Achieving Work-Life Balance in an Era of Burnout

Issue 102: Many solutions to work stress fail because they wrongly believe burnout is an individual problem, rather than a collective one. We offer a solution.

Do you feel a lack of energy or exhaustion? Are you struggling to keep up at work? Do you feel an increased sense of distance from your job? Are you more negative or cynical about your employer than you used to be? If so, you may be experiencing burnout.

Professional burnout results when chronic workplace stress is left unmanaged. This is painful to individuals, and costly to organizations. Workplace stress amounts to over $500 billion dollars and more than 550 million work days per year. An APA report further found that burned-out employees are over two times more likely to look for other work, 63% more likely to call in sick, and 23% more likely to need an emergency room visit. In short, it sucks.

Global levels of stress and burnout in the workplace have been on the rise for more than a decade–and hit a record high–according to a Gallup survey on the state of the global workplace in 116 countries. 61% of workers say they feel exhausted at the end of each. day. The recent peak is, in p…