Burnout
Frequently when someone is feeling burnout they describe it in the following ways:
Either they are feeling…
Busy but not useful.
Tasked with producing work that has no value to people, society or the planet.
Responsible with no input on priorities.
Accountable for outcomes you have no say in, and without authority make them happen.
Or they are feeling…
Busy doing useful work.
Producing work is valuable to people, society, or the planet.
Responsible for setting priorities.
Accountable for the outcomes, and the authority to get them done.
Busy but not useful
Under non-work circumstances at home, with family and friends, you would find ways to to become useful, take responsibility and hold yourself accountable, at work you disengage. Because while for most, their careers are their primary expression of self to their community. And while we all know we are more than our job, nevertheless, this combination can lead to boredom, frustration and even depression. When they are being paid to be simply be busy, most people simply disengage. They stop really caring about their output, while they still love their paychecks and benefits, they simply don’t see the point. How that is seen by your manager and others is you’re burnt out. Because it’s easier to make it about you than about them. Even in cases where is grave organizational instability (i.e. lay-offs triggered by AI) it is often easier for management, especially at the c-suite, to assume these issues are individual and not systemic.
Busy doing useful work
Burnout also happens when you busy and useful, when your work impacts people, society, and the planet. When you have the responsibility to plan and prioritize what gets done and in what order. And when there is no one else accountable for your actions because you have the sole authority. Burnout is frequently triggered when the pace work out accelerates one’s capacity to process your reactions. When being “in the zone” means you never really stop being the zone, so you never have a chance to step back and assess. When you’re living on caffeine and adrenaline. Often if someone else tries to make you pause, your reaction is frustration or even anger. Because in your mind, you cannot a way to hand off all the balls you are juggling without dropping them. And even if you delegated to others, unless they are able to work completely autonomously, you have simply changed scale.
What to do about it?
The challenge is they can both in their own ways be addictive. The key is to recognize which form of burnout you have and what you will do to stop it. Waiting on someone to come to your rescue is not an option. Eventually your partner, family, friends may point it out to you but it’s not fair to expect them do your heavy lifting. If you are feeling you might burning out track down an old mentor, a former close colleague, or find a career councilor or coach to talk with. Simply carrying on carrying on will not address the problem.
