for you it’s the dishes piled in the sink, or traffic, or a rude colleague. Another common energy drain is “doom scrolling”—addictively reading or watching depressing or upsetting digital content.

Once you’re identified a stressor, you have an opportunity. Now you can try to minimize, or even eliminate it. Have a conversation with your spouse about the shoes, or with your coworker about the endless data requests. Limit yourself to a fifteen-minute social media check-in, and then put down the phone. I designated a spot in my house as our “Lego Room,” and I don’t go in there. A little focused attention on the stressor that you’ve identified can go a long way in relieving that drain of your energy.

MANAGE THE STRESS THAT CAN’T BE AVOIDED

We won’t be able to rid ourselves entirely of stress, of course. For those stressors that nonetheless arise, it’s helpful to have a few tools.

First, remember to breathe. A deep, slow breath increases your brain function and calms your nervous system. One of my favorite breathing techniques is 4-7-8 breathing, but there are many that work.

Second, check in with yourself. How are you feeling? Are you angry, frustrated, scared, or jealous? Simply labeling your emotion can help you to feel more in control of it. A phrase to help remember this technique in the moment is “name it to tame it.”

Third, take a break. Go for a walk, switch off the news to music, or talk with friends. A quick break can do wonders for your creativity, productivity, and calm.

MAINTAIN A DAILY RESET

Every day you brush your teeth, exercise, and prepare healthy food, because you know that it’s necessary for your physical health. In the same way, you need to take steps each day to protect your mental health. Guarding against burnout is one of those areas where the best defense is a strong offense. The better our equilibrium you establish to begin with, the better you’ll be able to manage the storms heading your way.

Thus, it’s worthwhile to develop and maintain a routine of self-care, or what I like to call a daily reset—something that you do every day to buoy your mental health.

A daily reset might be walking the dog in the morning, playing the guitar for fifteen minutes at the end of the workday, or a meditation before bed. Every morning, I do a little meditation and write down the things I’m grateful for that day. The daily reset can be anything from art to exercise to stillness, but the key is that you do it regularly, and that it replenishes your energy reserves.

It’s better to start slowly and build up over time. For instance, don’t commit to going to the gym for an hour every day if you aren’t already going to the gym for an hour every day. Instead, try a five-minute stretching routine or a lunchtime stroll. The goal is consistency—it would be better to meditate for five minutes every day than to do a weeklong meditation retreat once a year.

Finally, try not to sacrifice your daily reset during hectic times, despite the temptation. That is precisely when you need it most.

CONSIDER LARGER LIFE SHIFTS

Once we’ve managed our energy drains and begun to build our resilience through a daily reset, we may want to work on some larger life shifts to protect our wellbeing. Here are a few to consider.

Boundary setting. To maintain our energy for things that really matter to us, we have to be willing to say “no” to the things that don’t. Recognize that your energy is finite and worthy of protection. It’s not just okay to say “no” to unimportant things, it’s essential.

Build a community of support. No one gets through this life alone, certainly not if we want to build a life of success and happiness. Maintain relationships with friends and colleagues to provide you with the support you need to better enjoy the good times and get through the hard times.

Recognize your warning signs. Have you heard the expression, “the universe whispers first, and then it shouts?” We have to get better at recognizing the whispers—those signs that we’re beginning to suffer from burnout. Perhaps it’s a shorter temper, insomnia, or a persistent sore throat. Recognize the signs that you are beginning to suffer from burnout, and when you see them, recommit to all of the self-care techniques discussed here.

We can’t get rid of all of the stress in our lives, but we can take steps to mitigate it, and get better at supporting ourselves through it. Protecting our energy is the only way to ensure that we have it for the really important things in our work and our lives. Better resilience can be built through identifying and addressing small stressors, practicing a daily reset, and considering the larger life shifts that will allow us to thrive.

Photograph by Aiony Haust

Originally posted by Fast Company

How Calm encourages mindfulness among its employees

William Heckman — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 16:26:13 +0000

Calm’s CPO shares how the company promotes mindfulness through daily meditations and company-wide mental health days.

Do you ever feel stressed at work? Of course you do. You’re only human.

In fact, almost all US employees (80%) feel at least some amount of stress on the job, and about one-half of those workers want to learn how to manage their stress, according to The American Institute of Stress.

