Working from home or working from the office, you're at risk of burnout. In fact, you may be even more at risk from it when you work from home since there are fewer eyes on you to see the signs and help you avoid it. So you need to keep an eye on yourself, and managers need to make extra efforts to recognize burnout early. Here are five signs of burnout.
- Disengagement. Global health company Ada says this is one of the main differentiators between stress and burnout. Stressed workers over engage, possibly being more productive than others. A worker experiencing burnout will disengage and likely appear less productive.
- Forgetfulness. You have a hard time focusing. Lack of focus and mild forgetfulness are early signs. It can progress to an inability to get things done.
- Fatigue. You feel tired every day and just generally lack energy. People with fatigue caused by burnout may describe themselves as feeling exhausted, drained, and/or depleted.
- Anxiety and insomnia. Tension and edginess unrelated to any real cause. This can lead to (or be complicated by) insomnia. Despite feeling exhausted, you can't fall asleep.
- Cynicism. When you start to feel like nothing matters and everything is the same, this can progress into feelings of guilt and worthlessness. Basically, you don't enjoy anything and feel like everything is bad, and you may start feeling like you want to isolate yourself more from your coworkers.
So, what do you do if you're burned out? Talk to your supervisor and seek support from friends, loved ones, and trusted coworkers. If burnout gets serious, you should reach out for professional help.