Our body system can become frail when it is overloaded or stressed beyond its limits. Our body is like an industrial machine that is used on a daily basis. The machine is designed to work for 12 hours a day, nothing more. But when it starts getting used for more than 12 hours, it starts to break down gradually until it finally stops working. This is exactly how the human body system functions. Our body system is designed to help and fight off any kind of disease, but once we overload it, it starts to fall apart. Sometimes, things are beyond our control. To put food on their tables, some people take on multiple jobs, going from one shift to another. Growing up, one of my friend's mothers was a teacher who taught in a standard high school. She would go to school from 8am to 4:30 pm, and after that, she would go for extra lessons in another school from that time until late in the evening. Like her, there are many people out there who stress themselves beyond limits to cater to their needs.
According to the American Psychological Association, “Work-place” burnout is an occupation related syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” According to this definition, workplace stress is normal and can happen from time to time. However, it becomes chronic when it is not well managed. Workplace burnout can become detrimental to our physical and emotional well-being. In today’s edition of Hive Learner’s Prompts, we are asked to discuss Workplace burnout. How do we avoid it?
Do you sometimes feel tired, stressed to the bones, drained, and unable to do anything after the day’s work? The moment you get home from work, you jump on the bed without putting off your work clothes and sleep till the next morning only to wake up with headaches and excruciating pain all over the body. That’s what happens when we push ourselves too hard, beyond what we can handle. One of the best ways to avoid workplace burnout is to know your limits. How much work can you do? How much stress can you handle? These are important questions to consider. Let’s use someone who can’t work for more than 8 hours a day as a case study. If such a person passes their limits, they start feeling tired and falling apart. In this case, the best thing to do is not take a job that requires you to work for more than 8 hours a day.
In school, we have a reading club. During exams, we come together and pull off all-nighters. A week before exams is when we cover most of the topics in our syllabus. About a year ago, we had a tight timetable (no breaks) and we had to pull off all-nighters every day, from 10pm to 8am. I realized that whenever I push myself beyond my limits, I fall sick. Last semester, we had many all-nighters, but we also had enough time to rest well, so I didn’t break down. One of my friends in our study group knows better than to push himself beyond his limits. His health is frail, and once he starts to stress it, he falls sick. So, what he does is close his books and sleep once it's 2am. This is exactly how to avoid workplace burnout: know your limits and work within them.
As I mentioned above, workplace burnout can be both physical and emotional. On the emotional side, problems with colleagues or bosses can overwhelm us, causing harm to our psychological well-being. It is like being stuck in a tight room with a bunch of people you don’t like. It becomes worse if you’re the “different egg” and the others find pleasure in always making life hard for you. Sometimes, we cannot quit the job because that’s our only source of income. One way to make sure problems from other colleagues don’t affect our mental health is to talk to someone. Pour your heart out to a friend. That way, you can either laugh it off or find a better solution. Remember that a problem shared is half solved.
All images in this post are mine.
Thanks for reading.
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