Job Stress

Burnout

If in the beginning your job seems perfect, that it is the solution to 
all your problems.  You have high hopes and expectations, and would 
rather work than do anything else, be careful.  You are a candidate for 
the most insidious and tragic kind of job stress - burnout, a state of 
physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by unrealistically 
high aspirations and illusory or impossible goals.

The potential for burnout increases dramatically depending on who you 
are, where you work, and what your job is.  If you are a hard worker who 
gives 110 percent, an idealistic, self-motivated achiever who thinks 
anything is possible if you just work hard enough, you are a possible 
candidate.  The same is true if you are a rigid perfectionist with 
unrealistically high standards and expectations.  In a job with little 
recognition and a few rewards for work well done, particularly with 
frequent people contact or deadlines, you advance from a possible to a 
probable candidate.

There is certainly nothing wrong with being an idealistic, hardworking 
perfectionist or a self-motivating achiever, and there is nothing wrong 
with having high aspirations and expectations.  Indeed, these are 
admirable traits in our culture.  Unreality is the villain.  Unrealistic 
job aspirations and expectations are doomed to frustration and failure.  
The burnout candidate's personality keeps her striving with single-
minded intensity until she crashes.

Burnout proceeds by stages that blend and merge into one another so 
smoothly and imperceptibly that the victim seldom realizes what is 
happening even after it is over.

These stages include:
1)   The honeymoon
2)   The awakening
3)   Brownout
4)   Full-Scale Burnout


1)   The Honeymoon

During the honeymoon phase your job is wonderful.  You have boundless 
energy and enthusiasm and all things seem possible.  You love the job 
and the job loves you.  You believe it will satisfy all your needs and 
desires and solve all your problems.  You are delighted with your job, 
your co-workers, and the organization.


2)   The Awakening

The honeymoon wanes and the awakening stage starts with the realization 
that your initial expectations were unrealistic.  The job is not working 
out the way you thought it would.  It does not satisfy all your needs, 
your co-workers and the organization are less than perfect, and rewards 
and recognition are scarce.

As disillusionment and disappointment grow, you become confused.  
Something is wrong, but you cannot quite put your finger on it.  
Typically, you work even harder, to "make" your dreams come true.  But 
working harder does not change anything and you become increasingly 
tired, bored, and frustrated.  You question your competence and ability 
and start losing your self-confidence.


3)   Brownout

As brownout begins, your early enthusiasm and energy give way to chronic 
fatigue and irritability.  Your eating and sleeping patterns change and 
you indulge in escapist behaviors such as sex, drinking, drugs, 
partying, or shopping binges.  You become indecisive, and your 
productivity drops.  Your work deteriorates.  Co-workers and superiors 
may comment on it.

Unless interrupted, brownout slides into its later stages.  You become 
increasingly frustrated and angry and project the blame for your 
difficulties onto others.  You are cynical, detached, and openly 
critical of the organization, superiors, and co-workers.  You are beset 
with depression, anxiety, and physical illness.  Drugs or alcohol are 
often a problem.


4)   Full-Scale Burnout

Unless you wake up and interrupt the process or someone intervenes, 
brownout drifts remorselessly into full-scale burnout.  Despair is the 
dominant feature of this final stage.  This may take several months, but 
in most cases it involves three to four years.  You experience an 
overwhelming sense of failure and a devastating loss of self-esteem and 
self-confidence.  You become depressed and feel lonely and empty.

Life seems pointless and there is a paralyzing, "what is the use"
pessimism about the future.  You talk about "just quitting and getting 
away."  You are exhausted physically and mentally.  Physical and mental 
breakdowns are likely.  Suicide, stroke, or heart attack are not unusual 
as you complete this final stage of what all started with such high 
hopes, energy, optimism, and enthusiasm.

These are the habits and behaviors that improves one's defense against
stress in general:

Spiritual

    o    Have strong spiritual life.
    o    Regularly go to church and fellowship.
    o    Have an optimistic outlook on life.
    o    Take quiet time for yourself during the day.

Emotional

    o    Able to speak openly about your feelings when angry and worried.
    o    Have a network of friends and acquaintances.
    o    Have one or more friends to confide in about personal matters.
    o    At least one relative or good friend who lives close by to rely upon.
    o    Give and receive affection regularly.
    o    Have regular conversations with the people you live with about
         domestic problems (e.g. chores, money, and daily living issues).
    o    Do something for fun at least once a week.

Physical

    o    In good health (including eyesight, hearing, teeth).
    o    Exercise to the point of perspiration at least three times a week.
    o    Get seven to eight hours of sleep at least four nights per week.
    o    Eat at least one hot balanced meal per day.
    o    Have the appropriate weight for your height.
    o    No cigarettes, no drinks.
    o    Limit yourself to fewer than three cups of coffee (or tea or cola
         drinks) per day.

Resources

    o    Have an income or allowance adequate to meet basic expenses.
    o    Able to organize your time effectively.

Although rest, exercise, and proper diet can increase resistance and enhance
the body's tolerance for stress, such coping tactics cannot eliminate or even
dramatically reduce many of the stress-producing situations that each of us
encounters every day.

For example Tim is ambitious and highly competitive, and he has extremely
high expectations for himself.  As a result of these attitudes, he sets
unrealistic goals, trying to do far too much in too little time.  When he
attempts to perform the tasks he has set himself, he discovers that there
is not enough time to complete them.  Instead of stopping at this point to
reevaluate his priorities and amend his schedule, he now drives himself
harder to get everything done.  Under such unrealistic pressure, his
efficiency drops, the quality of his work suffers, and he soon begins to 
have negative feelings about both his job and himself.  By this time, his
usual stress symptoms have reappeared as well, and he is miserable -- caught
in a vicious and self-defeating cycle.

Tim is victim of poor pacing at work.  Because of unrealistic expectations
or impractical arrangement of tasks, we actually create stressful situations
for ourselves.  By becoming aware of the times that we ask too much of
ourselves, or the occasions when we arrange tasks in a more difficult way,
we can begin to explore other ways of pacing our work -- effective, practical
changes in efficiency and job satisfaction -- and actually eliminate
job-related stress.

Many variables interact to determine the pace and effectiveness of our work.
The most important of these variables include:

   o   Time demands - How much time is allotted for the completion of work
                      tasks?
   o   Sequencing and priority setting - How much work, and what type of
                      work must you do?
   o   Personality style - Do you work slow or fast?  Enjoy many tasks at 
                           once or prefer to stick with one?  Prefer details
                           or seek a broad perspective?
   o   Quality demands - What levels of quality do your various tasks
                         require?
   o   Tension level - How tense are you?
   o   Level of resistance - How healthy and well rested are you?
   o   Emotional state - Are you positive or negative, optimistic or
                         pessimistic, relaxed or perfectionistic?
   o   Environmental problems - What about lighting, ventilation, or noise
                                at work?  Is your work area comfortable and
                                convenient?
   o   Rhythm and timing of others - How do your co-workers affect your pace
                                     and style of working?

Obviously, the issue of pacing yourself effectively at work is complex.  But
you can begin with your stress self-analysis:  Your body, your behavior, and
your feelings are all sources of valuable information about how well you
are pacing yourself at work.  By observing your work situation, and how you
behave in it, you can begin the process of analysis and understanding that
will lead to constructive changes in the ways you function at work.