Avoiding and Coping with Burnout

1 Purpose  Learn about burnout  Understand how to avoid and cope with burnout  Create a personal action plan to cope with burnout

2 Learning Objectives Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:  Articulate what burnout syndrome is  Understand why burnout occurs  Understand how some people avoid burnout  Foster personal characteristics that will help participants avoid burnout  Utilize healthy lifestyle skills which will help participants cope with burnout  Develop an action plan for coping with burnout

3 Agenda  Part 1: Awareness: Defining Burnout Understanding Burnout Syndrome Factors that Affect Burnout  Part 2: Skill-Building: Avoiding and Coping with Burnout Fostering Personal Characteristics Developing Coping Skills Your Personal Action Plan to Cope with Burnout  Part 3: Summary, Discussion and Questions

4 Defining Burnout  Emotional Exhaustion: feeling that one’s emotional resources are depleted.  Depersonalization: pulling away, or disengaging, from one’s job and the individuals associated with it.  Decreased personal accomplishment: feelings of decline in competence and productivity.

5 Factors that Affect Burnout  Focus on problems  Lack of positive feedback  Work overload  High level of emotional stress

6 In-class Exercise #1 Identifying Your Job Stressors

7 Avoiding and Coping with Burnout As you can see, the risks of burnout are inherent in today’s work climate yet even among employees doing the same job not all become burned out. This can be attributed to either the personal characteristics that some employees possess or to the coping skills that some employees utilize.

8 Avoiding and Coping with Burnout Fostering Personal Characteristics Employees who possess “psychological hardiness” avoid burnout. Psychological hardiness refers to three personal characteristics that some employees possess which help them avoid burnout- -challenge, control and commitment.

9 Fostering Personal Characteristics Personal Characteristic 1: Challenge View Problems as Opportunities

10 Developing characteristic 1: Challenge Cultivate positive self-talk  Self-talk refers to the continual, but often unconscious, internal dialogue we all have with ourselves.  Positive self-talk is one technique you can use to develop a positive attitude and improve the way you view your job.  A positive attitude can help you accomplish personal and work goals, reduce your stress level, build healthy and satisfying relationships at work and home, and enhance your productivity and performance.

11 In-class Exercise #2 My Self-talk Messages

12 Fostering Personal Characteristics Personal Characteristic 2: Control High self-esteem and internal locus of control

13 Developing characteristic 2: Control Increase self-esteem and internal locus of control  High self-esteem means that you recognize your strengths, forgive your weaknesses, and have confidence and pride in your skills and abilities.  Internal locus of control means you believe when good things happen you had a hand in your success.  Possessing these characteristics can help you feel as though you have power over the outcome of your job and your life.

14 In-class Exercise #3 Developing Self-esteem

15 Fostering Personal Characteristics Personal Characteristic 3: Commitment Re-engage with your job

16 Developing characteristic 3: Commitment Commit to something about your work  Employees who possess this quality develop and foster strong ties to their organization. They feel proud of their employer.  Similar to the optimists, these employees believe that organizational change, while challenging, has the potential to lead to future growth and development for themselves.

17 In-class Exercise #4 Re-committing To My Job

18 Avoiding and Coping with Burnout Developing Coping Skills Developing a healthy lifestyle will help protect you from the harmful stress of burnout. Balancing out episodes of stress with periods of relaxation is a good way to regain your physical and emotional strength to face the next episode of stress that comes your way.

19 Developing Coping Skills Coping Skill 1: Practice Relaxation

20 Implementing Coping Skill 1: Relaxation  Relaxation and breathing techniques are crucial to counteracting the negative effects of stress.  Become proficient in using these techniques to help you maintain a healthy balance in your stress-filled days.

21 In-class Exercise #5 Deep Breathing Practice

22 Developing Coping Skills Coping Skill 2: Exercise Regularly

23 Implementing Coping Skill 2: Exercise  The benefits of exercise are well documented in terms of helping to achieve a desirable weight, healthier heart and lung functioning, improved mental and physical relaxation, healthy sleep patterns, and an increased biological and psychological ability to deal with stress.  There is some form of exercise for everyone.  Walking is an excellent exercise and a great place to start when implementing an exercise program.

24 In-class Exercise #6 Setting Exercise Goals

25 Developing Coping Skills Coping Skill 3: Eat Sensibly

26 Implementing Coping Skill 3: Nutrition  A person’s ability to cope with job stress is affected by the body’s energy reserves.  Poor nutrition will make it more likely that health problems will develop and it will also reduce your ability to cope with job stress from a physical standpoint.

27 Eating Sensibly Take a look at your eating habits and determine whether you are choosing healthy options that give your body the fuel it needs to cope with job stress or unhealthy options (sugar, sweets, alcohol) which only give you momentary pleasure and satisfaction.

28 Conclusion Your Personal Action Plan to Cope with Burnout

29 Where do you go from here? After you leave the workshop today, please continue to work on your personal action plan and complete all of the exercises. Coping with burnout is a difficult and complex task one that requires planning, patience, and perseverance.

30 Final Thoughts  You are not alone in your experience of burnout. Seek help, if necessary, and that can start by simply telling a friend or co-worker, “I’m feeling really burned out by my job.”  Your feelings are normal—whatever they are. If you only take one step make it this one: quit beating yourself up for feeling the way you feel.  You can change your experience of burnout. It takes hard work and commitment to change but you can do it.

31 Thank you