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How to Avoid Burnout in Work & Life · Bryan Health Podcasts

• 0:03
  Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Welcome to Bryan Health Podcast.
• 0:05
  I'm Melanie Cole.
• 0:06
  And joining me today is Dr.
• 0:08
  Stacy Waldron.
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  She's a licensed psychologist at Bryan Counseling Center, and she's
• 0:14
  here to help us and teach us how to avoid burnout in work and life.
• 0:20
  Dr.
• 0:20
  Waldron, it's such a pleasure to have you join us and what a great
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  topic that so many people are feeling really all over the country.
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  Can you give us a little working definition as we start here of burnout?
• 0:32
  What are we talking about and what's the scope of what we're discussing here today?
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  Stacy Waldron PhD: Well, Melanie, thank you for having me.
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  And yes, I would like to tell you what burnout is about and just how
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  much this is infiltrating all of our lives in so many different ways.
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  Burnout can make you feel sluggish, exhausted.
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  It can affect simple tasks even.
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  It's been defined by the American Psychological Association as the
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  physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion accompanied by decreased motivation,
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  lower performance, and negative attitudes towards oneself or others.
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  In a sense, it's as if people feel like they just can't do anything anymore.
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  Many times people think of this in terms of their work, that they
• 1:25
  no longer want to go to work.
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  They don't want to participate in their work.
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  They feel their job is just not worth it anymore.
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  But it's so much more than your work.
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  It can affect any part of your life.
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  So really, when you think about burnout, it can be anywhere.
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  It can be as a parent.
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  It can be as a friend.
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  It can be in your relationship.
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  It can be anywhere.
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  And I've seen it widespread that people are experiencing burnout
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  Melanie Cole, MS: Well, I have seen that too.
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  Now, work-life balance.
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  You mentioned that this is not just work.
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  It could be friends.
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  It could be parenting.
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  It could be any of these things.
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  I'd like you to speak about that and how that can be out of sync with each other.
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  And if it is, Dr.
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  Waldron, what are some of those physical, emotional, behavioral
• 2:19
  signs that we're experiencing it?
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  How can we recognize this work-life balance that's out of sync?
• 2:27
  Stacy Waldron PhD: Well, for example, you and I are talking with
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  new technology and that has really impacted our work-life balance.
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  It's very hard to turn off these days.
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  We have technology with our phones, with our computers.
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  We have meetings that we, in the past, hadn't been able to do because
• 2:49
  our computers can now do this.
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  So, we don't turn off and reset at the end of our workday.
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  We don't slow down, and our personal lives seem to have more and more demands.
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  So, we may be having some physical signs that we don't necessarily
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  recognize, we don't think about.
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  We're tired.
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  We have frequent headaches.
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  We have changes in our appetite or our sleep habits.
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  Our emotional signs can be things such as feeling a sense of failure or self-doubt.
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  We detach or we feel alone.
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  We feel trapped or defeated.
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  We can have a sense of loss of motivation and we can have a decreased
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  satisfaction or a sense of accomplishment.
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  Our behavioral signs can include things such as withdrawing from
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  our sense of responsibility.
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  We isolate from others.
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  We procrastinate from getting things done.
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  We get frustrated with our friends or family or our work colleagues
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  and we skip out from work or come in late or leave early.
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  These can all happen with burnout.
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  Now, these can also be signs of depression, but depression is
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  a little different because It's broader when these burnout symptoms
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  occur and then can be pinpointed to specific triggers in people's lives.
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  Melanie Cole, MS: Wow.
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  That was an excellent description.
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  So, now that we can recognize these warning signs and we see it in ourselves
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  or our loved ones, our partners, give us some tips for managing that.
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  How do we re-find that spark, that love, that fire that we had for our
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  job, for our families, for whatever it is how can we find that again?
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  Stacy Waldron PhD: Well, I like the fact that you pointed out we
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  want to recognize warning signs.
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  That's very important.
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  So, if you're feeling that there's no boundary between that personal
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  and work-life such as you feel like you're going 100 miles an hour and
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  it's impossible to slow down even if now you're only going 85 miles an
• 4:54
  hour, but that's really super fast.
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  That's a sign that maybe you're depleted, that your physical and
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  emotional reserves are just not there.
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  So, that could be a first sign.
