I felt I had too much work, a rubbish boss and no support − 1 felt no one noticed or cared. I felt like a victim. I couldn’t see my way out. So whilst I recognized that I had to change something − 1 had endless conversations with my husband about how to change – I didn’t feel empowered to do it. I knew I had to change the way I was working, but the very recognition of that felt like more pressure, one more thing to deal with. It felt terribly hard. But as I eventually started resolving it, what started to give me hope was my beginning to realize I wasn’t a victim, but that I actually had some choice and some responsibility in the situation. (Casserley and Megginson, 2009, p. 96; italic in original)

stopping doing what is familiar and has gained us rewards in the past. We live in a culture in which stopping often signifies a failure to make the grade, to continue up the ladder, to win the prizes that are hanging at the top, or at least on the rung above us. As long as we are climbing, we are holding on to our old identities or old beliefs about what we should be, and winning for ourselves the right to have new and more sparkling identities. If we lose these, who and what will we be? Yet once we get to burnout, we often have no choice but to stop. Stop is of course what we need to do most of all. We need to stop fighting the burnout, indeed stop any kind of struggle. It is time for a new beginning. (p. 150)

a) Determine the cause

As noted above, where it's not already obvious, employees who are burning out need to identify the specific sources of stress. When the workplace has numerous sources of stress, though, it can be hard to work out which are manageable and which put employees at risk for burnout.

One way to sort this out is by keeping a stress log or diary. Too much work, for example, might be a source of stress one day, while conflict with a colleague or superior might cause stress the next. The question is whether a pattern emerges as to overwhelming sources of stress, and to determine this, it's best to keep track of the frequency or severity of the stressful events and the conditions under which they occur.

Stress diaries can take a number of different forms. Bruce (2007), for example, suggests using a notebook and making seven columns. The columns should be titled “date, time, situation, scale, symptoms, efficiency and reaction” (Bruce, 2007). She then recommends making notes in the diary several times a day if possible.

The columns for “date” and “time” are self-explanatory. The “situation” column requires the note-taker to write down the stressful occurrence. Bruce says that the employee must be honest about what is stressful. The point is to observe the situation as objectively as possible and then to simply record it.

For “scale,” Bruce suggests giving the stressful event or occurrence a score between one and ten with one being the least stressful and ten being the most stressful. The response of the diary writer to the stressful event should also be recorded in the “symptoms” column. For example, if the situation resulted in anger, tears, frustration, etc., all of this should be jotted down.

The “efficiency” column comes next. This column requires the diary keeper to record honestly and accurately how effectively she is able to focus on the job given the source of stress. A number between one and ten is required here too, with the number one indicating that the individual cannot focus on the job given the source of stress, and with the number ten indicating that focus and work are not a problem and that the job is being done as efficiently as ever.

Finally, the “reaction” of the diary keeper should be recorded. What was the response to the source of stress? Was the problem solved? Is it ongoing? Has it been made worse by doing nothing or, perhaps, by doing something that inflamed the situation?

Bruce suggests that the diary is one way to provide an answer regarding the problem(s) in the workplace. Once the sources of stress are identified, it is easier to have some idea as to whether they are solvable and in what way. Researchers have found that keeping a diary not only aids in identifying the problem, but also allows for self-reflection. It has the additional benefit of being cathartic and increasing job satisfaction (Clarkson and Hodgkinson, 2007).

b) Talk to others

Individuals who are burning out generally don’t recognize the symptoms; only in hindsight is there some recognition of what was going on at the time. Instead, caring friends, family and/or co-workers tend to see what is happening more clearly to their friend or loved one even if they are at a loss to understand or resolve the problem. These caring individuals are often able to notice changes in behavior, feelings, thoughts and health that signal a real problem. They also act as a sounding board, allowing the employee in distress to try to pinpoint the problem and to work out how to resolve it.

Of course, making use of this support can be difficult when an employee is burning out. For example, social support from co-workers can be difficult to find in an organization in which there is, at best, little cohesiveness and, at worst, great animosity among workers. More to the point, even where there might be cohesiveness and support, individuals who are burning out are more inclined to withdraw rather than seek help from their supervisors or colleagues. Even those people who should be most important in their lives – family and friends – can seem like yet another burden rather than a source of relief and support.

Nonetheless, someone who has similar values and priorities and who can provide emotional support and/or listen actively without being critical or judgmental is what the at-risk employee needs (Pines and Aronson, 1988). That person can be a family member, friend, physician, therapist, naturopath, co-worker, colleague, supervisor or other contact. This type of support is discussed in more detail below.

c) Social support

Social support is critical to surviving and coming back from burnout. Casserley and Megginson (2009) note that individuals who ultimately view burnout as a “significant developmental experience” rather than a “derailment,” have had a relationship with someone throughout the experience – a trusted colleague, a significant other, a counselor or someone else – who has listened to them and sustained them during periods of overwork, long hours and high stress. At the same time, that person may challenge the individual in distress and hold him or her to account for and accept some responsibility for the dilemma.

