The coronavirus situation leads to weeks of work overload for employees.
Completely burnt out? Weeks of mobile office work, a lack of contacts, the double burden of childcare and a lack of rest periods: Many employees have had enough. After the second lockdown at the latest, the glass is now overflowing. The resources have been used up, the optimism is gone. We show you how to recognize the first symptoms of burnout, why the pandemic is causing us so much trouble and how we can protect our mental health during this time.
If you want to do your job well, you have to be passionate about it. However, too much time pressure and a heavy workload can quickly burn employees out. Burnout is a state of professional and/or non-professional work overload. The symptoms of burnout often persist for several weeks or even months. If working conditions are consistently poor, they will not disappear on their own, explains psychologist and pme life coach Mandy Simon.
The first symptoms of burnout appear in the form of emotional exhaustion. The dominant feeling is that everything is becoming too much and signs of fatigue intensify. In this first phase, the body already begins to rebel. Headaches, sleep disturbances, emotional outbursts, concentration problems, social distancing and a lack of joy occur. The bottom line is that the body cries out for rest and security, while the mind drives you to carry on, otherwise the guilty conscience will come rolling in�, explains Sarah Morzinek, psychotherapist and pme academy director.
For the past year, professionals in particular have been in a permanent state of work and play. Childcare has been added to the professional burden due to childcare center and school closures. According to a study conducted by Chemnitz University of Technology (TU) in cooperation with Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), around 60 percent of those surveyed who work from home stated that the boundaries between work and private life become blurred when working from home. During the first lockdown in spring 2020, more than one in four felt this was a burden.
Not only managers with a particularly high workload are affected by burnout. The study makes it clear that working women in home offices with young children are particularly exhausted due to the double burden. In the phases of particularly severe coronavirus restrictions, the burden increased even more. Compared to the group of men, women are significantly more stressed and affected by burnout. �In times of corona, especially during lockdown, burnout is promoted by constant multitasking. Working parents who work from home, take care of their children and homeschool at the same time are constantly dancing at several weddings. The lack of focus time, me-time or rest periods can be a real drain, reports pme expert Morzinek.
Since the start of the pandemic, our working world has been in a state of emergency. It is not yet clear what the new normal will look like after coronavirus. The fact is that the changed working conditions and the multiple stress levels during the first and second lockdowns can influence the development of burnout symptoms.
(from the book �Was ist Burn-out� by pme consultant Mandy Simon, 2018)
If several factors come together at the same time, burnout is encouraged. The lockdown can bring together precisely the number of factors that ultimately lead to employees feeling burnt out and severely exhausted. However, Sarah Morzinek points out: �Nonetheless, the second lockdown does not automatically mean that a wave of burnout is coming over the population. Multi-contextual factors and, above all, stress management strategies are always decisive for the development and onset of burnout.
Especially in challenging times, it is important to take time out and enjoy the little things in everyday life. Anyone who works hard at work and in their private life needs periods of rest to recharge their batteries. Sarah Morzinek has a few recommendations:
1. focus on the positive despite the turbulence. Be grateful for the little things and look at what good things have happened in your life that day. Make a note of your little moment of happiness and keep a record of it.
2. if everything gets too much again, do the 4-6-8 breathing technique, for example. Sit or lie down comfortably and close your eyes. If you find it difficult to focus, put on headphones, either to suppress your noise or to listen to your favorite music. Now breathe in for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 6 seconds and breathe out for 8 seconds. Make sure you use abdominal breathing and breathe deeply into your abdomen. To support this, you can place both hands on your stomach and breathe against your palms. With each exhalation, let go of the stress as if you were blowing it out of your body.
3. time and self-management are particularly important so that you don't get overwhelmed by everything. Prioritize your plans, skip that phone call with your girlfriend if you're running out of resources and take a bath instead. Consciously plan a few minutes of me-time each day. Maybe it's a short walk, a virtual yoga or fitness class, a mindfulness exercise via an app or YouTube, or a dinner with the family where your attention is only there and not at work. Maybe it's a good movie in the evening or a small mind map with content about future vacations and activities that you're already looking forward to.
Mandy Simon is a qualified psychologist and systemic coach in organizational development at pme Familienservice. She is also a certified online consultant. As a specialist consultant, she supports managers and employees both in acute stress situations and in burnout prevention. She has been working on the life coaching hotline of the pme Familienservice since 2009.
Sarah Morzinek heads the Central Academy of the pme Familienservice Group. She specializes in occupational health management, blended learning and health insurance cooperation. She also has a practice for coaching and psychological counseling and several years of experience as a lecturer in university teaching with a focus on BGM.