Burnout is when a person reaches their mental, physical, and emotional breaking point, often due to periods of long-term stress and pressure from their surrounding environments. 

Although this has been around almost as long as humans themselves have, it is only recently that more focus has been drawn to the subject, including how best to tackle it, overcome it, and treat it in the future. 

This is hugely beneficial, as it will allow the individual to get back into their regular routine as soon as possible, as well as limiting the effects of burnout on the areas of their well-being that are affected. 

Burnout may be thought of as something that can only impact individuals at high levels of their career or in a high-responsibility position, but it is possible for any individual to develop feelings of burnout – no matter their career background, responsibilities at work, work-life balance, and any other pressures that they may be facing.

This is why it is crucial to treat burnout for each individual case, taking into account the individual’s history, their past stressors, and any phenomena in their present lifestyle that may be causing them additional stress. 

What are the Causes of Burnout?

There are many reasons why an individual may experience burnout, and each individual case will be different in terms of symptoms, treatment, and prevention in the future. 

Many of the key reasons why an individual may experience burnout are due to their career, their responsibilities, and their work-life balance, but there are also many other reasons. 

Some of the main reasons are listed below, but bear in mind that there are countless others experienced by individuals all over the UK and the rest of the world: 

• Work-life imbalance – if an individual begins to dedicate more and more of their time toward their career, for example, they may have less time for the stress-reducing activities they may have previously engaged in. This results in not being able to ‘switch off,’ spending more and more time thinking about, working on, and worrying about their career
• Lack of control – this is especially common within workplaces, as individuals on the lower end of the management spectrum may be given increased responsibilities or workload with little to no say in the matter, resulting in feelings of being out of control and, therefore, feeling the negative impacts of this style of work
• Lack of social support – without the proper support around an individual, their mental health can experience a severe impact. Though it may not seem like a big event, being able to vent to or talk to someone about your issues can actually lead to a buildup of internalization, often resulting in burnout if the individual has no one around them to confide in. Increased social support has been correlated with fewer symptoms of burnout and a faster recovery. 

What are the Symptoms of Burnout 

Within each individual, the symptoms of burnout are likely to be different. This is because of the different ways in which burnout may be caused, as well as the current situation of the individual who may be struggling. 

For example, someone who is experiencing burnout as a result of their career but has many people to talk to about their problems may experience differing symptoms than a single parent struggling with burnout but with no one to talk to. 

One of the most common symptoms of burnout is the feeling of being constantly tired or worn out. This can lead to a lack of motivation within the individual’s everyday life and can also lead to many other mental health issues.

Another common symptom is the feeling of being helpless or without control. This can lead to a vicious cycle; the individual may become more and more downcast due to their situation, worsening the symptoms themselves and, therefore, leading to a more and more challenging situation to recover from. 

If you or someone you know may be struggling with burnout, it is essential to talk to them in a sensitive and respectful way, asking if they need any help or communicating with someone else to get the help that may be needed. 

The Impact of Burnout

When an individual is struggling with burnout, they may experience many different impacts as a result of this: emotionally, physically, and mentally. 

This can have a severe impact on their work-related stress, their life at home, or their social relationships. 

For example, someone who may be experiencing burnout as a result of workplace stress may begin to feel less and less confident in their position, perhaps failing to meet deadlines, keep up with responsibilities, and letting this seep into their life at home and outside of work. 

An individual who may have experienced burnout as they work from home or stay at home may fall behind with household chores and responsibilities, negatively impacting their mental health as their home life may become more and more unplanned, as well as disorganized and messy. 

People struggle with the impacts of burnout differently, and it is impossible to predict how someone may react under the pressures of burnout, so talking to someone as soon as possible about the issues they face is vital if the individual begins to feel as if they may be struggling. 

The risk of developing an addiction while struggling with burnout

Though it is not as common as some other mental health issues, some individuals who are experiencing burnout may turn to substance misuse or abuse in an attempt to cope with their situation.

This occurs as individuals feel as if their life is out of control, and therefore, consuming substances may help them regain some control – even if it is over a tiny and risky part of their lifestyle. 

If left untreated, substance misuse or abuse can turn into an addiction – the compulsive consumption of substances despite the negative consequences – and this is something that can take a long time to overcome and learn to live with; addiction is never fully cured. 

If you suspect that you or someone you know may have developed an addiction (as a result of burnout or in any other situation), it is vital that these individuals seek help as soon as possible. 

