By Success Reporter, Success Reporter
To many people, Friday afternoon has become the light at the end of a dark, five-day tunnel. And many workers know the twinge of dread on Sunday evenings as the countdown to the workweek nears its final hours. For most people, this is a momentary feeling that comes along when work is particularly stressful or when it’s been too long since a vacation.

Unfortunately, that feeling doesn’t disappear for many workers. If you can relate, then, experts warn, you might be burned out on your job. And long periods of this imbalance can be dangerous to your health, destructive to your relationships and can endanger your job.

Many people have a misconception that careers in social service or postal work are the only fields that experience worker burnout and stress.

This notion could not be further from the truth because the fact is every profession is susceptible to mental strain and exhaustion.

Happens slowly
According to life coaches, burnout creeps up and you don’t know until you’re in the midst of it. It does not happen overnight. It happens in tiny little chunks slowly.

This is why in most cases, it is difficult to read any given instance for what it is, let alone judge where you are in the process of becoming burned out.  

So, how do you know when you’ve crossed from a rough patch into a burnout?

Learning to distinguish normal stress from the deeper issues that lead to career burnout is important in order to effectively deal with the problem. Also, recognising that any job can have this issue can empower you to make positive changes in your own workplace.

Recognise the signs
The signs can vary from individual to individual, but the following are some universal indicators that one can use to determine if career burnout is occurring.

If you’re not sure whether you’re just having a bad day or are experiencing something worse, here are some signs that you’re burning out:  

Relationships don’t matter anymore:
If little chats and hallway conversations with your colleagues went from fun diversions to nonexistent, your heart is obviously not in the job anymore.

This may turn into anger or resentment in workplace. Suddenly you find yourself frequently lashing out at coworkers and/or supervisors. This behaviour deserves immediate attention due to its potentially abusive nature.

Lack of desire:
You used to be motivated to work your hardest and achieve the goals you set for yourself. You also used to beat your deadlines without much supervision and prodding by your boss. But lately, you find that you just don’t care if you are successful or not, you do not care whether or not the work you are doing is done within the deadline.

In fact, you go to work only because you know it is your source of income, so you are afraid of starving your family. This is a telltale warning that you may have become burned out. When your job degenerates into nothing more than a source of income, know that you have burned out.

Quality of your work deteriorates:
When you’re disillusioned with your job, that you are not getting what you believe you should be getting from it, you’re not going to perform to your best abilities. Maybe you don’t notice the drop in quality or maybe you do notice but just don’t care.

But increasingly, you are absent yet there used to be a day when you would rather have cut off your left hand than be late or miss a day of work. Nowadays, you find yourself looking for every opportunity to skip out on work.

So, you start telling lies about the problems at work, relatives dying, or that you need to go to the hospital for check-up. You don’t feel bad telling naked lies as long as they guarantee you a day or two, or even a week, away from the office. This is a bad sign.  

In other cases, you find yourself requiring alcohol or drugs to get through a workday. This, also, is a definite red flag that you are experiencing a tremendous amount of work-related stress.

Depression and lack of energy:
Feelings of despair and sadness that last for weeks or months usually signal that something in your life is not working like it should and is cause for an investigation into the cause - potentially your job.

And if you also find yourself struggling to get out of bed in the morning to go to work or experiencing constant fatigue throughout the day, your career could be the culprit.

Sleep problems
Insomnia or occasional fatigue can happen to anyone but are a cause for concern if they become constant and a part of your everyday life. Sleep disturbances are your body’s way of saying it is overworked.

Ways to beat burnout
The first step to getting help is acknowledging that you need assistance. The second step is to seek out professional help and guidance through a partner, trusted friend, therapist, or workplace employee assistance program.

The road to finding your perfect work can be challenging, but it is also empowering and life changing.
When you share your newfound realisation with the important people in your life, you make a strong commitment to doing something about it.

Spice up your routine:
Figure out what new responsibility you are capable and willing to assume and ask that it be given to you.
Learning to distinguish normal stress from the deeper issues that lead to career burnout is important in order to effectively deal with the problem.

Also, recognising that any job can have this issue can empower you to make positive changes in your own workplace.

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