Banishing Employee Burnout

We've already blogged about the importance of keeping your employees engaged. Today, we're considering the opposite of engagement.  It's burnout--and many of us know the symptoms all too well. Feeling extraordinarily busy, but never accomplishing the things that matter; chasing one deadline after another; short-changing our families, our personal lives--and, ultimately, our health--for work.

Given the physical and psychological effects of stress, it's clear that burnout puts our health at risk. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid it, and they're described in detail at the Harvard Business Review blog. They name three "weapons" against burnout:

• Manage your work. Learn to recognize when you're working past your limits, and be realistic about how much you're really capable of doing.

• Embrace renewal. How can you expect to perform well at work if you're not taking care of yourself first? (I bet our friends at The Happiness Project would agree with this point.)

• Do "the right work." Seek out work that you find fulfilling and meaningful, because the alternative is the slow process of "rustout." The article explains what that means.

If all this sounds like a pipe-dream to you, don't worry. You don't have to join a monastery or spend your days gazing at Walden Pond. The article suggests a number of simple, realistic ways to recharge, and I urge you to check them out. It's the key to being more productive, engaged, and satisfied--not only with what you do, but with how you live.