Odds are you’ve experienced burnout in the workplace at some point in your life: Waking up tired, blanking out at an empty screen, unable to form a cohesive thought during meetings, and feeling irritated and stressed out for not having accomplished anything at the end of the day.
Then, you reach home to find another set of strenuous tasks like laundry, cooking, and cleaning. It’s like you're a soda bottle that's been shaken too much, ready to explode, yet the lid is screwed on so tightly that nothing comes out.
Right now, this feeling is burnout. If left unresolved, it can quickly lead to withdrawal, depression, or anxiety.
The good news is that dealing with workplace exhaustion is possible. Let’s look into the signs, causes, and a simple approach to overcome burnout.
Burnout is an occupational phenomenon. For example, employees may experience burnout when job demands (ie workload, long working hours, interpersonal conflict) are chronically disproportionate to job resources (ie EAP support, job autonomy, healthy work environment).
You may have burnout and workplace stress if:
Burnout results from persistent stress related to work that slowly wears down an individual’s sense of motivation, job satisfaction, purpose and overall mental and physical well-being.
While the exact causes of burnout at work may differ based on various factors, the following are some that show up across industries, job roles and countries:
When employees have little say over their tasks, schedules, or workload, it can create a sense of powerlessness. Without necessary autonomy, employees may start feeling like cogs in a machine, becoming disengaged, dissatisfied and feeling undervalued.
Ambiguity in job roles and responsibilities, a lack of process, or frequent changes without proper communication may lead to disconnection, frustration, anxiety, and eventual work stress symptoms.
A work culture that fosters fear, blame, favouritism, or unhealthy competition can quickly become mentally and emotionally draining. Leadership that lacks empathy and fails to create psychologically safe work environments may push employees towards workplace stress and burnout, making them feel unsupported and expendable.
When an employee’s personal values and ethics are at odds with a company’s mission, direction, practices or culture, it creates internal conflict.
Over time, this kind of dissonance can lead to reduced motivation and workplace burnout symptoms.
Feeling undervalued, whether in terms of compensation, recognition or growth opportunities, is a significant contributor to burnout in the workplace.
Long hours, having to work during weekends, blurred boundaries (especially common in remote or hybrid work setups) and ‘always-on’ culture prevent proper balance between professional and work lives. When work keeps running over and personal time is constantly interrupted, burnout becomes inevitable.
When workloads run high without adequate resources, processes, staffing or time, employees may be left overwhelmed, anxious and unable to manage stress related to work.
Burnout in the workplace can affect you both mentally and physically – just like every other psychological condition.
For example, people who have generalised anxiety may often experience stomach aches or a condition known as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Research shows that any mental distress can activate the central nervous system and affect the digestive processes.
You may have also noticed the opposite. Like having thyroid issues or diabetes can increase stress or cause mood swings.
The body-and-mind connection makes it all the more important for organisations to invest in burnout prevention strategies. To that end, let’s look at the signs and stages of burnout.
Below are the 12 stages of burnout, as outlined by psychologists Herbert Freudenberger and Gail North.
The stages may not occur chronologically. Some individuals experience only certain stages of burnout in the workplace. Others may go through multiple stages concurrently.
Initially, there’s excessive ambition and the compulsion to prove oneself. This isn’t just about proving one’s worth to colleagues, but more importantly, to oneself. Hardworking employees and individuals who struggle to say ‘no’ may also end up here.
This is an escalation of the first stage. Individuals accept more tasks than they can manage.
However, their excessive ambition and compulsion to prove themselves drive them to complete all their work by themselves. They don’t ask for help. Employees may also feel ‘irreplaceable,’ leading to work-related stress symptoms.
As a result of all the extra effort, work takes centre stage. Other aspects of life, such as eating well, getting enough sleep, and engaging in social interaction, become less important. At times, they even seem unnecessary.
As more mistakes occur due to the individual’s high workload and lack of rest, interpersonal conflicts ensue. Employees start to come up with excuses for their mistakes.
Employees may even blame others. Employees recognise that something is ‘off’. However, they are unable to identify the source of their problems.
Furthermore, uncovering and addressing the root cause is viewed as an internal crisis and even threatening. At this stage, the first burnout signs and symptoms, such as exhaustion, appear. Revisiting your values periodically allows you to identify what no longer aligns with you and may be contributing to your burnout in the workplace.
