I’m not a medical professional,  but it’s clear to me that burnout is on the increase in work and in life.

I often coach staff at work who reach the realisation that they have experienced burnout, or are heading towards it. Burnout may be experienced as persistent mental, emotional, or physical exhaustion. 

Experiencing Burnout

Additionally if the signs, below,  are persistent and increasing over a period of time,  they may be part of a person’s experience of burnout:

 –   disconnection from  joy or motivation at work.

  –  irritation about work. 

 –  overusing things to give you energy (when exhausted) e.g. overexercise, drinking loads of caffeine. 

Of course all of these experiences may point to other causes or challenges including medical conditions, so it’s always worth having a conversation with medical practitioner first. 

In  mentoring and coaching conversations, as we discuss the theme of burnout, coachees travel the road to re-finding energy. To sometimes reconnecting with motivation at work. For some, fortunate enough to have had work they once enjoyed, they might also rediscover a sense of joy at work.

Coaching discussions 

As we journey to solutions,  coachees also discuss what they think contributes to their burnout. 

Here is a brief, not exhaustive, list of some of the things that mentees or coachees say, that might contribute to their burnout:

• • They have individual working habits that regularly push them beyond the point of exhaustion

• • Plus they have a ‘demanding’ role, team, manager, job, life etc.

• • They feel trapped in overwork or a demanding role, or even the wrong career, for various reasons   e.g., the pressure of life’s financial demands, lack of skills set to change to another role or career

• • Plus their workplace has a culture and practices of ‘overwork’, unhealthy competition and not taking leave

• They have some mindsets, or individual inner drivers that push them to perfectionism, or to be persistently, unsustainably resilient –  without caring for their wellbeing.

Coaching  – a safe space

The discussion of all of these potential contributing causes can be one step towards finding solutions to burnout, through coaching.

Coaching is a useful space to raise awareness of  burnout,  as it provides a safe confidential space and uncovers previously less visible, or emerging challenges or solutions.  It can support individuals to face burnout and to find strategies for change.

Connecting for your L&D 

To support your coaches to work with burnout, sustainable resilience or stress, reach out to me Andry at: [email protected]