This is where people leaders can play a key role in helping workers, said Scott Domann, chief people officer at meditation app Calm, and be “rewarded with high productivity and employee satisfaction,” he said. By creating a culture that values mindfulness, he told HR Brew he’s been able to help his roughly 300 employees strike a “strong work-rest balance” through daily meditations and company-wide mental health days.

Meditations and breaks. Two years ago, Calm started conducting twice-yearly engagement surveys, the results of which have helped shape the company’s mindfulness programs.

Every company-wide meeting starts with a group meditation, “just to give [employees] a second to center and give them an opportunity to go on that meditative journey,” Domann said, adding that he enjoys starting meetings with guided meditations to help employees check in with themselves and reduce their stress and anxiety, a strategy research from the Mayo Clinic supports.

Each employee also spends 15 minutes a day, Monday through Friday, meditating or listening to a Calm story as a group, Domann said, by having 15 minutes reserved on their calendars.

“It’s blocked on our calendar, so that even if you don’t join the daily call, it’s time that you don’t schedule over,” Domann said. “From a mindfulness standpoint, regardless of what you do, you get a bit of a break…and this leads back to the importance of rest, breaks, and being able to step away from your day-to-day.”

Advice for other HR teams. Domann said he has seen HR teams at other companies struggle to get employees to engage with mental health resources. That’s why he has implemented a way for employees to care for their mental health how they choose, with five mental health days to be used alongside daily meditations and breaks.

“I encourage [other HR leaders] to make sure there are unified moments where everyone at the company is doing the same thing at the same time,” Domann said. “That way, it’s not like Scott’s people team is taking a mental health day but the engineering team isn’t…so if everybody is taking that day off, then everyone has the opportunity to fully take off.”

Domann said he understands that it may be harder for people leaders whose businesses don’t revolve around mindfulness to get employees to engage with mental health initiatives. He recommended encouraging candid conversations in everyday interactions and evolving resources over time based on employee feedback.

“Talk about sleep and talk about stories around your own personal experience with mental health, whether it’s something like, you didn’t sleep well last night because you were awake until 3 in the morning,” Domann said. “It’s those opportunities to make sure that everyone can see the modeling and behavior, and [say], ‘Oh, gosh, I’m not alone.’”

Visit The American Institute of Stress

Original post HW Brew

ByMikaela Cohen

Photo by Jack Sparrow

A Comprehensive Guide: Top 6 Fun Ways To Relax

William Heckman — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 14:00:16 +0000

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s estimated that around 75% of adults experience moderate to high levels of stress each month, according to the American Institute of Stress. This statistic highlights the necessity of incorporating relaxation strategies into our daily lives. Relaxation is more than an indulgence; it’s a vital aspect of health and well-being, serving as an antidote to stress, reducing the risk of chronic diseases, and improving quality of life. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the top six fun ways to relax, providing practical advice on how to effectively integrate these relaxation techniques into your daily routine.

1. Going Out to Have Fun

These activities might range from exploring a new trail in your local nature reserve, attending a live music concert, trying a new cafe with friends, to visiting a museum or art gallery. There’s a wealth of research suggesting that experiencing novel and pleasurable activities can be a potent stress reliever. This is because such experiences stimulate the release of endorphins – your body’s natural mood elevators – and suppress the production of stress hormones. Moreover, going out often means socializing, which is a well-known stress reliever. Furthermore, if none of your friends are available, or you maybe want to do something different, options like sglonelyguy escort services, or trying out a new dating app can also be fun and exciting ways to relax. Remember, the primary goal is to enjoy the activity, so choose something that makes you happy and allows you to unwind.

2. Meditation and Deep Breathing

Mindfulness practices like meditation and deep breathing have been shown to calm the mind, reduce stress, and increase relaxation. These techniques require minimal equipment or preparation, making them convenient to practice anytime and anywhere. To start meditating, find a quiet spot where you won’t be disturbed for 10-15 minutes. Sit comfortably on a cushion or chair, close your eyes, and focus on your breath. Notice each inhale and exhale without trying to control them. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to your breath. Deep breathing can be done in a seated or lying position. Take a deep slow breath in through your nose for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, then slowly breathe out through your mouth for eight seconds.

