Between all the meetings, deadlines and your never-ending to-do list, work has started to feel pretty overwhelming lately. In fact, your productivity has hit an all-time low…and your stress level is at an all-time high. At first, you blame it on a few busy weeks at work and stay hopeful that things will turn around. But could it be more serious than that? Burnout is now officially recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an “occupational phenomenon.” (Yikes.)The group defines burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”
But how can you tell whether you’re just having a tough month or if you’re careening toward complete burnout? According to a study conducted by the University of California at Berkeley, there are a few key warning signs to pay attention to. Luckily, if you act fast, you should be able to turn things around and get back to loving (or hey, at least tolerating) your day job again.