Managing Stress and Burnout in the Workplace

As part of mental health awareness month I want us to think about stress and burnout in the workplace. We hear the word ‘burnout’ a lot these days. The word is defined as “a state of emotional, mental and physical fatigue caused by long term stressors”. These stressors can relate to work, home life, health, financial pressures or other variables beyond our control.  

I recently listened to a podcast that said: “Humans aren’t actually cognitively designed to be actively multitasking for 8 hours a day.”  Which is still better than living in a cave and having to hunt for a living!

I’ve personally suffered from burnout on a few occasions throughout my career, having worked in some extremely challenging environments. Unfortunately for me, burnout wasn’t widely recognised or spoken about  20 years ago. The attitude in the workplace was to “just get on with it”, which led to me resigning. To prevent you from getting to that point, below are just a few tips specifically for the workplace to manage stress that really work for me and that I wanted to share with you.

Task management

Start your working day with the most difficult tasks first (eat the frog as they call it). I used to worry and procrastinate about difficult tasks I had to do and so I would leave it to the end of the day on my never ending to-do list. However, worrying about a difficult task is more exhausting than actually getting it done! Our mental focus and energy diminish as the day progresses. Therefore, if you start with the most difficult thing you’ll be in a better state to finish it than at the end of the day and you won’t be worrying about it.

Sleep

Many studies show the physical and emotional mental damage caused by lack of sleep (e.g.  difficulty concentrating, irritability, lack of clarity). No screens before bed helps to calm down your brain and unwind before falling asleep. At least twice a week, I try to get to bed at 8pm and it really helps with my energy levels.

Exercise

I’m a massive advocate for swimming as an exercise, which I do during my lunch break at least 2-3 days a week. This breaks up the day and I come back to the office feeling energised and re-focused. Also, it’s fantastic for stress relief with the repetitive motion of strokes and breathing which is as good as meditation. All you need to reset is 10-15 minutes of exercise, which is manageable to fit into your day and to become a healthy habit.

By managing your workload, successful sleep, and taking breaks away from your desk, you can improve your mental wellbeing. There are many more resources available on how to prevent burn-out, but these tips have helped me over the course of my career to take control of my stress levels and I hope they will help you too.