3. Indulge in a Creative Hobby

Whether it’s painting, playing an instrument, or writing in a journal, engaging in creative hobbies can be an excellent way to relax and unwind. These activities stimulate the brain, promoting relaxation by shifting your focus away from stressors and onto something enjoyable. Creativity has also been linked to reduced levels of cortisol – the primary stress hormone – and increased production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and happiness. So pick up that guitar, grab your paintbrushes, or start writing that story you’ve always wanted to tell. Even if you don’t consider yourself a particularly creative person, trying out different hobbies can be a fun and rewarding way to relax.

4. Exercise Regularly

Engaging in regular exercise releases endorphins, which can help alleviate anxiety and improve mood. It’s important to find a form of physical activity that you enjoy, as this will make it easier to stick to a routine. Whether it’s taking a walk in nature, joining a dance class, or lifting weights at the gym, choose an activity that brings you joy and makes you feel good. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise each day to reap its stress-relieving benefits. For an added boost, try incorporating mindfulness techniques into your exercise routine, such as focusing on your breath and tuning in to the sensations in your body.

5. Spend Time in Nature

Spending time outdoors can help reset your mental state, reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, and promote relaxation. Nature has a calming effect on the mind, with studies showing that being in natural environments can lower blood pressure, reduce cortisol levels, and improve overall well-being. So next time you feel overwhelmed, try taking a walk in a nearby park or hiking through a forest. Take in your surroundings – the sights, smells, and sounds of nature- and let yourself unwind. For an added bonus, try pairing nature with other relaxation techniques like deep breathing or meditation.

6. Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough quality sleep is crucial for overall health and well-being, including relaxation. Lack of sleep can increase stress levels, impair cognitive function, and negatively impact mood. Make sure to prioritize getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep each night by establishing a regular bedtime routine and creating an environment conducive to sleep. This includes avoiding screen time before bed, keeping your bedroom dark and cool, and practicing relaxation techniques like deep breathing or meditation to help you unwind and fall asleep faster.

Incorporating these six enjoyable ways to relax into your routine can help reduce stress levels, promote overall well-being, and enhance your quality of life. Remember that relaxation is not a one-size-fits-all concept, so experiment with different techniques and find what works best for you. By prioritizing relaxation in your daily life, you can improve your physical and mental health, making it an essential aspect of self-care.

by Team Parle

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Gen-Z Faces Financial Challenges, Stress, Anxiety And An Uncertain Future

William Heckman — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 13:39:22 +0000

Gen-Z feels substantial anxiety and stress about jobs, long-term financial stability, and major life steps, such as buying a home and starting a family. The current economy and job market are primary sources of uncertainty for this generation, according to EY’s 2023 Gen-Z Segmentation Study.

Seeing the wave of massive layoffs in late 2022 through the first half of 2023 has created feelings of distrust toward employers and job insecurity. Consequently, the EY data revealed that Gen-Z’s anxiety levels are at an all-time high.

The study captured insights from more than 1,500 participants across the United States born between roughly 1997 and 2007—aged 16 to 26 years old—to track Gen-Z’s personal and professional interests and their outlook on mental health, trust, technology, career and lifestyle ambitions.

Marcie Merriman, EY Americas cultural insights and customer strategy leader, said about the survey, “Right now, Gen-Z is particularly important as the newest generation of consumers, employees and citizens that will dramatically impact businesses today and into the future.” Merriman added that EY’s research found that mental health is an ongoing challenge for this cohort.

They will ultimately comprise a large component of the workforce. Elder Zoomers will soon age out of their parent’s health plans and need to assume the high costs of insurance—not to mention the additional expenses of renting an apartment, paying back tuition loans and life’s necessities.

Key Findings

According to the report, over 50% of Gen-Zers said they are “extremely worried about not having enough money.” In light of the economic turmoil, fears of a recession, the ascension of artificial intelligence and corporate downsizings, making a living is a top priority for these young adults.

This group is also stressed about making poor financial decisions with their hard-earned money. Many people got burned chasing meme stocks, SPACs, NFTs and cryptocurrencies during the big bubble pandemic overexuberance. Nearly 70% of the respondents self-reported that their financial situation was not looking good.

Gen-Zers are juggling several gigs and jobs. Around 65% worked part-time or full-time jobs last year, while 56% earned money from freelance or “side hustle” work. Thirty-nine percent of Gen-Z earned money working both a job and a side hustle.