Glouberman (2002) recommends finding a “soul community” made up of people who have no vested interest in “who we used to be” (p. 222); in other words, these people have no vested interest in who we were vis-à-vis our jobs. They give us space and time; they care for us and are respectful about who we are becoming as we move beyond burnout. At the same time, as we give up the old habits that burned us out in the first place, they do not harm us by introducing us to destructive new habits involving alcohol, drugs, etc. These soul communities can come about through therapy or by joining a support group. They also may be made up of family and friends.

Over and above community, family and friends, social support in the workplace is often key to avoiding or surviving burnout. Research is clear, first of all, that effective workplace social networks reduce the incidence of burnout. When relations with co-workers are good,

In institutions where workers enjoy each other's company, get along, and support each other, workers report that they have many more good days than bad (Pines and Aronson, 1988). This is important in keeping burnout at bay; it is also crucial to coming back from burnout.

Where social support from community, family, friends or colleagues is not available, or where that in and of itself is not enough to recover, a burned out employee might also want to find professional help in the way of a physician, therapist or other like professional.

d) Find a therapist

A professional therapist will help identify the problem and then help the employee to find some way to react logically to the organizational conditions responsible for burnout (Glicken, 1983). Workers need to know what they expect of their work, the meaning and importance they attach to it, how they plan to achieve their expectations, the amount of work necessary to achieve what they want, and the amount of work and stress they feel they are able to handle. Glicken (1983) notes that employees in distress are often “locked in place emotionally” and lack confidence. They mistrust their own judgment to such an extent that their therapist must typically provide step-by-step advice.

How the therapist assists can manifest itself in a number of different ways. Clinical psychologist Herbert J. Freudenberger, for example (who was one of the first experts to use the term “burnout” in connection with the phenomenon), believes the first step in the process is having the employee (who is now a patient) recognize the problem. From there, he has the patient focus on exercise, nutrition and diet, and reordering values. Freudenberger tells patients that

In contrast, psychiatrist Thomas Kalman believes that expectations are the primary problem and tailors his sessions to dealing with the patient's unrealistic self-image. “I try to get patients to recognize that their perfectionist images and expectations are unreal,” he explains. “And once they can accept their own limitations, they are well on the way to cure” ("Psychological counselling,” 1986).

Contrasted with these approaches, some therapists use relaxation, breathing, mindfulness and other individual coping techniques along with active approaches such as communicating with a supervisor in order to enlist help to resolve the problem (Morse et al., 2012). Often a combination of methods, along with more exercise and a better diet, can produce positive results. Nonetheless, as psychologist Stephen Josephson notes, “the balance varies with each individual, and there are no quick or easy cures” ("Psychological counselling,” 1986).

Luckily, the treatment offered by mental health therapists and physicians, where properly diagnosed, rarely involves the prescription of medication. Researchers note that individuals who recover from burnout are largely able to do that without requiring anxiolytic or antidepressant drugs (Bernier, 1998). Instead, talking, support and employing the various coping methods discussed are often enough to bring employees back from burnout.

e) Employee assistance and other programs

An employee assistance program (EAP) is intended to be a “no blame,” confidential resource for employees who have difficulties which may affect mental or physical health and, consequently, job performance. These programs are relatively common in larger organizations and are designed to provide assistance to help employees solve or cope with their problems, and restore effectiveness on the job. Employees may self-refer, trade unions may refer for their members, or managers can refer the employee when job performance becomes a specific issue. Researchers have discovered that access to an EAP or other form of organizational mental health support is often key in helping employees recover (Bernier, 1998).

Approximately 54 percent of public sector employees and 28 percent of private sector employees in the United States have access to wellness and EAPs (Stoltzfus, 2009). In Canada, roughly two-thirds of worksites have an EAP program (Macdonald et al., 2006).

EAPs offer programs and information intended to help workers at little or no cost to deal with various problems. EAPs can provide written information, audio-visual materials, and access to professionals who are trained to deal with specific types of work-r elated and mental health problems. They can also offer counseling services.

