It is an illusion to believe that being more active means being freer.
Byung-Chul Han
Burnout has become an all-too-common phenomenon fueled by the breakneck pace and high demands of modern life. It is characterized by chronic physical and mental exhaustion from prolonged exposure to high-stress environments and excessive workloads. Its prevalence has grown to such an extent that it is now of significant concern to individuals, organizations, and governments alike.
In his 2015 book, The Burnout Society, Byung-Chul Han argues that contemporary society is characterized by widespread burnout, exhaustion, and fatigue. According to Han, this state of affairs is primarily due to the shift from a disciplinary society, as described by Michel Foucault, to an “achievement” society. In a disciplinary society, power is exerted through external rules and restrictions, whereas in an achievement society, individuals internalize these pressures, paradoxically becoming both the subject and object of exploitation.
This shift from a disciplinary society to an achievement society marks a paradigmatic change in our lives. No longer are we "obedience-subjects" of institutional authority, but rather "achievement-subjects" who are entrepreneurs of ourselves. The negative modal verb "May Not" of the past is replaced by the positive "Unlimited Can" of the present. The pressure to succeed and the relative lack of external authority have led to compulsive freedom, creating a paradox. Ultimately, the achievement-subject finds themselves fighting with themselves, waging war on themselves, and struggling with auto-exploitation (Han, 2015).
Factors Contributing to Burnout
The Cult of Productivity
Modern society has seen the emergence of a culture that idolizes productivity and efficiency. This mindset fosters the belief that one's worth is measured by professional accomplishments, further exacerbating the pressure to perform and succeed. Productivity has become a virtue, and people often feel guilty if they are not doing something they perceive as productive (Han, 2015). While being productive can lead to a sense of accomplishment and success, it can also lead to burnout, stress, and a narrow focus on short-term goals. It can stifle creativity and prevent the pursuit of broader personal goals and aspirations that create meaning and fulfillment in life.
Work-Life Imbalance
The pressure to succeed professionally has led to an erosion of work-life balance, resulting in burnout. Neglecting personal relationships and leisure activities deprives individuals of the rest and recovery necessary for avoiding burnout. The modern workplace is fast-paced and demanding, with information technology blurring the lines between work and home life. Flexibility is vital, but competing demands and conflicting expectations have left workers feeling overwhelmed and unproductive. This has resulted in poorer health, strained relationships, and decreased productivity (Wiger & Agrawal, 2018c).
High-Stress Work Environments
High-stress work environments can be a breeding ground for burnout. Factors such as an excessive workload, unrealistic expectations, and lack of job security can lead to chronic stress, ultimately resulting in burnout. A recent Gallup study identified five factors most correlated with workplace burnout. These include unfair treatment, an unmanageable workload, lack of role clarity, insufficient managerial communication and support, and excessive time pressure. These factors not only contribute to burnout but also have a detrimental impact on employee engagement, productivity, and overall well-being (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018a).
Technological Innovation
Modernity is proving to be a formidable challenge for individuals and society alike. The swift pace of change has left cultural and institutional frameworks struggling to keep up. The sheer volume and diversity of information now available demand not just knowledge but also more complex levels of consciousness to process and effectively utilize it (Kegan, 1998). Concomitantly, the credibility of traditional authorities and institutions has waned due to the rise of open communication channels powered by information technology, resulting in a legitimacy crisis for bureaucratic establishments like governments, academia, and media organizations, institutions once responsible for creating a stable societal narrative (Gurri, 2018).
Moreover, globalization and the aforementioned acceleration in IT innovation have led to a fiercely competitive landscape. Such an environment pressures individuals to excel in their respective fields and organizations to innovate and expand continuously. This perpetual culture of growth has contributed to the expectation that workers work long hours and remain ever-connected to their jobs, even during their personal time. The consequential drive for success engendered by such a competitive ecosystem has never been greater because we live and work within an illusion that more work begets more happiness.