Anxiety Around Communication

After a few years of working remotely, companies are pushing people to return to the office. There is a discomfort segueing from being stuck at home during the pandemic and needing to navigate corporate etiquette.

According to Tara Salinas, a professor of business ethics at the University of San Diego, Gen-Z’s native digital skills may have come at the cost of in-person communication and interpersonal relationships. “Gen-Z are digital natives and they’ve always communicated online, so their interpersonal skills—or soft skills—have suffered,” said Salinas.

Data from a 2023 report by Miro on asynchronous work reveals that many Gen-Z workers find it challenging to communicate effectively in the workplace. They have difficulty asking for help and struggle to navigate collaborative processes with their colleagues.

In A Separate McKinsey Study

A study by McKinsey last year found that Gen-Z faces an unprecedented behavioral health crisis. Zoomers in America reported the least positive outlook and the highest level of mental illness of any generation.

This cohort is going through what looks like a decline in economic opportunities. Saving for retirement seems out of reach and will become even harder. Almost 60% of Gen-Zers say their basic needs are not being met.

They’re plagued with concerns about finding stable, well-paying jobs. Without a secure position comes uncertainty and discomfort. Understandably, there’s a lament that they won’t be able to have the American dream of buying a home, starting a family and doing better than their parents. This cohort is also anxious over the anchor of student debt, high inflation causing the prices of nearly everything to rise and the difficulty of earning enough money to save for the future.

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Original Post Forbes

By Jack Kelly

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Battling burnout: Resilience can’t fix a toxic workplace

William Heckman — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 13:48:12 +0000

Resilience training, while beneficial, cannot single-handedly combat the detrimental effects of a toxic work culture.

Organizations around the world are battling an epidemic of employee burnout. Gallup’s research suggests that 76 percent of employees experience burnout on the job at least sometimes and 28 percent say they are burned out “very often” or “always” at work. This is not sustainable.

Extended periods of burnout can have serious consequences for an individuals’ mental and emotional well-being; it’s a significant risk factor for depression, substance abuse and even suicide. Burnout also presents a serious threat to an organization, resulting in lower employee engagement, lower productivity, higher absenteeism and higher turnover rates, all of which negatively impact a company’s bottom line. The American Institute of Stress estimates that burnout costs U.S. industries more than $300 billion annually.

Addressing the rise in employee burnout has become a business imperative. According to the McKinsey Health Institute, four in five HR leaders report that mental health and well-being is a top priority for their organization. Many have implemented strategies designed to foster resilience, empowering employees to navigate challenges more effectively and thrive at work. These strategies often focus on the main drivers of burnout:

High workload and pressure: Excessive workloads, long hours, tight deadlines and unrealistic expectations can overwhelm employees and make them feel like they are constantly struggling to keep up. This sustained pressure erodes their energy and motivation over time.

Lack of control and autonomy: When employees feel powerless and unable to make decisions that affect their work, they can experience a loss of control. Micromanagement and a lack of autonomy hinder their sense of purpose and fulfillment, contributing to burnout.

Poor work-life balance: The blurring of boundaries between work and personal life can lead to chronic stress and burnout. In today’s “always-on” culture, employees often find it challenging to disconnect and rejuvenate, resulting in exhaustion and diminished well-being.

Inadequate recognition and reward: The absence of acknowledgment and appreciation for employees’ contributions can create a sense of undervaluation and disengagement. When employees’ efforts go unnoticed, it erodes their motivation and increases the risk of burnout.

Uncertainty and ambiguity: Unclear goals, vague expectations and inconsistent communication contribute to employee burnout. When employees are unsure about what is expected of them or lack clear guidance, it increases stress levels, leads to a lack of confidence and creates a constant state of uncertainty.

Toxic behaviors: Toxic behaviors such as harassment, bullying and discrimination are a leading cause of burnout. Constant exposure to degrading and abusive interactions erodes one’s mental and emotional resilience. The relentless stress and negativity associated with these behaviors undermine motivation, self-esteem and overall well-being.

