9 minute read
Causes of burnout and myths to avoid
Nick Wignall*
In our October issue of At the Bar, we printed the first of a three part series on burnout at the Bar. This is the second article in the series, and it has been provided by our member benefit partner MAS.
What causes burnout at work?
According to a study by the Gallup organization, the most common causes of burnout at work were unfair treatment at work, an unmanageable workload, unclear communication from managers, a lack of support, and unreasonable time pressures.
In this section, we’ll briefly look at each of these as well as other, more subtle factors that can be playing a role as well.
Keep in mind that there’s a lot of overlap between the signs and symptoms of burnout and the causes. This is because the relationship between these factors is complex and often bidirectional. For example
Finally, when it comes to professional burnout, keep this in mind: Burnout is not all in your head.
While our attitudes, thought patterns, beliefs, and behaviours do affect our experience of burnout at work, it’s a mistake to ignore the many external and environmental factors that contribute to burnout.
Environmental causes of burnout
Unfair treatment at work.
One of the most commonly reported causes of burnout at work is the perception of being treated unfairly by managers, bosses, and coworkers. Of the many negative consequences of an unfair and highly critical work environment, perhaps one of the worst is that it leads to low levels of organisational trust. And when you don’t feel you can trust people at work, your stress levels become chronically elevated which leads to many of the most common symptoms of professional burnout such as anxiety, exhaustion, and isolation.
Lack of agency and control.
There’s a fundamental human need to feel a sense of control over one’s life, including work. Of course, almost no one is completely in control of every aspect of their work. But when people have little to no say over how they get their work done, it very quickly can sap motivation, energy, enthusiasm, and effort—all of which can lead to burnout if left unchecked.
Excessive workloads.
While it may sound obvious that too much work will lead to feeling burnt out at work, there’s more subtlety here than it would seem at first glance. Specifically, one of the reasons excessive workloads are so common is that there’s poor communication between the people doing the work and those assigning it. If a manager doesn’t actually see how their direct reports are working on a regular basis, it would be easy to develop misconceptions about appropriate workloads. This is especially likely if employees feel that they can’t speak up assertively about excessive amounts of work.
Poor job clarity.
Even if your workload is reasonable and you have a fair degree of control over how you do it, a lack of clarity about what you are actually required to do can be incredibly stressful in the long term. This is especially true for managers and leaders whose job descriptions become increasingly less technical and specific and more general as they “move up” in their workplaces. Confusion, frustration, and procrastination are all often a sign of poor job clarity.
Poor communication and support.
In many workplaces, the culture of communication is poor: many people are afraid to speak up or voice their concerns, while others are hyper-verbal to the point of being aggressive about what they want and think should happen. Poor patterns of communication in the workplace frequently lead to either conflict, resentment, or both. And when conflict and resentment become a norm, often burnout does too.
Unreasonable timelines and deadlines.
“Pressure” is one of the most common words people use to describe their experience with burnout at work. Specifically, the seemingly never-ending pressure to get an unreasonable amount of work done in an unreasonably short amount of time. While this can be the result of a company culture that is simply too demanding, more often than not it’s really a communication and expectation problem where managers and workers are not on the same page about what is reasonable.
Not enough time for “deep work.”
Deep work is a concept coined by author Cal Newport to describe a kind of highly demanding but also highly satisfying form of work where we focus intensely on one thing in a deep way for an extended period of time. It’s essentially the opposite of “busy work”. Ironically, a constant stream of tedious busy work (meetings, logistical tasks, etc) can be more likely to lead to burnout for some people than less frequent but more intense bursts of highly demanding but highly focused and creative deep work.
Perfectionism.
One way to think about burnout is when the side effects of hard work outweigh the benefits. And for folks who struggle with perfectionism, it often means they end up continuing to work hard well past the point of diminishing returns. Perfectionism is a psychological process where we feel compelled to work hard despite knowing that it’s ultimately not in our best interest. Importantly, perfectionism isn’t actually about striving for perfection in outcomes as it is striving for perfection in feeling. In other words, perfectionists don’t have a need to do perfect but a need to feel perfect about what they’re doing. The solution is to get more tolerant of feeling less than perfect.
Internal causes of burnout
Poor self-care.
Self-care means consistently doing the things that keep us mentally and physically healthy and resilient. Unfortunately, when stress levels rise, self-care activities like regular exercise, healthy eating, and quality time with friends are often the first things to go. Ironically, these are the very things that buffer us from the negative effects of stress in the first place. And without them, intense stress is much more likely to develop into full-blown burnout.
Procrastination.
Procrastination means putting off something we need to do despite knowing we’ll be worse off for it in the long term. While occasional procrastination is perfectly normal and not terribly detrimental, when it becomes a habit it can greatly magnify the effects of burnout because we’re constantly adding more and more to our workload by avoiding it in the short term. And on top of the extra work we give ourselves, procrastination also leads to an accumulation of mental stress because we chronically feel guilty and anxious about avoiding what we know needs to get done.
Self-criticism.
Self-criticism is an especially dangerous cause of burnout because it often feels right. There are, of course, always things we’re making mistakes on. And self-criticism can temporarily feel like the correct response to these mistakes because we’re A) acknowledging reality, and B) motivating ourselves to do better in the future. There are a few problems with this… First, just because a mistake is a reality doesn’t mean that reminding yourself of it is helpful. Second, while self-criticism can feel motivational, it actually does the opposite—it saps us of energy and drive to move forward. Finally, when we get stuck in the habit of self-criticism, we add a layer of shame and negativity on top of our already high levels of stress and anxiety. This “double layer” of stress is a serious driver of burnout.
Lack of assertiveness.
At the end of the day, burnout really comes down to boundaries. When we can’t set and enforce healthy boundaries with our work—either internal boundaries or external ones—burnout is virtually guaranteed. But the reason so many people struggle to set healthy boundaries is that they were never taught how to communicate assertively—in a way that’s honest to their own wants and needs but also respectful of those of others. Most are so afraid of coming across as rude or disrespectful that they end up constantly deferring their own needs. When this goes on long enough, it’s a major risk factor for developing burnout at work.
Myths and misconceptions about professional burnout
Along with the rise in awareness of job burnout as a serious problem, several myths and misconceptions have unfortunately become widespread as well. Here are several of the most common:
The solution to burnout is more vacation and time off.
While total work time is related to burnout, the much bigger factors are related to how individuals think, feel, and experience their workloads, and how organizations as a whole operate.
Burnout is a personal issue, not an organizational one.
One of the most pervasive and destructive misconceptions about burnout is that managing it is solely an individual responsibility. While it’s true that many of the factors influencing burnout are individual ones, organizational culture, expectations, and operating procedures play a critical role in the development and maintenance of employee burnout.
Passion prevents burnout.
A recent Deloitte survey found that while 87% of people surveyed reported having passion for their job, 64% also said they were frequently stressed at work.
Experiencing burnout means you’re depressed.
Research has shown that while up to 20% of burnout may be attributable to depression, that means at least 80% is not and therefore caused by other factors. Even if depression contributed to burnout, it’s often the case that workplace stress itself contributes to depression.
You need a major career change to address burnout.
Often burnout can be addressed by reshaping a job rather than needing to leave and finding a better one.
*Nick Wignall, Clinical Psychologist. For more information on how to deal with burnout at work, visit his website https://nickwignall.com/burnout-at-work/.
This article has been provided for At The Bar by MAS. It can be found on Aki, the MAS Wellbeing Portal. All Bar Association members have free access to Aki. For more information on how to access Aki, visit our website at www.nzbar.org.nz/resources/mas-wellbeing-portal.
