Steps to recharge your battery

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By Shawn Healy
Dolan Media Newswires

There are few things more discouraging than to invest significant time and effort in your career, only to want to quit because you feel burnt out.

Burnout is a common yet preventable experience among hardworking professionals. It’s the feeling of discouragement that comes from thinking that your current endeavors are meaningless, or that your work is doing nothing to improve the world.

Burnout is a response to prolonged stress and feels like a heavy burden. People who are suffering from it find it hard to maintain hope for the future. Symptoms of depression from burnout can include hopelessness, low energy, sadness, discouragement and lack of interest.

The more you understand what contributes to burnout, the more you can do to prevent it.

Contrary to popular belief, burnout can occur in a relatively short amount of time. There’s no need to work in an unrewarding job for years before burnout sets in. In fact, given the right combination of circumstances, burnout can rear its ugly head very early in a career.

Burnout can occur when you’re working in a stressful job for long periods of time. This is especially true if: the stress is consistent and seems to be resistant to your attempts at reducing it; the work you do feels meaningless or of little use; you have tried repeatedly to change your circumstances but to little avail; and you feel as if you have no way of finding meaningful work.

Below are several of the circumstances that lead to burnout and some recommendations on how to prevent or treat it.

• Avoid unrealistic expectations.

Our expectations set the stage for how we are likely to respond to events in our lives. If our expectations are unrealistic, we set ourselves up for disappointment, resentment and diminished resilience.

An expectation that our efforts at work will be rewarded with appreciation every day, while a pleasant prospect, is unrealistic and will only cause you to feel unappreciated, often within a matter of days.

Realistic expectations have more to do with you and what you have control over, and less about what others will do.

• Understand the circumstances you work in.

When we don’t understand the circumstances we work in, frustration and feelings of powerlessness are sure to follow.

Learning to appreciate the circumstances you’re in is not the same as simply “playing the game” and doing things the way they have always been done; instead, it’s a way to learn how to get your needs met in the most effective way possible.

The better you are at ensuring your needs are met, the greater sense of control you will have.

• Identify what you control.

Much time and effort are wasted as we try to influence things that are outside our control. Practicing acceptance of the things over which we have no control and directing our efforts toward those things we can influence is a powerful way to increase your sense of control in your work, and in your life in general.

For instance, you might not be able to choose the cases you are assigned — a common source of frustration for associates — but you can choose how you think about those cases, how you ask for help, how you look for something meaningful in the work, and how much time you choose to dedicate to thinking about the work once you leave the office.

• Avoid meaningless work.

There are certain tasks (dare I say, entire areas of law) that might seem meaningless or dreadfully boring to some lawyers. Most people experience a certain amount of meaningless work in their day-to-day responsibilities.

The problems start to develop when the majority of your work feels meaningless or you lack compensatory experiences of meaningful work to balance it out. We all need meaning in our lives.

If the tasks you have to complete at work do not naturally satisfy your need for meaning, either seek out meaningful activities outside of work or explore ways that you can get involved in meaningful activities at work.

• Set reasonable boundaries.

When work starts to feel unrelenting, increase your sense of control by practicing saying “no” diplomatically, set boundaries on when you will stop working, schedule time for rest and recuperation, and challenge the thought that you cannot set boundaries lest something terrible happen.

• Schedule breaks and time off.

Our calendars can quickly fill up and feel overwhelming. Use the power of your calendar to schedule breaks in your work and time off.

Studies have shown that taking regular breaks throughout the day improves work productivity and increases your ability to handle difficult tasks.

• Adopt meaningful hobbies and activities.

It is extremely important to remember that your work is not your entire life. If you are able to do something that you love, that’s great. But even then, you need more. Having meaningful hobbies and activities helps to increase your sense of satisfaction, gives you an opportunity to shift your perspective on things, and can increase creative thinking at work as you apply that new perspective to work situations.

• Talk to a professional.

Burnout is a complex affliction that is influenced by both internal and external circumstances. Talking with a trained mental-health professional (and perhaps a career coach) can help you learn exactly what is contributing to the burnout.