Written by Daniel Leece
You’re working too hard. You’re burning the candle at both ends. You’re stuck in the office after 5 p.m. for the third day in a row. You’re sick and tired of being sick and tired…
Sound familiar? You may be experiencing burnout.
We’ve all felt burned out at one point or another. It gets in the way of our work, our hobbies, and our home lives.
In a 2023 survey by Harris Poll*, 78% of Canadian employees identified that they have experienced burnout at some point in their careers, and 35% were in a current state of burnout.
Though burnout is not a medical condition, it is a real occupational phenomenon that occurs when chronic stress at work is not successfully managed.
From a clinical standpoint, there are three markers that OTs can explore to identify the presence of burnout.
Firstly, the person feels exhausted, or that they have no energy.
Secondly, the person experiences feelings or opinions of negativity, cynicism, or mental distance from their job.
And lastly, there is a noticeable reduction in the effectiveness or quality of the person’s work.
In addition to the above, burnout can also predict the presence of other insidious symptoms, such as physical pain, sleep difficulties, and mental health concerns.
If left untreated, burnout can result in an employee taking prolonged time off work for mental health reasons (absenteeism), or continuing to work at a reduced pace or level of efficacy (presenteeism).
The term “Abstenteeism” refers to a habitual absence from work for reasons that are not pre-authorized, such as for vacation, sick days, or holidays.†
The term “Presenteeism” refers to lost productivity and reduced efficacy at work, despite an employee’s physical presence at the workplace.†
In other words, a worker is showing up and trying to do their best, but is either physically or mentally (or both!) incapable of doing so.
Although absenteeism is the more obvious of the two phenomena, presenteeism is thought to have a far greater impact on a workplace’s levels of productivity and performance.
When it comes to burnout, OTs can help employees and employers alike, by applying our expertise and knowledge about function, as it relates to work.
An OT can assess a client at work, and determine what factors may be contributing to the burnout process.
Examples may include:
- Job demands & employee responsibilities (e.g., realistic or unrealistic workload and deadlines, employer or supervisor’s expectations)
- Work environment (e.g., the physical and ergonomic conditions of the person’s workstation)
- Potential hazards (e.g., impacts of physical labour, potential safety concerns)
- Social aspects of the job (e.g., camaraderie and relationships with coworkers, workplace culture, bullying).
At GLA Rehab, our OTs complete an in-person Job Accommodation Assessment, then make recommendations and consult with employers and stakeholders, on improving job conditions and locating resources that their workforce can easily and readily access, to prevent burnout.
We work closely with a team of psychiatrists, who can assess the client and collaborate with us on preventing employment disability.
Our OTs use strategies that are creative, realistic, and practical, to provide this service.
Consider the following case study:
Mary works in a busy office block as part of a team of executive assistants for an investment firm. She is responsible for coordinating the calendar of the company’s vice president and attending at least five meetings per day, and she receives more than 120 emails per day that must be responded to promptly.
She has fallen behind and has been reprimanded for her poor performance. She is struggling to pay attention in meetings and is responding to fewer than 20 emails per day, resulting in a backlog that continues to grow. She feels lost and overwhelmed, but keeps showing up to work to “keep up appearances”.
She works an 8.5-hour day and has no time to catch up with work outside of work hours, due to her busy home life as a mother of 4 children.
She has developed symptoms of anxiety, constant fatigue, and difficulties with sleeping. She always feels tired and indifferent.
She consults with a psychiatrist, who has recommended that she pursue intervention with an OT prior to taking any medications.
Mary meets with an OT at her office, who identifies these issues, and makes the following recommendations:
- Mary will attend her meetings remotely by teleconferencing in from a separate area of the office, away from the crowded conference room. An AI notetaking program can be used to transcribe the meeting minutes into a concise summary that she can review at her convenience. This may provide her extra time to catch up with obligations related to schedule coordination and responding to emails.
- Mary will be given the opportunity to take short “microbreaks” as needed, for up to 10-15 minutes per hour, to regain her focus and help reduce stress.
- Mary’s OT will help create filters for her email program to sort incoming emails into high, medium, and low priority groups, based on the senders, time sensitivity, and/or important keywords.
- Her daily responsibilities will be categorized based on their levels of importance and time sensitivity, and it will be determined if any non-essential or low-priority tasks can be delegated to a coworker or fellow team member.
- Mary will be given an extra half-hour lunch period once per week, so she can attend appointments with a psychotherapist. If she has access to extended health benefits or an Employee Assistance Program, she will be guided through how to access these supports.
With Mary’s permission, the OT shares the list of recommendations with her team leader and direct report, and the team collaborates on how and when these strategies can be implemented.
The OT then plans to meet with Mary every 2-3 weeks over the next 6 months, to ensure long-term success and to make any adjustments or new recommendations as needed.
We invite you to contact us for more information about how an OT can benefit those who are struggling to stay at work because of the effects of burnout.
You can reach us through our website at www.gla-rehab.com or by phone at (416) 449-6466.
*Source: https://theharrispoll.com/briefs/two-thirds-of-canadian-small-business-leaders-are-feeling-burnout-younger-leaders-particularly-impacted/
†Source: https://www.randstad.ca/employers/workplace-insights/talent-management/how-absenteeism-and-presenteeism-affect-productivity/