Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc. CEO Bonita Eby was interviewed on The C-Suite on Rogers TV. This article is a summary of that interview.
Host: Our next guest is Bonita Eby, Burnout Prevention Strategist, and she is on a mission to help organizations end burnout. This is a trending topic regardless of your industry or level within the organization.
How are chronic stress & burnout related?
Host: I love your work because burnout is something that so many people are experiencing. For the context of this conversation, please share with us what burnout is related to your work.
Bonita: According to the World Health Organization, burnout results from unmanaged overwhelming stress. It's stress that continues without an end in sight, and it becomes. When chronic stress becomes unmanageable, it can lead to burnout. And like many things, burnout has a progression. It begins with the early signs of symptoms and can lead to late-stage burnout.
Why organizations need to know burnout early warning signs.
Bonita: It’s important to notice the early warning signs of burnout so that it does not progress to more intense levels. By catching burnout early, organizations and individuals can implement effective measures to mitigate burnout and prevent top-performing employees from resigning from their jobs.
Preventing workplace burnout is a much more cost-effective solution than replacing an employee. The costs associated with recruiting, hiring, training, managing and developing a new employee are phenomenal.
What are the symptoms of burnout in the early stages?
Host: This topic is so relevant right now. What do the early stages of burnout look like?
Bonita: In the beginning stages, burnout simply looks like overwhelming stress that creeps in over time. Over time, people become exhausted. They used to go out on the weekend and spend time doing activities they loved. Once they begin experiencing chronic workplace stress and exhaustion, they spend more of their weekend on the couch. They are no longer able to do the things they enjoy. They may find they simply do not have the capacity at the end of the day to be with their children or family the way they desire.
As burnout progresses, they may experience minor illnesses such as rashes on their chest or face. They may find they have little emotional capacity left.
Then, as they progress through the stages of burnout, the illnesses often advance toward more serious issues such as heart attacks or heart disease.
Learn about the symptoms of burnout.
How can leaders & managers spot burnout early?
Host: From the leadership side of it, what are some early stages of burnout that a leader might be able to pick up on and take action to minimize or circumvent?
Bonita: One of the things I tell leaders to watch for is when passionate team members begin losing their passion. Notice when someone loses their drive, meaning and purpose. Notice when an employee becomes disengaged from the organization’s mission. Notice when apathy creeps. For instance, when a direct report used to show up passionately every day for work, but now they just don’t seem to care, or they seem so drained that they have little to give.
Pay attention when employees begin taking sick days, especially after a significant push or completing a major project. This is a huge warning sign. This is where the Burnout Assessment comes in handy because they can spot red flags before they get to this point.
I encourage leaders in the marketplace to use the Burnout Assessment with the teams they manage, so they can implement effective measures before their best people burn out.
How can people overcome the stress cycle to prevent burnout?
Host: What are some tips that you have to help lessen burnout?
Bonita: Learn to recognize the signs of stress in your body. Whenever we experience stress, no matter what the cause, whether a ding from a text message or a bear chasing us, we undergo the same stress response.
When stress occurs, the amygdala in our brainstem gets triggered and tells our adrenal system to start pumping cortisol and adrenaline into our bodies. That causes our hearts to beat faster, which results in stress-related breathing. Instead of taking deep diaphragmatic breaths, we breathe from our chest. Then, we can’t think correctly because we're not getting the same amount of oxygen in our brains.
When we become aware of our body during these stress-cycle reactions, we can make a difference. When noticing stress in your body, I recommend asking yourself what your thought is. You might think it's intuitive, but we sometimes have automatic thoughts going through our heads, causing the cascade of cortisol. So stop and ask yourself, “what is my thought right now?” and go with your gut because your gut is usually right. By acknowledging your thoughts and replacing them with accurate information, you can change your perspective and stop the stress cycle.
Learn about fight, flight and freeze stress responses.
Deep breathing helps you exit the fight, flight or freeze response.
The second thing I recommend is deep breathing. Just like your brain tells your body to go into a fight, flight or freeze response, sending cortisol and the adrenaline coursing through your body, you also have the power to use your body to tell your brain the stress has passed.
Breathing deeply from the diaphragm induces a biofeedback mechanism that tells your brain to stop stressing. A common practice is to breathe in for a count of three and breath out for a count of four. After a few rounds of this, your body and brain will begin to relax, and you’ll be able to focus.
Tips for managing technology.
Host: Do you have any tips for anything around managing electronics?
Bonita: Shut off your notifications whenever possible. Every time the ding of a text message comes in, the ping of an email or a notification from Messenger, it disrupts our thinking. It triggers the amygdala in our brainstem and causes a cascade of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to course through our body, preparing our minds, bodies and emotions for a fight, flight or freeze response.
We need this stress response to survive, but when it happens repeatedly, it can escalate your ongoing chronic stress, and this is where burnout comes into play.
Learn ten ways to reduce workplace stress.
Easy tips to reduce stress & prevent burnout.
Host: What I like about these tips, Bonita, is that there are things you can do at your desk. You could be sitting at your desk and recognize you have a stressful thought and deep breathe right at your desk. You don’t need to leave or buy an expensive gadget to help your body and brain. Simply by using them the way they are meant to be, we can calm all those stress hormones.
Thank you, Bonita, so much for having this conversation with us and sharing these tips on how we can decrease the stress the overwhelm and increase our focus and ability to thrive, not just survive.
About the author
Bonita Eby is a Burnout Prevention & Organizational Culture Consultant, Executive Coach, and owner of Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc., specializing in burnout prevention and wellness for organizations and individuals. Bonita is on a mission to end burnout. Get your free Burnout Assessment today.