Consequences of Burnout
Burnout is not just a psychological issue but also a physiological one. Recent research has shown that burnout leads to cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal pain, impaired immune function, and sleep problems. The biological mechanisms behind these physiological consequences involve stress-induced exhaustion of the autonomic nervous and neuroendocrine systems. This can result in the overactivation of vital bodily functions and consequent damage to metabolism and the immune system. Furthermore, depressive symptoms and emotional exhaustion are also significantly predicted by burnout (Salvagioni et al., 2017).
Burnout can also lead to presenteeism and absenteeism, with workers experiencing medium or high levels of burnout being at higher risk of short or long-term sickness absences. For organizations, absenteeism means a loss of labor, additional expenses associated with temporary workers, and decreased productivity. Ultimately, burnout can lead to disability and permanent exclusion from the labor market, making it a significant cause of concern for workers and organizations (Salvagioni et al., 2017).
Solutions to Address Burnout
Individual Interventions
The Science of Movement
Developing resilience can be an effective means of mitigating burnout. Stress management techniques, such as mindfulness, meditation, and regular physical exercise, can achieve such alleviation. In her 2022 book Move: How the New Science of Body Movement Can Set Your Mind Free, Caroline Williams explores the connection between physical movement and mental health. Williams draws on the latest neuroscience, psychology, and biology research to demonstrate how movement can improve cognitive function, emotional well-being, and overall health.
Williams (2022) argues that we have evolved to move and that modern sedentary lifestyles harm our mental and physiological health. She explains how our brains are wired to respond positively to movement, releasing neurotransmitters that boost our mood, reduce stress, and improve cognitive function. She also describes the adverse effects of sitting for long periods, such as the increased risk of chronic diseases and reduced mental acuity.
Williams (2022) offers practical tips for incorporating movement into our daily lives to counteract these harmful effects. She suggests taking frequent breaks from sitting, engaging in moderate exercise regularly, and exploring different types of movement such as dance, yoga, and tai chi. She also discusses the benefits of outdoor activities, such as hiking or gardening, for improving mental health and reducing stress.
One of the key takeaways from her book is the idea that movement is not just beneficial for physiological health but is also essential for mental well-being. Williams (2022) emphasizes that movement can be a powerful tool for managing mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. She cites studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of exercise in reducing symptoms of depression and improving overall mood.
Williams (2022) also highlights the importance of mindset when it comes to movement. She suggests we should view movement as an opportunity for self-care rather than a chore or punishment. By reframing our relationship with movement and prioritizing it as a part of our daily routine, we can reap the benefits of improved physiological and mental health.
We include here a daily and weekly movement protocol based on the principles discussed in Williams’ book.
Daily Movement Protocol
Take frequent breaks from sitting, ideally every 30 minutes to an hour, to stand up and stretch or walk around for a few minutes.
Incorporate moderate-intensity exercise into your daily routine, such as brisk walking, cycling, or swimming. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise each day.
Engage in mindful movement practices such as yoga, tai chi, or Pilates, which can help to improve flexibility, balance, and mindfulness.
Find opportunities to move throughout the day, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking, or cycling to work or errands.
Weekly Movement Protocol
Incorporate strength training into your routine at least two to three times a week, using weights, resistance bands, or bodyweight exercises.
Explore different types of movement, such as dance, hiking, or team sports, which can be a fun and social way to stay active.
Spend time outdoors engaging in activities such as gardening or hiking, which can help to reduce stress and improve overall well-being.
Prioritize rest and recovery by taking at least one day off each week to allow your mind and body to rest and recover.
Everyone's movement needs are different, so finding a routine that works for you and your lifestyle is essential. By incorporating movement into your daily routine and finding activities you enjoy, you can improve your physiological and mental health and support your overall well-being.
Reimagining the Importance of Sleep
In 2015, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society crafted a consensus statement on the significance of sleep for optimal health in adults. According to their report, which surveyed thousands of studies, adults must ensure that they get a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night on a regular basis to promote optimal health. Failure to do so has been linked to many adverse health outcomes, such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, depression, and an increased risk of mortality. Also, those who regularly sleep less than seven hours per night may also suffer from impaired immune function, increased pain, reduced performance, higher rates of errors, and a greater risk of accidents.
