Burnout at work

What It Means

Burnout at work is a state that the World Health Organization describes as resulting from chronic workplace stress that hasn't been successfully managed. WHO names three dimensions: feeling drained or exhausted, growing mental distance from your job or negative, cynical feelings about it, and reduced professional efficacy. In ICD-11, WHO lists burn-out as an occupational phenomenon, not a medical condition, and says the term applies to work only.

How People Say It at Work

• "I'm completely burned out."
• "I just don't care about this job anymore."
• "I used to be good at this, now I can't get anything done."

The Breakdown

Steps to take (Buhata's suggestion)

1. Name the source. Write down which parts of the job drain you most: workload, hours, unclear expectations, conflict, or a lack of control.
2. Check your hours with a tracked week, as the work-life balanceWork-life balanceHow your time and energy divide between paid work and the rest of your life, such as family, rest, health and interests. See more page describes, so the conversation starts from facts.
3. Talk to your manager about one specific change, such as a deadline, a task that could move to someone else, or what counts as urgent after hours.
4. Protect recovery: a set stop time, real breaks in the day, and days off without work messages where your job allows it.
5. Use the leave you have, and ask HR what support your employer offers.
6. See a doctor or a licensed mental health professional if the exhaustion lasts or gets in the way of daily life, so they can check what else might be going on.

Try it today. Do the self-check above, then write one sentence you could say to your manager about the part of the job that drains you most.

Good to Know

WHO placed burn-out in ICD-11's chapter on factors that influence health status or bring people into contact with health services, a chapter for reasons people seek care that aren't classed as illnesses. ICD-1010,000 stepsA popular daily step goal that began as the name of a 1960s Japanese pedometer; later studies find health benefits begin well below it. See more listed it in the same category with a less detailed definition. Because WHO uses the term for the job only, exhaustion from caregiving or parenting has its own descriptions, such as caregiver burnoutCaregiver burnoutPhysical, emotional and mental exhaustion that can build when you spend your time and energy looking after someone else's health and safety. See more and parental burnoutParental burnoutExhaustion from the job of parenting that builds when its demands outweigh a parent's resources for a long time, often with emotional distance from the children. See more. If you're thinking about suicide or are in crisis, call or text 988 (the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline). Call 911 in an emergency.

Related Terms and Categories

• Work-life balance

  How your time and energy divide between paid work and the rest of your life, such as family, rest, health and interests.

• Boundaries at work

  Limits a person sets and tells others about at work, covering their time, workload, availability and how they're treated.

• Presenteeism

  Going to work, or logging on, while sick or otherwise not well enough to work at your usual level, the reverse of an unplanned absence.

• Compassion fatigue

  The emotional toll of caring for people who are suffering, which researchers describe as burnout combined with stress from exposure to others' trauma.

• Mental health day

  A day off work taken to rest and recover from stress or strain, usually drawn from sick leave or PTO under the employer's own policy.

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