Signs Of Burnout

How do you know when you're heading for burnout or arealready in its grasp? Beverly Potter, author of Overcoming JobBurnout: How To Renew Enthusiasm for Work (Ronin PublishingInc., $14.95, 800-858-2665), explains six common symptoms:

1. Negative emotions. It's normal to feel frustrated,angry, depressed, dissatisfied or anxious occasionally. But ifyou're caught in the burnout cycle, you usually will experiencethese negative emotions more and more often, until they becomechronic. Eventually, you will feel emotional fatigue.

2. Interpersonal problems. When you feel emotionallydrained, it becomes harder to deal with people at work and at home.When the inevitable conflicts arise, you're likely to overreactwith an emotional outburst or intense hostility.

3. Health problems. You may frequently experience minorailments, such as colds, headaches, insomnia and backaches. Ingeneral, you feel tired and run-down.

4. Below-par performance. During the burnout process, youmay become bored with your job, lose enthusiasm for your projects,or find it difficult to concentrate. You become less productive andthe quality of your work declines.

5. Substance abuse. To cope with the stress associatedwith job conflict and declining performance, you may find yourselfdrinking more alcohol, using more drugs, eating more (or less),drinking more coffee and/or smoking more cigarettes. Increasedsubstance abuse further compounds your problems.

6. Feelings of meaninglessness. Increasingly, you findyourself thinking, So what? and Why bother? This is particularlycommon among burnout victims who were once very enthusiastic anddedicated. Your enthusiasm is replaced by cynicism. Working seemspointless.

Tips on overcoming business burnout.

Reprinted with permission from Ronin Publishing Inc.,Berkeley, California.