Guest Post: What to Do When Work Burns You Out

Exactly two weeks ago we had a great guest post on not letting bad weather keep you down and today we have another guest post on what to do when you get overworked at work. As February winds down, the work is certainly going to ramp up. Think about it: December was the holidays, January is broken up by MLK Day and snow days, February you can enjoy the freezing weather with President's Day and Valentines Day, but the nitty gritty always seems to start as the shortest month of the year ends. Well then it's great timing once again to have this guest contribution submitted by Lauren Bailey, who specializes in writing about online colleges. Questions and comments can be sent to: blauren99 @gmail.com. Without further ado, here is Lauren's guest post:
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You begin your countdown to the weekend the minute you clock in at work. You find yourself unable to focus on any of the tasks assigned to you. You feel lost, confused, frustrated, and also entirely apathetic. All of these are signs that you may be feeling burnt out from your job. This is something that nearly every full-time working individual goes through at some point or another in their career. Luckily, the feeling of dread and unhappiness does not have to be permanent there are a few ways that you can combat feeling burnt out at work so that you can get back to enjoying your weekdays as well as your weekends.

Take a Break

When you're feeling overwrought and run over by your job, the best thing you can do is give yourself some space from it. Those who do not take regular vacation days tend to burn out faster than those who do, so consider using some of your vacation days and taking a break from the workday routine. Even if you only leave for a four-day weekend, it could be enough time for you to regroup and recharge. Take a trip somewhere new to give yourself a break from your usual routine. Even if you stay home, do something different during your time off, such as going to a new restaurant or visiting a friend you normally do not see. After getting some space from your job, you may be able to go back to it with some more clarity.

Plan a Future Break

Even if you cannot take a break at the moment, simply planning a future one can do wonders in lifting your spirits and giving you focus again. The promise of an upcoming vacation can add renewed energy into your work because now you have something exciting to look forward to other than just the weekend. Make it a point to plan at least one vacation each year even in-town vacations can be beneficial to your mental health.

Look for New Things to Do at Work

What the JetBlue Story Can Teach Us

By now most of us have heard the story of Steven Slater, a 38-year-old flight attendant who got fed up with an annoying passenger, cursed out the whole flight, and made a grand exit by grabbing some beers and sliding down the emergency chute. But given a week to think about the consequences of such an action (and the debate goes from "he's an idiot" to "he's a hero"), let's take a look at some lessons Human Resources can take away from this:

Be First Class in Your Response

"No news is bad news," is sometimes the moniker of advertising,  but this type of news can't be good news if you're in Human Resources of JetBlue. But as HR Hero blogged earlier this week, Jet Blue responded in the best way possible in their blog post "Sometimes the news is about us." While most of us would a) not have the sense of humor to write a blog title like that, b) want to go on the defensive and start shoving accusations at Slater, and/or c) focus on the bad, JetBlue did none of that. They took the high road and acknowledged the great crewmembers they do have. And they referenced one of my favorite movies, Office Space, in the process. Bravo, Jet Blue!

Make Sure This Is Not Something People Feel Is OK

While it's OK to joke around about a story that has become funny news, it's important to let your other employees know this behavior is not tolerated and this is not the way to handle being disgruntled. Vault looks at it from the worker's side (and references a famous Half Baked quitting scene--which was in itself a parody on the Jerry Maguire quitting scene) and says things like "never quit out of anger", "don't burn bridges", and "give ample notice". This is something that your employees should take as regular behavior and not the way Slater (or Scarface or Jerry) quit their jobs.

Manage Your Employees' Workplace Stress

Barbara Safani wrote this post for AOL Jobs probably without Slater in mind, but the timing couldn't have been more prefect. The article is titled "Work Stress: What Are Companies Doing About It?" and should be a legitamite concern in the wake of Slater's seemingly stress-induced outburst (or maybe it was to land a reality TV show as TheWrap reports). This part is especially timely: "Managing stress in the workplace is a business issue, not fluff," says Rania Sedhom, principal at Buck Consulting. She notes, "Companies that make the investment to reduce stress in the workplace can improve employee loyalty and retention."

The Most Stressful Jobs (and other links)

Here on this Wednesday, as I get my health assessment done, I wanted to share a few links:

-From CNBC, we have America's most stressful jobs. Certainly quite a few on there that none of us would want to have. And, as Human Resources, some good jobs to know that fellow employees might be quite stressed at.

-11 Points gives us a top 11 list of famous people who were in the totally wrong career at age 30 showing all of us that career switches are possible.

-Although many of us cannot relate, Vault has some advice on how Tiger Woods' experience can help your career.

-Lastly, from Mike D. Merrill Blog, a new feature from LinkedIn which lets you follow company profiles.

Back tomorrow with some more great links (and maybe a thought or two from my health assessment)