Ideas from around the world to help you work, love, play and feel better
When I think about burnout, my mind immediately goes to images of exhaustion. You’d think that burnout comes from having too much on your plate. You’d be right, but only partly.
Research into burnout tells us that it isn’t just exhaustion – its also cynicism and feeling ‘incompetent’. And, burnout is much more than being stressed. Its a kind of emotional fatigue that can impact you for many weeks and months even after you’ve taken a substantial break.
Surveys on the subject, reveal that excessive workload is not the only major cause. It is also about job control. When you can influence what you do at work and the way you do it, it tends to create more job satisfaction. The reverse is also true, in that when you have less control, it creates less fulfilment and overly-controlling work environments produce a more burned-out workforce.
While the causes of burnout are largely organisational or cultural, the solutions can target what is happening at different levels. Yes, it is important to make changes within a workplace that support the well-being of its employees. And, at the same time, you can focus on building more harmonious small groups as well as facilitating individual psychological flexibility. I’ll be talking more about this and what it looks like with you over the coming weeks and months. We can do a lot of positive work.
For now, why don’t you check out these articles, videos and podcasts below.
The Openforwards Weekly Round-up
• How to improve communication and closeness. Article by Amy Green, a Counselling Psychology student at University of Calgary
• Is too much work the real cause of burnout? Article by Guardian journalist, Johanna Leggatt.
• ‘Depressive realism’ – evidence that people suffering depression tend to have more realistic estimations of the world. So, what’s next? Short video by Benji Schoendorff
• The Six Habits of Highly Empathic People. How empathy can change the world. Article by Roman Krnaric.
• The Top Three Benefits of Having Therapy. An article by Jim Lucas (me) over on the Openforwards blog.
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