Assistance is not only aimed at those at risk of burnout; instead EAPs can provide advice to managers who are dealing with an employee who is actually burned out. Where an employee needs time away from work, EAP guidance can provide information to the organization on how to keep in touch with the employee and how to prepare workers, managers and the employee herself for the return to work (Taylor, 2008).

f) Career counseling

Career counseling has been shown to have a significant impact on improving burnout. Studies have revealed that employees who take part in career counseling programs consisting of individual and group counseling sessions show significant improvement in two out of three dimensions of the MBI scale: exhaustion and personal accomplishment (Gorter et al., 2001).

Getting advice from a career counselor might shed some light on aspects of the job that do not fit with the goals, aspirations or personality of the employee. As noted above, participation in a career counseling program has been shown empirically to diminish burnout scores. Career aptitude tests can help determine whether any changes can be made to the current job which would help eliminate sources of stress or lower the risk for burnout. For example, professionals who are asked what the most meaningful activity is in their job, but report that they actually have to spend far more time on activities which they feel are less meaningful, are at greater risk for burnout than those individuals who report spending most of their time on what they feel are their most meaningful activities (Shanafelt et al., 2009). An employee might feel that her most meaningful activity involves working with patrons and that a less meaningful activity involves doing administrative work. In this case, too much time spent doing administrative work is more likely to result in burnout.

Career counseling can also provide advice on whether the job can be tweaked in some way so that it is more suitable to the employee. For example, an employee might be able to approach a supervisor to ask for more of a particular kind of work which the employee finds satisfying. On the other hand, these same tests are sometimes able to determine that an employee is completely temperamentally unsuited to the job and that another line of work would result in a better fit.

g) Lower stress

Once a stress diary and talking to someone has helped pinpoint the source of the stress, the next job is to work on reducing or eliminating that source. As Talbott (2012) notes,

Recovering from burnout means shifting perspective and making work-life balance and the diminution of stress a number one priority. Without eliminating the major sources of stress, long-l asting recovery might not be possible (Bernier, 1998).

If the major source of stress is doing too much, then employees need to find a way to do less. If that means no longer being on the fast track to promotion or to the employee-of-the-month list, then that is simply the price that has to be paid for a healthier life. As Sala (2009) notes, “[affirming long-term values comes at the cost of short-term losses” (p. 221).

Glouberman (2002) agrees and notes the importance of correcting the path that we are on. She writes:

Looked at in this way, the short-term losses come about as the result of correcting our path as we learn who we really are and struggle to be truer to our real selves.

h) Take the time to recover

Employees who have burned out need time to recover. This means taking active steps to find the time to recover. Where workload is the chief source of stress, for example, it means drawing a clear line between work and home and making time for yourself. Research has revealed that workers who report a higher level of “detachment” from work (i.e., the more a worker is able to feel a sense of distance from work during non-work hours and does not engage in work-related tasks) also report greater life satisfaction in other areas and lower levels of emotional exhaustion than workers who have lower levels of detachment (Fritz et al., 2010). It's not surprising, then, that experts recommend not taking work home, cutting back on hours, and turning off electronic devices after leaving work in order to combat burnout.

One suggestion is to create a routine that marks the beginning of the work day and one that marks the end of the work day. This can be something simple like listening to music on the way in or on the way home (Randstad, 2012) or taking a short walk when you get home. The important thing is to find some routine that clearly signals the beginning and the end of work, and with it, the beginning and the end of the employee's availability in terms of the workplace.

If not working at home is not an option, then another recommendation is to decide on a place and time in your home in which you do not work. This could be an hour at night or some time on the weekend. It could mean that no work is done in the kitchen or dining room when you eat meals. This place and time is meant to rest and recharge by doing something not related to work and by spending time with people who are not part of the work environment.

Time and distance are important in that they allow employees the space and the opportunity necessary to look at what they have experienced and make sense of it. More time away from work also allows the employee to do things important to mental and physical health. This means catching up on sleep, distancing oneself from the source of the stress, working on relaxation techniques, spending more time on personal relationships, and re-learning how to enjoy cultural and social activities along with hobbies and physical exercise (Bernier, 1998). Time alone is also very important (Bernier, 1998).

Where small steps are not enough to recover, however, employees must consider taking more time away. This can take many forms: vacation, sabbatical, sick leave, or exploring the option of part-time work or work-sharing.

For psychotherapist Dina Glouberman, coming back from burnout is all about changing our attitude towards time. This is one of the first and most important steps on what she calls “Radical Healing.” Glouberman points out that

When we run out of time, she asserts, we finally do what we needed to do all along which is “stop and be silent and in touch with our inner awareness” (p. 155). By doing this, we remember and discover who we are after all this time. We come in touch with our deepest selves, and “recognize that we are at home” (p. 155).

i) Accept your feelings

Experiencing negative feelings such as anger, anxiety, guilt, failure, and disappointment is typical during burnout and they are easier to deal with once employees know why they are feeling this way. It is, in fact, not unusual for individuals to feel, while burning out, that they might be experiencing significant mental health difficulties including madness, paranoia, and depression (Bernier, 1998).