While some may believe sleeping longer can compensate for missed hours, their statement cautions against overdoing it. While young adults, those recovering from sleep debt, and those with illnesses may require more than nine hours of sleep each night, the jury is still out on whether it is safe for everyone else. If you're concerned that you're not getting enough or getting too much sleep, experts recommend consulting a healthcare professional to ensure there don’t exist any underlying health issues. A healthy sleep cycle is critical to living a healthy life (Consensus Conference Panel, 2015). If you want to improve your sleep, we highlighted tips in our article on burnout-proofing.
Management Interventions
Encouraging a healthy work-life balance is vital to preventing burnout. A recent Gallup study suggests several ways management can create flexibility and establish boundaries that promote balance and guard against work-related stress.
Listen to Problems
First, managers can actively listen to their team members' work-related problems. This shows that team members’ concerns are being heard and creates a sense of support and understanding that can reduce the risk of burnout by a staggering 62% (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018b).
Encourage Teamwork
Second, teamwork is crucial. Colleagues provide emotional support and can often understand the stress of a job better than managers. However, it is the manager's responsibility to create an environment where teamwork thrives and everyone has someone willing to listen (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018b).
Solicit Opinion
Third, managers should make everyone's opinion count. Actively soliciting team members' opinions and ideas gives them a sense of importance and inclusion and reduces burnout by giving team members a feeling of control over their work (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018b).
Clarify Purpose
Fourth, managers should make work purposeful. Team members are significantly less likely to be burned out when they can connect their work with their company's mission and purpose. Managers should show team members how their contributions make a difference in the world, going beyond just pointing to a mission statement on the wall (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018b).
Focus on Strengths
Lastly, managers should focus on strengths-based feedback and development. Team members who have the opportunity to do what they do best are 57% less likely to experience burnout. Managers should identify what their team members do best, praise them for it, and help move them into tasks and partnerships that maximize their natural talents (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018b).
By implementing these key strategies, company management can reduce the risk of team member burnout and create a more fulfilling and productive work environment for everyone, including themselves (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018b).
Organizational Interventions
Executive leadership can also take proactive steps to address burnout and shape an operating culture that promotes mental health and well-being. According to a recent Gallup study, there exist five key strategies leadership can use to reduce burnout and create a positive work environment.
Establish Controllable Expectations
The first strategy is to place performance expectations and metrics within team members’ control. When workers feel their work is being evaluated by metrics beyond their control, their disposition tends toward anxiety and disenchantment. By providing team members with a sense of agency over their performance metrics, leaders empower teams and reduce burnout risk (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018c).
Reduce Disruption
The second strategy is to reduce the likelihood of noise and interruptions in the work environment. Frequent interruptions disrupt team members’ work and reduce the quantity and quality of value creation. To create an optimal work environment, leadership should provide quiet, comfortable workspaces that enable team members to concentrate and focus on their tasks (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018c).
Organize for Autonomy
The third strategy is to design jobs that enable autonomy. When team members can choose when and how they work, they are less likely to experience burnout. By giving team members a sense of control over their work, leadership can help them feel more engaged and motivated (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018c).
Optimize Workspace Lighting
The fourth strategy is to audit workspace lighting. Good lighting has a significant impact on team member well-being and productivity. Natural lighting has been shown to promote positive emotions and reduce stress, while poor lighting has the opposite effect. By optimizing workspace lighting, leadership can create a more pleasant and productive work environment (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018c).
Design for Collaboration
Finally, leadership should provide inviting collaboration spaces that promote teamwork and communication. When team members have access to well-designed collaboration spaces, they are more likely to feel connected with their colleagues and less likely to experience burnout (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018c).
Addressing burnout requires a comprehensive approach that involves leadership, policy, and, most importantly, a focus on well-being. By adopting the tactics outlined by Gallup, leaders can engender a well-being-first operating culture that promotes mental health, productivity, and team engagement (Wigert & Agrawal, 2018c).
