Over the last few years, people have been expressing their feelings of burnout at work more and more.
It’s completely understandable, especially because the COVID-19 pandemic changed everyone’s work life and routines, and people still haven’t gone back to normal when it comes to their jobs.
If you’ve begun to feel overwhelmed at work and feel yourself spiraling into a dark phase of burnout, don’t panic. It’s normal to get overwhelmed occasionally, but it won’t get any better if you don’t speak up and ask for help when you do.
However, speaking up in the workplace can be very uncomfortable. Not all bosses and supervisors are understanding or easy to talk to, which can easily sway employees from expressing their feelings of stress or exhaustion.
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed at work and aren’t sure what to do to improve things, here are a few tips to get you started.
Talk to a coworker
Often, a coworker can be so much easier to talk to about workplace stress than a boss, supervisor, or human resources representative. Your coworkers are in the trenches with you and, most of the time, share the same work struggles as you.
If you’re stressed about your workload or performance, vent to a coworker and see what advice or resources they may have for you.
Even if your coworker has no words of wisdom to pass on, it’ll feel good to vent to someone who gets what you’re going through.
Stop taking on more work
Many people find themselves getting overwhelmed at work because they take on too many projects. I get it; it’s tempting to continually take on extra work because you want to please your boss and show them how committed you are. However, the more extra work you voluntarily take on, the more your boss will assume you can handle that kind of workload 24/7.
If someone tries to give you an extra task you can’t handle, politely let them know that you have too much on your plate and will be unable to complete the task at your best effort.
Prioritize your work
If you have a lot of work to do, you need to prioritize the things that are truly the most important and pressing. Stop looking at “the big picture” and focus on accomplishing your most important or urgent tasks one at a time. People who are super busy tend to get overwhelmed when they’re constantly thinking of ways to get everything done at once.
Remember, take one thing at a time.
Make the most out of your breaks
If you take breaks throughout the workday, make the most out of them. In order to relax more throughout the day and avoid unnecessary stress, you must disconnect from work during your breaks. Put your phone on ‘do not disturb,’ close your laptop, get out of your office, and do something that calms your mind.
You can read a few pages of a book, eat a meal with a friend, do a quick workout, etc. Breaks are essential throughout the day, and if you’re doing work during your break, can you even consider it a break?
Talk to your boss
If you’ve tried out all these tips and made a bunch of lifestyle changes and still find yourself getting overwhelmed at work, it’s time to talk to your boss. When you talk to your boss, you’ll want to think of a few specific talking points instead of walking into their office and beginning to cry while rambling about how stressed you are.
Go over the specific tasks and assignments that are causing you stress, ask questions, and propose solutions to your boss. You don’t need to beat yourself up or talk down to yourself in front of your boss; just let them know that you want to continue producing high-quality work but are struggling to keep up.
If your boss is even a halfway decent human, they’ll probably understand. If they don’t, you may not want to work for them anyway.
Hopefully, these tips will help you in your career journey and keep you from getting too overwhelmed. Remember that asking for help is not a bad thing and that as long as you seek out support, you’ll be okay!
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