The first step out of burnout is to recognize you have a problem.

When your job stresses you out, day in and day out, it can drain you emotionally. You may start to feel as if you’re getting nowhere. You grow detached from what you’re doing and the people around you.

There’s a word for this: burnout. Feeling burned out is no good for you or the people you care about. If you do nothing to counter it, you'll risk getting a stress-related illness. You could lose your enjoyment of life. Your job performance could suffer—and your supervisor, customers, or clients will notice.

Take a step back to see what you can do to improve your circumstances and the way you’re relating to them. Here’s how.

Admit You Have a Problem
Signs of burnout can include chronic fatigue and feeling overwhelmed, irritable, self-critical, or bored. You may have a short fuse. You may suffer from anxiety or depression.

You may have trouble concentrating or sleeping. Your productivity and interest in work may decline. You may have headaches or other nagging physical ailments.

Learn What Led to Burnout
Do you feel like your job is not engaging your true abilities? Do you feel unable to live up to work demands? Do you feel left out or underappreciated?

Perhaps you’ve been through difficult changes at work. Are you having personal conflicts with coworkers or customers? Are you stressed out by both work and home demands? Knowing the cause can point you toward the cure.

Seek Support
To address the key issues that trouble you, consider talking with your supervisor. Ask for feedback if appropriate, or talk about adjusting your responsibilities to help you be as effective and productive as possible.

When available, an employee assistance program can offer valuable aid. Consider seeking counseling. Talk with friends, family, and others you can depend on for advice and support.

Focus on Healing
There are many stressful things you can’t change. For example, you may think your job is tailor-made to make anyone feel overworked, undervalued, and out of control—and quitting just isn’t an option. However, you can change your own reactions, attitudes, and actions.

Don and Sheryl Grimme, in The New Manager’s Tool Kit: 21 Things You Need to Know to Hit the Ground Running, suggest the cure for burnout involves addressing four dimensions of life:

• Physical. Try to lead a healthy lifestyle. Eat a balanced diet and get regular exercise. Practice deep breathing or other relaxation techniques.
• Mental. Try to make the most of your strengths and improve on your weaknesses. Take regular breaks and use all your vacation time for vacation. Set challenging but reachable goals that are important to you personally.
• Interpersonal. Try to carve out more time with the people you love. Join a club with relaxing, enriching activities. Take a class in an inspiring topic that can further your career.
• Spiritual. Take time each day for prayer, meditation, creative arts, volunteer work, or a support group.

If you attack from both sides—addressing the sources of stress while forming a more positive attitude and a more fulfilling personal life—you’re likely to bounce back from burnout stronger and happier than ever.

Keep It from Recurring
It pays to manage stress before it gets to you. Schedule downtime and opportunities to do the things you love with the people you love. Learn to say no gracefully to unimportant projects you know will deplete you.

It’s possible to put your all into a job without burning out … if you remember what’s good for you and point yourself in a healthy direction.

By Polly Turner, a feature writer for Vitality.

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