{"id":42447,"date":"2023-12-14T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/?p=42447"},"modified":"2025-05-12T15:30:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T15:30:48","slug":"6-keys-to-preventing-burnout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/blog\/6-keys-to-preventing-burnout\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Keys To Preventing Burnout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is only in relatively recent times that the tech industry, so notoriously fast-paced and competitive, has developed a more adequate understanding of burnout. Once dismissed as simply \u2018a bit of stress\u2019, we know today that burnout is in fact a genuine mental health hazard, recognised by the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main symptoms of burnout are constant exhaustion, intense cynicism about your work, and sharp reductions in work efficiency. If they are left unchecked, these symptoms can develop into a potentially serious condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is not about how to cure<\/em> burnout \u2013 that\u2019s best left to a doctor. Instead, we will discuss some of the things that can be done to prevent it, exploring a number of steps you can take to re-evaluate your working habits, reduce stress and break vicious cycles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start with our first tip, namely\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make peace with your sleeping patterns<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"preventing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sleep deprivation inevitably leads to stress, which further inhibits sleep, thus causing more stress \u2013 and so on in a vicious cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or perhaps you sleep enough<\/em>, but at constantly varying hours of the night and of the day. Note that the risk of chaotic sleeping patterns is especially high if you are working from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have trouble falling asleep, start by making sure you get regular exercise, look into natural remedies (believe it or not, counting sheep does help some people!), and do not be shy about consulting your doctor: there are <\/em>solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can sleep, but your sleeping patterns are broken, then it\u2019s time to set alarms: one to wake up at a regular hour, and another to tell you when to go to sleep<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes at least three days to break an irregular sleeping pattern, so stick to those alarms and be diligent. They may be a bitter pill to swallow \u2013 nobody likes to get up early \u2013 but they\u2019ll start getting you back on track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reassess your workload<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you are getting abnormally tired from or at work, the most common reason is the most obvious: you could be overworking yourself. Alternatively, it might be the case that your workload is adequate, but organised in a way that results in unnecessary stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So break your workload(s) down, and identify the drains where your energy is being scuppered. Find the tasks which are eroding you, and reform or reorder them, or if necessary remove them altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should not be afraid to speak to your manager about lightening your workload, particularly when its excess only hampers your productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"preventing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Take control of your time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Often the person who will not allow you to take a break is you<\/em>. If you get anxious about stepping away from work, remember that your professional duty is to be productive with your time, and not<\/em> to spend every last minute of it in front of a monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schedule breaks from work (hours or whole days), and then allow yourself to take them<\/em>, without feeling guilty. If you live with your family, then make sure you are spending enough time with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well, be firm with your managers and clients about your need for time. Knowing when to say no is a hallmark of professionalism, and it\u2019s not only completely sensible when faced with a request that jeopardises your mental health \u2013 it\u2019s the only right thing to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"preventing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Talk to others<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s another vicious cycle: stress erodes communication channels, and reduced communication leads to more stress. The stigma on burnout as a marker of \u2018weakness\u2019 or \u2018unreliability\u2019 doesn\u2019t help people open up either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lean on your friends and family. Talk it out. By sharing the problem with others, you will be taking some of the weight off yourself \u2013 which also means that when you do work, your mind will be less cluttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"preventing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shut down the voices from the web<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Switch off your social media accounts for a while. Reduce your use of emails and your exposure to news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burnout symptoms include a sense of disconnect from and disenchantment about your work, and both of these things are exacerbated when you have a thousand algorithms tugging at your attention from the outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is especially true if said algorithms are doing what they so often do \u2013 feeding you a hollow simulacrum of social life, or telling you that the world is burning. Step away from that stuff, at least for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"preventing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Be compassionate towards yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re experiencing symptoms of burnout, and you\u2019re practising some or all of the above steps in an effort to reduce them, then know that you will sometimes stumble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will sleep through an alarm, you will work late into the night against your better judgment, you will be swept up in a debate on Facebook after telling yourself to stay away from the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When \u2013 not if<\/em> \u2013 that happens, don\u2019t berate yourself. Understand that you\u2019re working your way through a rough patch and that you are only human, and be patient with the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As importantly, understand that it\u2019s not your fault. Burnout tends to be stereotyped as a \u2018person problem\u2019, but far more often it\u2019s a workplace<\/em> problem. Poor mental health symptoms picked up at work come from a flawed environment, and not necessarily from something that\u2019s flawed within you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, identify and discuss the issues with your colleagues, and look for ways to fix them. Then, if you try all these methods and find you still can\u2019t change things, that could very well be your cue to move on somewhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, even better, take a break from work altogether. The chemicals in your brain can\u2019t be calmed down with a paycheck, and keeping them balanced is worth more \u2013 so, so much more \u2013 than any bonus out there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Burnout should not be taken lightly, particularly in the fast-paced industry that is tech. Here are some basic principles to prevent it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":42417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42447"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62525,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42447\/revisions\/62525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}