Addiction can quickly worsen over time, meaning that the sooner that help is sought, the better, and the quicker that an individual finds the proper treatment for them, the higher their chances are of making a complete and adequate recovery. 

What Is Employee Burnout?

Employee burnout is when individuals in a position of work – full-time, part-time, at home, or in a specific location – begin to struggle with or experience burnout.

This is the most common situation in which an individual may experience burnout as it is a large proportion of an individual’s life and can often cause tremendous stress and pressure on the individual.

This may be due to repetitive tasks, tedious tasks, monotonous tasks, and the general employee well-being within a company or organization.

Employee well-being is something that should be a high priority for managers and CEOs, so ensuring that employees are well cared for and have a high well-being at work is of vital importance. 

How can businesses decrease the chances of employee burnout?

There are many practices that businesses can put into place to reduce the risk of employee burnout within their everyday work. 

This can include simple solutions such as employing a competent well-being officer to check up on employee well-being and their needs and requirements while at work.

In addition, employers should keep their expectations of individuals reasonable. This refers to the understanding that everyone is human and has certain limitations as to what they may or may not be able to achieve in their everyday work life. 

Splitting responsibilities is an excellent way of doing this, as well as improving communications between individuals, departments, and areas of work within a company or organization. 

How Automating Your Workflows Can Help Prevent Burnout

Automation, simply put, is a way of increasing work efficiency while using the fewest resources. This can be put in place for a range of activities and responsibilities at work – especially those that are repetitive, must be completed within a set deadline, or require the input of multiple individuals. 

By automating such processes, individuals will likely experience less pressure at work due to the increased ease of some activities and the reduced manual tasks that can easily be outsourced to an automated system. 

Introducing intelligent automation – the role of AI in reducing burnout and boosting mental health

Artificial intelligence (AI) is something that is only recently being introduced into more and more fields of the modern world.

It refers to machines, tools, and robots, in some instances, which can be programmed to take on a specific task, learning over time to develop these processes and make them more and more streamlined, generally reducing the time, effort, and motivation required for these tasks. 

There are many positive impacts that AI can have on reducing the risk of burnout, and some of these are outlined below:

1. Eliminates the chance of human error

With AI becoming more innovative and more brilliant the more that we implement it into everyday tasks and responsibilities, the less and less that humans are required in these processes, often leading to a reduction in errors – something that can have a huge mental impact on individuals who may be responsible for any errors that are reported.

AI, essentially being a robot worker in these instances, makes fewer mistakes because it is not impacted by many of the same distractions humans are subject to. 

Fewer errors mean that there is a lower risk of processes going wrong, reducing responsibility and stress for some employees. Therefore, regardless of an employee’s intelligence quotient (IQ) or level of expertise, the likelihood of making a mistake remains, whereas AI significantly reduces those chances.

2. Speeds up administrative processes

With the automation of some vital processes (often monotonous and repetitive data-entry work that can easily be implemented), individuals will have to spend less of their time on this style of task.

This means that individuals can focus on other areas of their work – perhaps some of which may interest them more than the processes that have now become automatic. If you work in the HoReCa industry implementing reservation software, restaurant payroll management systems, or inventory management tools you can free up valuable time for yourself and your staff to focus on guest experience.

When individuals are more satisfied with their work, they are less likely to experience burnout, and this can be seen across a variety of fields, not just office work and administration (3).

3. Improves communication

By automating communications between departments, individuals, and others within a company or organization, individuals spend less time on this form of monotonous and unnecessary workload.

For example, when a task is completed, this could be set up to send an automatic message to the relevant individuals, meaning that further progress can be made without needing to pull several people into a meeting, discuss it, and explain it for an unknown period of time.

What can managers do to help employees avoid burnout?

Considering the steps above, managers have some of the most significant responsibilities when it comes to streamlining, automating, and generally improving the processes that occur within their department or company.

This is because it comes down to them to explain new ways of working to those who work for them, as well as demonstrating this and putting it into practice themselves.

When it comes to reducing burnout risk, managers should lead by example, putting these AI tools and automation into practice to demonstrate to those around them. 

If you are struggling, speak to someone today to get expert help.

To learn more about burnout and how automation can reduce risk, take a look at some of our other pages or get in touch with any questions you may have.

If you or someone you know may be struggling with burnout and is displaying symptoms of severe mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, or addiction, then it is vital that they speak to a specialist as soon as possible.

Whether you need to make an appointment with your local Physician, local services, or a specialized mental health support service, time is of the essence, so get in contact today to get help as soon as possible and access the care you need.

---

---