Feel the burn: How to cope when you're burned out at work

Job burnout means different things to different people. For one, it may mean boredom, dreading the drive to the office and constant clock-watching. For another, it may manifest itself in mounting cynicism and bad-mouthing the boss, either to co-workers or anyone who will listen. Or, it may mean work life and "real" life seem starkly out of balance.

In any case -- and there are others -- job burnout is a particular form of stress, and can have serious impact on one's health.

A September report by the Mayo Clinic describes job burnout as "a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about your competence and the value of your work."

Dr. Jehan Murugaser, a family medicine practitioner at SoutheastHEALTH Primary Care, says job burnout "is an increasingly common condition in today's boilerplate, high-demand workplace."

While Murugaser says the main symptoms are "frustration and a feeling that [one] should be more content with what they have," he says other symptoms include anxiety, irritability, problems sleeping and strain on workplace and personal relationships.

Bored businesswoman using laptop computer

Beyond that, Murugaser says, complications may include "depression, substance abuse and dependence, insomnia, heart disease, obesity and stroke. The increased stress can make the body more susceptible to common infections, meaning more sick days, less work productivity, increased stress over work, etc. Left unchecked, this cycle continues to worsen."

Ben Fanning, known as "the burnout specialist" and author of "The Quit Alternative: The Blueprint for Creating a Job You Love Without Quitting," offers advice on how to engage with the potential of a job that's losing its appeal, to discover work that doesn't feel like work and to change your existing job to make it more appealing.

While his advice fills a book, Fanning offers a two-hour tipsheet analysis intended to help the reader improve a current job to keep it from leading to burnout, including identifying tasks that wear you out vs. those that inspire; talking to your supervisor about what aspects of the job motivate you; campaigning for more work of the variety that you enjoy; pinpointing aspects of the job that you dislike and trying to find ways to eliminate them, or getting them out of the way in order to focus on pleasurable tasks.

To combat job burnout, Murugaser suggests an employee "push the reset button ... by taking time away from the source of the stress ... and maintaining a healthy work-life balance."

He also suggests taking advantage of a company's employee assistance program, if available. EAP is a benefits program intended to help employees deal with personal problems that might adversely affect their job performance, health and well-being. EAPs generally include short-term counseling and referral services for employees and their household members.

Bored businesswoman at computer

Libby Guilliams, assistant director of the Career and Technology Center in Cape Girardeau, says while job burnout, per se, may not motivate people to seek the center's services, employment circumstances or physical abilities may.

"We've had situations where a lot of folks may have been laid off from manufacturing jobs -- plants that have closed down -- and sometimes there is funding for those people to retrain to do something else," Guilliams says, referencing the Missouri Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, which may foot the bill for classes.

"Sometimes people have more physically demanding jobs, and they get to a certain point in life, or experience an injury, and they need to retrain so they can accommodate their new physical limitations," she adds.

Guilliams points to personal enrichment courses offered by the center, such as computing applications like Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint.

"People take the classes to get more comfortable with some of the technology -- not necessarily to make a change in their occupation, but to become more familiar with it so they won't be threatened by younger, fresher colleagues," Guilliams says.

Young businesswoman eating lunch at desk

Job burnout also can affect your quality of life financially. AARP says job burnout is "a major reason many people retire earlier than they projected," removing people from the workforce during what likely are peak earning years and perhaps leading them to take Social Security benefits earlier than planned -- so generating new enthusiasm for a job is critical.

According to the polling firm Gallup, Americans are retiring later -- the average retirement age was 57 in 1991 and 1993. From 2002 through 2012, the average hovered around 60. During the past two years, the average age at which Americans report retiring has increased to 62.