Global Considerations
A societal shift toward valuing personal fulfillment, happiness, and overall well-being over productivity and professional achievement is essential to mitigate burnout on a larger scale. However, we also face multifaceted challenges, including emerging infectious diseases, global warming, and technological upheaval that test the agility and durability of communities, nations, and the international order (Director of National Intelligence, 2021).
The pace and reach of technological developments are also causing new tensions and disruptions, while climate change exacerbates risks to human and national security, forcing difficult organizational and governmental tradeoffs. There is a growing mismatch between what citizens need and expect and what governments can and will deliver. This widening gap between the public’s demands and institutional capabilities presents significant challenges for governments and corporations. Consequently, nation-states and institutions will experience persistent strain as they struggle to meet the public’s demands (Director of National Intelligence, 2021).
This growing fragmentation and contestation undermines not only civic nationalism but also compounds the challenge of addressing transnational issues by nation-states and within the international system (National Intelligence Council, 2021). The intricate interplay of manifest factors and latent structural forces will create formidable hurdles for communities and governments. Globally, no single nation-state will likely dominate across all regions or domains. A broader range of actors will compete to shape the future international system driven by the achievement of increasingly narrower goals (Director of National Intelligence, 2021).
These complex dynamics will breed heightened levels of contention, exacerbating the mismatch between transnational challenges and the institutional and governmental arrangements positioned to tackle them. As divergent ideologies and opinions on societal organization and large-scale solutions collide, we will face heightened levels of volatility and conflict (Director of National Intelligence, 2021).
Looking Ahead
The unrelenting societal pressure to compete, produce, and achieve provides a new perspective on the underlying causes of burnout. The role played by rising global complexity and the widening gap between global challenges and our nascent cooperative capabilities provides a new way of thinking about the impact of these pressures on our collective well-being. The loss of community and the breakdown of social bonds at local, institutional, and global levels is also crucial. It highlights the fragility of our cooperative capacities that, if strengthened, could enable significantly greater global resilience. It’s time for us as a people and civilization to reevaluate our priorities and reinvest ourselves into constructing a genuinely purpose-driven world. But have we lost the plot? Have we confused the means for the ends? As Han puts it:
The general denarrativization of the world is reinforcing the feeling of fleetingness. It makes life bare. Work itself is a bare activity. The activity of bare laboring corresponds entirely to bare life. Merely working and merely living define and condition each other (Han, 2015, p. 18).
Achieving for the sake of achievement is circular—a journey without a destination. It is the root of burnout and perhaps the origin of the widening gap between our shared challenges and capabilities. As we advance, we must overcome burnout and meet growing global challenges. By transcending achievement and pursuing purpose, our efforts will no longer be void of meaning but teeming with intent and predicated on expanding well-being, harmony, and prosperity above all else.
References
Consensus Conference Panel, Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society, Sleep, Volume 38, Issue 6, 1 June 2015, Pages 843–844, https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4716
Director of National Intelligence. (2021). Global Trends 2040: A More Contested World. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/GlobalTrends_2040.pdf
Gurri, M. (2018). The revolt of the public and the crisis of authority in the New Millennium. Stripe Press.
Han, B. C. (2015). The burnout society. Stanford University Press.
Kegan, R. (1997). In over our heads: The mental demands of Modern Life. Harvard Univ. Press.
Salvagioni, D. A. J., Melanda, F. N., Mesas A. E., González A. D., Gabani F. L., et al. (2017) Physical, psychological and occupational consequences of job burnout: A systematic review of prospective studies. PLOS ONE 12(10): e0185781. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185781
Wiger, B., & Agrawal, S. (2018a). Employee Burnout, Part 1: The 5 Main Causes. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/237059/employee-burnout-part-main-causes.aspx
Wiger, B., & Agrawal, S. (2018b). Employee Burnout, Part 2: What Managers Can Do. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/237119/employee-burnout-part-2-managers.aspx
Wiger, B., & Agrawal, S. (2018c). Employee Burnout, Part 3: How Organizations Can Stop Burnout. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/237185/employee-burnout-part-organizations-stop-burnout.aspx
Williams, C. A. (2022). Move how the new science of Body Movement Can Set Your Mind Free. Hanover Square Press.