Mindset The KBR Link Mental Health Spotlight How to Prevent Burnout
Burnout can be described as a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It is a serious condition that can affect your physical and mental health, as well as your work and personal relationships.
To help prevent burnout, it’s important to understand potential signs. Simply by recognizing these, you can take the necessary steps required to prioritize rest and lower your stress levels.
Signs of burnout Some of the signs that you may be burning out include:
- A lack of motivation
- Caring less about work than you once did
- Feeling less creative
- Feeling exhausted all the time
- Increased illness
- Feeling more cynical and negative
- Decreased satisfaction with all aspects of your life
“If you don't make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness.” – Joyce Sunada
Tips for avoiding burnout
Prioritize taking breaks
To consistently perform at your best, you need to rest and recharge. Throughout the day, be sure to step away from your desk to take a walk, do a yoga class, or have lunch. Whatever it is, stepping away for just 20 minutes will help recenter you during a busy day. And if you don’t feel like there’s time in your schedule, make some time by blocking out your calendar. Taking time to rest and recharge is just as important as all the other tasks on your to-do list.
Find ways to wind down and disconnect
Work occupies so much of our day that it’s normal to occupy your mind after hours. However, it’s important to be able to compartmentalize and actively transition from your workday to your home life. This is particularly important when working from home. Whether it’s exercising after work, catching up with friends, or spending uninterrupted quality time with family, setting boundaries between your home and work life can help you completely disconnect and properly recharge. So unless you’re dealing with an urgent matter, avoid the temptation to look at emails or check Teams messages outside of your work day. Turn off your notifications or even put your phone in another room if it helps you to stop checking in.
Set boundaries
It’s normal to want to say "yes" to everyone, but sometimes we need to say "no" when we have too much on our plate. If you’re over capacity, talk to your manager about prioritizing what matters most to help cut down an overwhelmingly long to-do list. And if you’re a manager, consider delegating some tasks to free up your time for more important things. Whatever your level, it’s important to understand and accept your own limitations, and communicate them to your team.
Use your leave strategically
KBR’s Agile Work Weeks (AWW) means you can slowly accrue additional hours to benefit from a relaxing long weekend every month. If you’re not already doing this, start thinking about how you can adjust your work schedule so you can benefit from this monthly recharge. Making sure you don’t bank too much annual leave and continually make time to take breaks throughout the year can also help reduce the chance of burnout.
Take time to connect
Feelings of isolation and loneliness can contribute to burnout. Humans are social creatures and it’s so important to build relationships and find communities within the workplace. If you’re working from home a lot, try to make time to come into the office a couple of days a week to connect with your peers. Attend social events where possible, join an employee resource group, and maybe even find a work buddy to catch up with for lunch or coffee once a week. The importance of having a supportive community cannot be underestimated when it comes to alleviating stress.
Ask for help
Our people are at the heart of what we do, and we want every single one of our employees to come to work feeling happy, motivated and confident. If you are ever feeling like work is becoming too much for you and you need a break, please reach out for help. Speak to your manager, your People and Culture team, or even reach out to your local employee support program (ESP) if you need someone to speak to. Visit our global mental health resources page for more information or to access the ESP. As we continue to navigate this evolving workplace dynamic, it is important that each of us proactively looks out for each other by regularly checking in with our colleagues and recognizing the signs that someone is not okay.
