Burnout: When Burning One Down Just wasn’t Enough
Photo Courtesty of Gill Thompson/Shutterstock
I am burnt out.
I hate typing out those words, but it’s true. I am burnt out, and I have to play the cards I’ve been dealt.
Let’s talk about burnout.
What is Burnout?
According to WebMD, burnout is a form of exhaustion caused by constantly feeling swamped. It results from excessive and prolonged emotional, physical, and mental stress. We usually associate burnout with our jobs, but there are other types of burnout, including relationship burnout, academic burnout, family burnout, and life burnout. The first step toward working through burnout is acknowledging the fact that it exists.
Identifying Your Burnout
If you’re reading this, you might be burnt out.
How do you identify it?
I woke up one day, and I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t concentrate, I couldn’t write, and I couldn’t leave my bed. It was debilitating, and I was scared. I had brushed aside my burnout for so long that it had time to grow too large for me to ignore. It’s preferable that you don’t get to this point, but if you’re already here, you need a break ASAP.
There’s no medical test to diagnose burnout, however, the Mayo Clinic has a checklist of questions that, if you answer yes, might indicate burnout. Some of the questions include:
Have you become cynical or critical at work?
Do you lack the energy to be consistently productive?
Do you find it hard to concentrate?
Do you lack satisfaction from your achievements?
Tori Gates, Director of Operations at NisonCo PR, advises that you should take a moment to stop and reflect as soon as you get that small feeling that something has changed and you notice you’re struggling.
Destigmatizing Burnout
There’s a stigma toward burnout in most industries, including cannabis. People tiptoe around the topic despite it causing massive employee unhappiness and turnover - 40 to 60 percent of cannabis employees quit within the first two months, with most citing burnout as a key reason.
Part of the reason is that working in legal cannabis is a dream come true for many people, and saying they’re burnt out feels like a betrayal.
One source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, asked me, “What right do I have to be burnt out when I’m working my dream job?”
Burnout is Not a Betrayal
There’s an inherent promise in the saying, “Find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” A promise of happiness, career progression, and contentment. An assurance that you’ll only enjoy the highs of professional life and escape all the lows.
It’s a tantalizing promise.
It also creates unrealistic expectations of work, as well as a mentality that sees burnout as a betrayal of one’s dreams and the industry that makes these dreams possible.
Let’s make one thing clear - burnout is not a betrayal. Burnout doesn’t automatically mean that you love your job any less or hate the industry as a whole. It’s a fact of life that we, unfortunately, have to deal with. Accepting this will go a long way in normalizing the existence of burnout and helping people deal with it healthily.
Don’t Glamorize Burnout
Capitalism decided that Gordon Gekko was a role model instead of a cautionary tale, and forever ruined our relationship with work.
There’s a particular school of thought popular on LinkedIn and among hustle gurus that every hour you’re not working is an hour wasted. According to research, workers are putting in 9.2 hours of unpaid overtime every week, which is 9.2 hours too many, in my opinion. Additionally, the pandemic-induced shift to remote work made it worse by blurring the boundaries between our personal and professional lives.
Millions of us overwork because we view it as an exciting status symbol that puts us on the fast track to success and wealth. We are also bombarded with Instagram posts that make it seem like many are living a charmed life with the perfect job.
Marissa Smith, NisonCo PR’s managing editor, previously worked in the food service industry managing fine food establishments. Among her colleagues, overworking and burnout weren’t just expected - they were seen as badges of honor, emblematic of a drastic need to rethink how we work and what we value.
Take a Break
The first step to dealing with burnout is accepting that you are burnt out. It took me a very long time to acknowledge my burnout, which did more harm than good. When I did finally acknowledge my situation, I felt relieved.
Next, you should take a break and really disconnect from work. Don’t check LinkedIn, Slack, emails, or anything else that would pull you back into the rat race. Do something you’ve always wanted to do, go somewhere, explore the world, shamelessly binge-watch a series, smoke a bunch of joints, or do some mushrooms.
Whatever you do, make sure to find yourself again and be happy.
