5 Ways to Handle Burnout at Work

Feeling burned out at your job? Get some perspective. Try these 5 actions.

Job burnout is a normal human reaction to feeling overwhelmed or powerless about a difficult work environment.

If you're feeling burned out at your job, it's often due to a difficult boss, long hours, low pay, or few opportunities for promotion. Essentially, anything that makes you feel like the effort you're putting in isn't worth it, financially, emotionally, or otherwise.

Before you just quit your job, it's best to get some perspective. Here are five ways to address burnout so you can properly decide on the right course of action.

1. Assess the Pros and Cons

Do a "balance sheet" and write down all the positives and negatives of your job. If you have been ignoring the positives, and the positives are substantial, this can put things in perspective.

On the other hand, if you have been rationalizing the negatives, this exercise can be a truth-telling wake up call.

It's important to get everything out of your head and onto paper. Thoughts and emotions can mislead, but words can clarify.

Once you have your list of pros and cons, don't make any decisions just yet. Put the list away, let it marinate, and look at it again the next day. This is what we call "sleeping on it" and it's a prudent measure for all major decisions.

The list might be just what you needed to figure things out. Or maybe you're even more confused about what to do. Read on...

Making a list of pros and cons can help clarify things, but sometimes you need even more perspective. Try taking a few days away from work. Go for a hike, or get out of town and enjoy yourself.

A change in routine can get you out of a rut, and make you think differently. You might realize your job is not that bad, that you simply need more leisure time to balance things out.

Or perhaps you'll come back from your mini vacation full of dread, realizing that yes, as you suspected, you hate your job and you need to take steps to move on to something better.

Or maybe you're still not clear. You don't have to figure it out alone.



Burnout is often due to resentment and rumination. Keeping your feelings bottled up makes you dwell on negativity.

Nothing beats talking to someone. Talk to a family member, friend, or trusted coworker. See if your job offers an employee assistance program (EAP) where you can talk to a counselor for free about your burnout.

Finding a therapist outside of your work is also an option. Search for therapists who specialize in work issues and burnout.

Learn more about my career counseling services here.

4. If in Doubt, Press Pause

Don't make big decisions when you're in a bad emotional state. Take your time, even if today you're fed up with your job.

Remember, you can always quit your job, but you can't "unquit" it. See if you can tough it out until you feel more confident about what your next step is.

If you don't know what your next step is, take some action, even just a little...

5. Take Small Steps in Right Direction

Take action in the right direction. What do I mean? If you can't see a way past your job burnout, take some action that brings you closer to a solution. Here's a few ideas:

1. Polish up your resume and put it up on some job posting sites. The process will get you thinking in a new way and you'll get insights into your current job.
2. Sign up for a networking event. It could be in your current job industry, or in one that you're thinking of getting into. You never know who you'll meet, or what you might learn.
3. Tap into your existing network. Still have the email of your old college buddy? Get in touch. Connect with someone on LinkedIn. Ask questions, be curious.

The point is to move the needle in the direction of a solution. If where you are right now is burned out, you need to take action.

Try to look at your burnout as an opportunity. It's a chance to make a positive change.