Resilience training is not a panacea

Many companies have launched resilience training programs to help employees develop their ability to adapt and bounce back from adversity. Resilience training can empower employees with coping skills to deal with workplace stress. These programs can help promote work-life integration, encouraging employees to establish healthy work-life boundaries by emphasizing the importance of self-care and time management. They can also cultivate a more supportive work environment emphasizing empathy, open communication and psychological safety. Resilience training can build emotional intelligence, equipping employees with tools to effectively manage their energy, set boundaries and navigate conflicts.

Resilience training can be extremely beneficial for individuals and organizations, but resilience training is not a panacea. Resilience training programs often focus on individual-level solutions, such as stress management techniques and mindfulness exercises. While well-intentioned, these programs place responsibility on the individual to cope with the demands of what may be a toxic work culture. It assumes employees can thrive regardless of their external environment.

McKinsey Health Institute research suggests toxic workplace behaviors are the single biggest predictor of burnout symptoms and, according to a recent survey from the American Psychological Association, 19 percent of workers say their workplace is very or somewhat toxic. Those who reported a toxic workplace were more than three times as likely to have said they have experienced harm to their mental health at work than those who report a healthy workplace.

Ignoring toxic behaviors and focusing just on coping techniques is a losing proposition. Research suggests that interventions which only target individuals are far less likely to have a sustainable impact on employee well-being than systemic, organizational-level interventions. So, while these practices may offer temporary relief, they do not address systemic issues that can breed toxicity within the workplace.

Ironically, helping employees develop resilience may actually encourage them to leave the organization. Employees with high adaptability are 60 percent more likely to report intent to leave their organization if they experienced high levels of toxic behavior at work than those with low adaptability. By solely relying on resilience training, HR leaders risk inadvertently perpetuating a cycle of burnout, masking the need for true cultural change. They may be treating the symptoms without addressing the root cause.

To address the root causes of a toxic culture, organizations should focus on the organizational norms that shape individual attitudes, habits and behaviors. Norms are the unwritten rules of behavior that are shared by members of a group, a team or an organization. Norms shape expectations about employee performance, defining what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Norms guide employee interactions with managers, peers and colleagues – as well as customers and clients. They help employees anticipate the consequences of their own actions. Employees generally adhere to norms because they want to fit in with the people around them, and that group identity exerts a very strong influence on individual behavior – both positive and negative.

Talent management plays a critical role in shaping norms for the organization. Every strategic decision to recruit, engage, develop and reward employees can either reinforce or erode the organizational norms. For example, talent acquisition and onboarding provide a vital opportunity to introduce and establish norms with new employees. Rewards and recognition are powerful tools to clarify and reinforce organizational norms. Celebrating accomplishments and recognizing positive behaviors can send a strong signal to the organization. Talent development provides an opportunity for employees to explore norms and develop the skills that contribute to a positive work environment like communication, collaboration and decision making.

Leadership development programs can directly shape norms. Leaders set the tone for acceptable and appropriate behaviors. Underperforming leaders can have a negative effect, eroding trust in a business and creating low employee engagement. Organizations should empower leaders with tools to establish team norms that will lead to positive outcomes. That could include giving them a framework to discuss norms with their teams and preparing them to have explicit discussions about individual and team behaviors. Once these norms are established and communicated, individual team members can hold each other accountable, calling out inappropriate or unacceptable behaviors — supported by transparent policies and procedures to reinforce accountability and discourage harmful behaviors. Creating a positive team climate is the single most important driver of a team’s psychological safety.

Talent management professionals are in a unique position to set expectations for employee behavior, monitor performance and make necessary adjustments. Employee engagement and satisfaction surveys can help to identify areas in an organization that are struggling. These areas may benefit from a more direct intervention to address behaviors and attitudes. Performance reviews and 360s can provide additional insight into individual strengths and weaknesses. Exit interviews, when done effectively, can help to spot toxic behaviors in a team or manager. According to a study from the Society for Human Resource Management, one in five employees have left a job at some point in their career because of its toxic culture. Failure to address the underlying issue makes it harder to retain key talent, and once an employer has a reputation for a toxic culture it can become much harder to attract new talent.

Business leaders have a responsibility to create a positive work environment where employees can thrive. Resilience training, while beneficial, cannot single-handedly combat the detrimental effects of a toxic work culture. Talent management professionals can harness the power of norms to foster a culture that promotes psychological safety, embraces diversity and fosters employee well-being. These norms create a strong foundation for a healthy and productive work environment, ultimately enhancing overall organizational performance and employee satisfaction.