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  And you're recognizing, "Whoa, I need to slow down."
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  You know, 65 miles an hour wouldn't be such a bad thing.
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  You need to reach out for support.
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  Focusing on day to day activities could give you clues about what you might need
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  to make substantial changes in your life.
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  Talking to a friend could help you feel that you have a different outlook on life.
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  And letting your friends know that something just doesn't feel right.
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  That can be a start.
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  But also, reaching out for professional help from a therapist.
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  There's shame in that, but in addition it's a good thing to
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  say, "I'm going to ask someone for help that knows how to help me."
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  We have very good and comfortable feelings about asking a physician
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  when we have a sore throat or when we feel we have a fever.
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  There's no question, we'll go and ask for help in that regard.
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  But when we're feeling that our life is out of balance, that there's
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  something that's not right, going and talking to someone maybe unfamiliar,
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  but it is definitely something that can be just as helpful as going to a
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  physician or a medical professional when you're feeling a little under
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  the weather or having a sore throat.
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  So, in my mind, those are equal.
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  Some other things are simply improving self-care, and those are
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  things I love to call a personal check-in into your schedule.
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  How am I doing emotionally?
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  How am I doing physically?
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  You can do that every single day and it's a perfect first step.
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  Melanie Cole, MS: I'm so glad you brought up self-care and that you
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  brought up that it's okay to ask for help and to reach out for support.
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  And that yes, if we feel sick, we don't hesitate to go to our doctors.
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  And so, self-care is so important.
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  The things that we do and that negative self-talk because
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  that contributes, right, Dr.
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  Waldron?
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  Stacy Waldron PhD: I think you've hit on a very important point, that looking at
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  ourselves through that negative lens means that we're not being true to ourselves.
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  We're not being honest, because we all need to take some time to do things to
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  help be more positive, say to ourselves, "This is what's really going on."
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  When we look at ourselves and see that negativity, we are feeling something
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  that feels as if we cannot overcome it.
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  If we looked at our friends, we would say, "Okay, I can see all of
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  these wonderful characteristics."
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  So, many times, when I'm helping a client or a patient take a look and
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  take that step back, I'll say, "Talk to yourself as if you were a friend.
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  How would you see yourself as a friend going through this situation?"
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  And so when you're taking that first step to improve your self-care and do
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  that personal check-in, asking yourself as a friend, "How are you doing today?"
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  What do you see that's positive?"
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  find one positive thing, find that sense of gratitude about something today, rather
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  than, "Oh, your hair looks terrible," or "Oh, you could lose five pounds."
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  Those are the negativities that we find by looking at our Facebook
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  or our Snapchat or our Instagram and saying, I'm not good enough."
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  You can be better than good enough, because you're being honest with yourself.
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  Melanie Cole, MS: Oh boy, am I glad you brought up social media, because that
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  is just a place where we can see all the negative everything all the time.
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  And I think it feeds into our own feelings of anxiety and dissatisfaction.
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  So Dr.
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  Waldron, wrap it up for us and speak about the Bryan resources at Bryan
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  Counseling Center and what services are available to people who think
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  they may be experiencing burnout.
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  Stacy Waldron PhD: If you think you're experiencing burnout, at Bryan, you
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  can explore talking to a therapist.
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  But you can start with a free mental health screening on our website.
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  I recommend that if you're feeling just overwhelmed, if you're thinking that
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  it would help you to talk to someone, absolutely, you can reach out and
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  make an appointment with a counselor.
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  There's no harm in taking that first step and saying, "You know, I'm
• 9:54
  just wondering how I'm doing with this," sort of like that annual
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  physical you do with your physician.
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  Doing a check in and say, "How am I doing?
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  What could I do better?
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  How could I be healthier for myself?"
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  And it is a really good thing to do.
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  Start with that free mental health screening on the Bryan
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  Counseling Center website.
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  Melanie Cole, MS: Such important information that you gave here today, Dr.
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  Waldron, that we all really need to hear.
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  Thank you again for joining us.
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  For more information and to listen to more podcasts from our experts,
• 10:29
  please visit bryanhealth.org/podcasts.
• 10:32
  That concludes this episode of Bryan Health Podcast.
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  I'm Melanie Cole.
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  Thanks so much for joining us today.