Accepting that these feelings are part of the process is the first step; the second is to begin to deal with them. Selby et al. (2011) suggests that often people don’t know how to deal with negative emotions and as a result may exacerbate them. For example, people who are sad tend to withdraw from social activities and the company of others. This tends to isolate them even further and to intensify the emotion.

Research has also shown that individuals who “vent” anger make themselves angrier. So, for example, hitting something or screaming at someone in order to alleviate the anger and “get it out” does not dissipate the anger but instead adds fuel to the fire (Bushman, 2002). Ironically, doing nothing at all when angry has been found to be a more effective way to dissipate the emotion than responding angrily.

What is recommended, instead, is engaging in training to feel and/or think a new way. This means that when the upsetting emotion is experienced, the individual does something to cut down on, distract and eventually replace the negative feeling. For example, individuals who are feeling sad or anxious are encouraged to get active and do something physical like going for a walk or heading to the gym. Another method is to turn one's attention to a hobby which engages and focuses the mind. One veteran of World War II, for example, found that working on something which required deep concentration was one of the few ways he was able to shake the negative feelings, memories, thoughts and emotions which plagued him after returning from combat (Sledge, 2002).

The key is to stick with the training. Doing it once or twice and finding it doesn’t help is not a proper indication. Instead, training away negative feelings and thoughts means doing the replacement activity over and over again until it becomes a habit.

j) Readjust expectations

Unmet or unrealistic expectations play a role in burnout. Freudenberger (1989) suggests that many employees, particularly those who have trained for their jobs at educational institutions, are completely unprepared for the realities of the workplace. To combat burnout, he comments, we “need to consider what values our training institutions and universities impart that do not prepare us for what we will find once we enter our professions and work in our chosen fields” (p. 5). Schools tend to emphasize ideals in the job or profession; they rarely prepare their students for all the ways in which they will discover the job has not lived up to their vision of the ideal.

Eager, enthusiastic and idealistic employees, particularly those in the helping professions, tend to have expectations about what they can achieve in the workplace. The problem is, frequently these expectations are more often than not unachievable. The answer is not to dispense with expectations altogether and expect the worst from each day, but rather to make expectations more realistic. As Maslach (2003) suggests,

For Maslach, setting realistic goals allows an employee to understand her limitations as well as her strengths. It also moves an employee away from having expectations or ideals which are likely to lead only to disappointment and disillusionment.

k) Mend fences

One of the unfortunate problems with burnout is that individuals who are burning out generally push others away – including those who want to help. These people include friends, family, and/or co-workers. Pushing them away may have caused damage to important relationships, and when trying to recover from burnout, dealing with those relationships is not always high on the priority list.

Sooner or later, though, some part of recovery must involve mending fences. As Harold Sala (2009) notes, those people alienated along the way may not be terribly excited to see the burned out individual back in their lives. They have learned to live without that individual and things might not go back to the way they were either immediately or ever. Nonetheless, particularly where family is concerned, an effort should be made to mend fences and either to re-establish old relationships and connections or to form new ones.

l) Change the job or find another job

Sometimes a job is not fixable and looking for new work may be in order. This can mean looking for another position within the organization or beyond. It may also mean leaving a particular career or profession and looking for a different type of work entirely.

Most burnout experts, however, urge caution in this regard. Employees who burned out are often not thinking rationally; they are not themselves. They are disillusioned, exhausted and feel they have failed in some way. Quitting without attempting to do everything possible to remedy the situation might well result in an increased sense of failure, and entering a new job without having first recovered, which means starting off on the wrong foot in the new environment.

Instead, burned out employees should first attempt to sort out what the specific problems are in their current job. One question that should be asked is whether the correct problems have been identified or whether there is still a general dissatisfaction that can’t be pinpointed? If all the problems have been pinpointed, has any action been taken to try to resolve the sources of stress? Have all possible means of resolving the problem been attempted? Have all the people who might be able to help or alter the job been consulted?

Where all attempts at eliminating the sources of stress or changing the job have failed, however, employees need to think carefully about the next step. What, for example, is the ideal job? Why? Realistically, what are some of the problems that might be associated with the ideal job?

Once again, it's advisable for the employee to seek advice from trusted family, friends and colleagues. It's also advisable to take the time to talk to a career counselor and to individuals who perhaps work in the employee's desired environment. All of this is likely to shed more light on the idea of a new job and to provide enough information in order to determine whether making a move is the solution.