About professional burnout

All of us at one or another period of life face burnout. This is, firstly, loss of interest in work, unwillingness to fulfill one's duties, apathy. Most often burnout manifests itself outwardly as irritability, increased conflict, failure to fulfill one's duties, sabotage, “Italian strike”, failure to meet deadlines, etc.

The main reason for this is banal fatigue from overwork, fatigue from monotony, monotony of activity or from long work in one position. According to my observations, after five years of working in one place without professional, career and/or salary growth, there is an extremely high risk of losing all interest and desire to work.

Another risk factor is irrational distribution of working time. And motivation is equally destructively affected by both overtime and too little workload, by work that is too difficult for a person, “impossible” for him or her, and by tasks that are too simple.

Nowadays the problem of burnout is especially relevant. Constant stress, instability, total tension aggravate the imbalance of the organism. In such situations it is necessary to pay increased attention to periods of recovery of internal resources, to listen to oneself, not to forget to rest and to do it qualitatively, completely switching from work problems to other occupations. We cannot always influence life circumstances. But every adult should be able to resist them, react to such situations competently and consciously and replenish internal resources.

For this purpose it is necessary to have some interests outside of work, hobbies, pastimes - something that relieves the psyche, fills with strength, recharges our internal battery. In addition to professional activity, you need some kind of outlet, activities that bring joy, inspire - sports, creativity, books, theater, meetings with loved ones and just time for yourself. Brunello Cuccinelli, whose business philosophy I often cite as an example, has a very strict schedule in terms of balancing work and rest. For example, his company strictly prohibits calls, emails and any discussion of work matters outside of working hours. A work schedule, no matter how busy it may be, should allow time for personal life. It is not acceptable to be constantly in the workflow, on call, dealing with issues, even if only on standby. There should be periods of time when you can turn off the phone and fully immerse yourself in your personal affairs.

In addition, there must be a perspective - what am I doing all this for, what am I striving for? It is necessary to have a goal and see the possibilities of achieving it. This is related to the importance of change and growth in work (career advancement, professional development, income growth, change of tasks and projects). Lack of prospects and dynamics in work is a direct path to professional apathy and degradation.

And, of course, it is important to do what you like. People who do things they don't like are at risk of professional burnout. Each person should be in his or her place and do what is peculiar to him or her, what he or she is inclined to do.

In Jam Modern Logistic we pay great attention to the prevention of professional burnout. A comfortable working process is facilitated, foremost, by a free schedule. We do not force anyone to sit in the office, employees have the opportunity to combine work with other things.

In addition, we are not bureaucratized, we do not have strict regulations, which gives us the opportunity to show initiative, to be creative in the performance of our duties, to make independent decisions. Our employees are not squeezed into administrative frameworks, as it often happens in large companies, where a person is a cog in a big machine, and often does not see the common goal and the result of their labor. At JML, we all work towards the same goal, go towards it together, assess the prospects and experience the dynamics of the company and the market as a whole together.

Flexible schedule and remote work allow us to find and maintain a balance between work and personal life, to optimize our working day. Including in accordance with individual biorhythms - someone is productive in the morning, someone prefers to work in the evenings. When work is done for the result, not “from call to call” or “for a tick”, all this is acceptable and acceptable. With such an approach, the relationship with work is quite different, more fruitful and harmonious.