Log on, keep up, stay in, burn out

Busyiness has become the status symbol of our time - it's important to have little in the way of spare time.

"I used to be someone with a huge amount of energy. If anyone needed anything done quickly, I'd be the go-to person. But then I became exhausted all the time, nothing bad had happened in my life... well, there's been the usual irritations, but nothing so big that my energy should have been zapped right out of me," says Caroline, 28, who works for a multi-national corporation in Auckland.

When asked for more information, Caroline explains that her work environment is demanding and relentless.

"A lot of the time I don't know if I'm Arthur or Martha. There are so many expectations on my time, and so many deadlines - but I'm never told what to prioritise, and really I try to keep up - but I'm only one person. There's never feedback on what I'm doing well, just a lot of criticism if I mess up.

"I think a year ago I would have been able to cope. I don't know what's happening to me now... "

In short, Caroline discovered that she was suffering from burnout. She was exhausted by all the demands that were being made on her and by her own expectations of what she "should" be able to accomplish.

"I thought that if I was being asked to do a whole lot of tasks, I should be able to do them, no problem," she said. "I didn't think of the expectations that the company was putting on me - and by extension, the expectations I was putting on myself - were too much. I didn't realise that I was just getting more and more exhausted and close to breakdown."

It was then that Caroline decided that she needed help.

As outlined recently in the Atlantic Magazine, busyiness has become the status symbol of our time - it used to be that having more stuff was important, now it's having little in the way of spare time and being swamped by work demands.

Perhaps it makes people feel extra important if they're always running from one thing or another. With technology as it is, many employers think it's okay to expect their employees to be available at all times - never mind their private lives and family time.

Often people think that being busy is the way to impress and get ahead. However being over-busy can have tough consequences.

Research is suggesting more and more that busyness does not mean being more productive and certainly it has a negative affect on creativity and clear thinking. To really get ahead it's about working smarter and taking breaks, rather than working harder.

Of course one of the many downsides of busyness is becoming burnt out. It's people in the helping professions who are traditionally most likely to encounter burnout and one of the first signs is what's called compassion fatigue. It's when previously you really cared about your patients/clients and you start to find that they're just in the way, to the extent that you become dismissive of their emotional needs.

Some of the other symptoms of burnout can be: getting sick more often, loss of appetite or overeating, forgetfulness and impaired concentration, feeling that every day is a bad day, exhaustion and feeling drained most of the time, feeling trapped, losing the ability to connect with others, things that used to matter to you before stop being important, you start feeling really alone and isolated.

It's important to remember that we're human, not machines and busyness can take a toll if we don't look after ourselves properly and ensure we have time to let go of stress. After all, with burnout, it's not stress that's the problem - it's continual, unrelenting stress that eventually has big consequences for us.

Auckland's Dr Stress, John McEwan, says that often when people are overly busy and move towards burnout they go to their doctor and get diagnosed with depression as many of the symptoms look the same: exhaustion, low mood, sadness, and feelings of powerlessness.

However it's important to note that although burnout can trigger depression, it's not depression in itself.

"People can recover from burnout in 14 days," says McEwan. "That's not the case with depression. It's probably a good idea to work out if what you're experiencing is burnout before you go on anti-depressants."

He says what happens with burnout is that if we stay under pressure and don't have a break for a long time, our system goes down and we get trapped in that exhaustion. "Our get up and go has got up and gone."

So, busyiness is one reason for burnout, but there are others. Feeling like you have little or no control of your working life can lead to burnout; your employer not showing appreciation for the work you do well and only being critical of mistakes; not having a clear job description or understanding of the job's requirements; not feeling like you're learning or growing in your job or being in a chaotic and high pressure environment can all be issues.

And of course working in a toxic workplace where bullying is tolerated is a major cause of undue, sustained stress and therefore burnout. Sometimes the best thing to do if this is the case with your workplace is either take the company to account - the New Zealand Health and Safety at Work Act 2016 has a stress clause - or get yourself out of the situation before damage becomes more permanent.

After all, burnout can trigger depression, anxiety, heart issues and even suicide.

McEwan says the way to deal with burnout in 14 days is to reboot the system. "This is about pumping up the feel-good/thinking chemical serotonin."

It's about taking a break and focusing on enjoying the sunlight, exercising, having a laugh, being with loved ones, spending time in nature, embarking on creative activities, attending places of worship or pursuing whatever is life-giving for you.

Val Leveson is an Auckland-based counsellor.