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Original post Talent Management

By Kip Kelly is the senior vice president of marketing and sales at Quantuvos. Kip has over 25 years of marketing and communications experience, with a focus on talent management, executive education, professional coaching and leadership development. His expertise in diversity, inclusion and the use of data and analytics in learning and development has earned him a reputation as an industry leader, having published over 60 research studies and white papers, as featured in Chief Learning Officer Magazine, TD Magazine, Training Industry, HR Magazine, Fortune Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Financial Times and a host of other leading publications.

Strategies to deal with burnout and work-related stress

William Heckman — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 13:38:18 +0000

Hustle culture refers to a competitive environment where employees feel pressured to work strenuous hours and achieve results quickly. This type of atmosphere can lead to high levels of stress and employee burnout. Employees may be reluctant to take breaks or vacations, resulting in workdays that are extremely and unremittingly long. Working excessively long hours can cause physical and mental exhaustion, making it difficult to stay productive and complete tasks to the best of one’s ability. Furthermore, the pressure to succeed in such a competitive environment can lead to feelings of inadequacy, leading to further stress and burnout.

In today’s fast-paced and demanding work environment, burnout and work-related stress have become prevalent issues. However, there are effective strategies supported by research that individuals can utilize to manage and reduce burnout and work-related stress. Let’s explore these strategies, along with data and figures that highlight their effectiveness.

Set clear boundaries:

According to a study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, employees who set boundaries between work and personal life experienced lower levels of burnout and higher job satisfaction.
Research conducted by the American Psychological Association found that 44% of employees who set clear boundaries reported better well-being compared to those who didn’t.

Practice self-care:

A study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine revealed that engaging in self-care activities, such as exercise, reduced the risk of burnout among employees.
According to the American Institute of Stress, 28% of workers who practiced regular self-care reported lower stress levels.

Foster a supportive work environment:

Research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology suggests that employees who perceive their work environment as supportive have lower levels of burnout and higher job satisfaction.
A study conducted by Gallup found that employees who feel supported by their managers are 70% less likely to experience burnout.

Prioritize workload and time management:

A survey conducted by the American Psychological Association found that 49% of employees who felt they had too much work experienced higher stress levels.
Research published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine indicated that effective workload management and time prioritization reduced burnout among employees by 41%.

Take regular breaks:

According to a study conducted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, brief mental breaks during work can enhance focus and reduce stress.
The Society for Human Resource Management reported that employees who took regular breaks experienced increased productivity by 33%.

Seek social support:

A study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology found that employees who received social support from colleagues had lower levels of burnout and higher job satisfaction.
The Mental Health Foundation reported that having a supportive network at work can reduce stress levels by 30%.

Practice mindfulness:

A meta-analysis published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology revealed that mindfulness interventions were effective in reducing burnout and increasing overall well-being among employees.
A study conducted by the National Institutes of Health found that employees who practiced mindfulness experienced a 28% reduction in stress levels.

Utilize employee assistance programs (EAPs):

Employee assistance programs provide resources and support for employees dealing with burnout and work-related stress.
The International Employee Assistance Professionals Association reported that EAPs have been shown to reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, and improve employee well-being.

Promote work-life balance:

A survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that 89% of employees considered work-life balance an important factor in reducing burnout and work-related stress.
According to the Harvard Business Review, employees who have a good work-life balance are 21% more likely to be engaged in their work.
Regularly assess and adjust workload:

It’s important to regularly assess workload and make necessary adjustments to prevent burnout. This includes delegating tasks, redistributing responsibilities, and seeking help when needed.
Research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that employees who had control over their workload had lower levels of burnout and higher job satisfaction.

In conclusion, implementing strategies to manage and reduce burnout and work-related stress is crucial in today’s demanding work environment. Setting clear boundaries, practicing self-care, fostering a supportive work environment, prioritizing workload and time management, taking regular breaks, seeking social support, practicing mindfulness, utilizing employee assistance programs, promoting work-life balance, and regularly assessing workload are all effective approaches. By incorporating these strategies, individuals can enhance their well-being, increase job satisfaction, and combat burnout and work-related stress.

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Original post The Morung Express