Here, the employee’s values start to change. Work becomes the most important aspect of life.
Meanwhile, family, friends, hobbies, and interests are seen as irrelevant and are dismissed. Consequently, the individual’s self-worth is measured solely by their work. Furthermore, employees are unaware of the impact of their behaviour on others. The revision of values ultimately occurs due to poor workplace mental health.
Individuals start becoming intolerant of social interaction. They increasingly view others negatively. For instance, colleagues may be labelled as stupid, lazy, or demanding.
The employee is still unable to identify the root cause of their problems. Instead, they blame their workload or tight deadlines.
At this stage, their already limited social life is reduced to a minimum. It may even be non-existent.
Socially isolated, the employee may therefore turn to alcohol or drugs to relieve stress. Workplace burnout symptoms, such as feelings of hopelessness, increase.
Changes in the employee’s behaviour become so apparent. Their family, friends, and colleagues are increasingly concerned. Changes are hard to ignore.
At this stage, the employee feels detached from the situation. The employee’s view of life is limited to the present moment.
Life is reduced to mechanical functions. The employee does not value themselves or others. They are unable to perceive their own needs.
By this stage, the employee feels empty. To overcome this, the employee engages in and exaggerates other activities. These may include overeating, sex, alcohol, or drugs.
Here, the employee experiences depression, which is one of the major work stress symptoms. The employee is overwhelmed with feelings of indifference, hopelessness, and exhaustion. It begins to feel like life has no meaning.
By this point, the employee collapses physically and mentally. Suicidal thoughts may set in.
If you are feeling suicidal, contact your national suicide prevention hotline. Alternatively, go to the emergency department of a hospital.
Finding solutions to stress and burnout management requires careful consideration of the employee, employer, and the workplace.
Whether you are an employee or an employer, think about these two questions:
Which of the above do you think is the right question?
Remember that it is in the ‘why’ of everything that we can deconstruct the roots of any problem. So, if you’ve already guessed it, the 2nd question is more impactful.
When everything is ‘urgent’, the end result is often minimal productivity and maximum overwhelm.
Time-blocking is a useful tool that can help you structure your workday with intention, dedicating specific time slots to different tasks, including breaks, and planning them based on priority.
More often than not, regular micro-breaks make a bigger difference than a whole week off work.
Take short pauses to stretch, grab a glass of water, have a cup of coffee, or just step away from your screen. These small but intentional acts can help reset your nervous system, preventing work stress from turning into burnout.
Symptoms of stress related to work may be addressed by intentionally making your physical health a priority.
In order to prioritise sleep, for instance, some people find it helpful to set a daily alarm at a specific time to prepare for bedtime. This may include winding down for the day and putting devices aside. You may also find it helpful to have someone to exercise with regularly or to engage a fitness trainer.
When faced with unfavourable situations such as receiving an accusatory comment or complaint email, it is natural to react defensively and emotionally at first.
However, try not to pour out your emotions instinctively into an immediate email reply, which may cause more problems.
Pausing and waiting until you are calmer before responding can help you respond in a more objective and professional manner. This protects your work relationships and prevents further escalation of any signs of burnout in the workplace.
If work stress persists and seems to start snowballing into burnout, it may be a good time to speak to a mental health professional like a therapist in Australia.
Therapy offers a safe, confidential and nurturing space to unpack experiences, explore underlying causes and develop personalised coping strategies to support your healing journey.
These days, many employers offer Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs), which are employer-sponsored corporate mental health support services.
At TYHO, we provide EAP services such as talk therapy, empathy circles (ie small group discussions), workshops, seminars and on-site support for crisis situations. Feel free to book a demo of our program.
Burnout in the workplace can affect employees, employers, and the entire organisation.
Causes of burnout at work are unrealistic job expectations, poor work-life balance, and more.
Burnout signs and symptoms include both mental and physical issues.
There are 12 stages of burnout, and individuals may or may not experience them in chronological order.
Managing stress in the workplace is possible when both employees and employers act proactively and seek professional EAP support.
If you are in crisis, or another person may be in danger, do not use this site. Please refer to these resources instead.
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