Rich Kao

According to a 2007 American Psychological Association study:

• A third of Americans report living with extreme stress.
• 48% of Americans report that their stress has increased over the past five years.
• 31% of employed adults report difficulty managing work and family responsibilities.

According to the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, 30% of workers say they are "always" or "often" under stress at work.

A 2006 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) poll discovered that "burnout from current job" and "difficulty balancing work/life issues" were among the leading reasons employees voluntarily leave their organizations, showing up as #7 and #13 respectively on a list of 25 possible reasons.

According to a 2007 CareerBuilder.com survey:

• The U.S. worker has the least vacation time of any modern developed society.
• A third of workers say they check in with the office while on vacation.
• 37% of all working dads reported that they would consider taking a new job with less pay if it offered better work/life balance.

According to a 2005 FORTUNE poll, 49% of the Fortune 500 executives surveyed are self-described workaholics. Still, there is some good news:

• 98% say they're sympathetic to requests from their direct reports for a better work/life balance.
• 73% believe it's possible to restructure senior management jobs in ways that increase productivity and make more time available outside the office.
• 87% believe that companies that do so will have a competitive advantage.

In a 2006 report by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, a fifth of high earners surveyed had "extreme jobs": logging 60 or more hours a week, many traveling regularly and maintaining fast-paced and unpredictable schedules that place them on call virtually around the clock.

What Is Burnout?
According to psychologist and counselor Dr. Audrey Canaff, "Job burnout is a response to work stress that leaves you feeling powerless, hopeless, fatigued, drained, and frustrated." And a team of psychologists in a major study on this issue reports that "Burnout is a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job, and is defined by the three dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy." By contrast, its counterpoint is engagement, which is characterized by energy, involvement, and efficacy at work.

In today's hyper-competitive (and ailing) economy, we can easily fall prey to burnout that comes from information overload, "perpetual busyness," and constantly racing against the clock. In his book Crazy Busy, Edward Hallowell writes that being too busy can become a habit so entrenched that it makes us slaves to a lifestyle we don't like, but can't escape: "You can be so busy that you don't even take the time to decide what actually does matter the most to you, let alone make the time to do it."

Protection Against Burnout - Tips

Managing Yourself and Your Schedule

• Over-commitment: this often shows up as doing too may things, which often comes from an inability--or lack of resolve--to draw boundaries or say "no," or from being unrealistic about what it will take to complete projects.
• Resource issues: not having enough resources and/or not using them effectively (e.g., via delegation).
• Perfectionism: pursuing perfection instead of focusing on what's "good enough."
• Focus problems: focusing on things that are urgent but not important--and on things that just "come up" (e.g., simply responding to emails coming in versus managing your time according to your priorities); or procrastinating on things that are difficult.
• Manage your energy, not your time.  Find the little activities in your work day that provide "renewable energy."