The email does not find you well.
Yesterday, you were lounging on the beach, or sprawled on the couch with that book you finally had time to finish. Now, you’re staring down hundreds of missed messages.
The return to work after vacation can be jarring for anyone. But for people who are burned out from their jobs — a state that psychologists describe as feeling persistently exhausted and cynical about work — the transition is even tougher.
While vacation might seem like the obvious solution to being overwhelmed by work, time away can reveal just how depleted you’ve become, said Jeanette M. Bennett, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte who studies the effects of stress on health.
How to know if you’re burned out.
Burnout stems from feeling like you don’t have control over your work. People can dread their jobs, experiencing “the quintessential ‘I’m overwhelmed, I’m exhausted, Sunday Scaries’” feeling, said Dr. Thea Gallagher, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at NYU Langone Health.
Burnout bleeds into the rest of your life: people typically feel like they don’t have the energy to do anything except get through the day. Family responsibilities, friends and hobbies can fall by the wayside — even if people have the time for those activities outside of work, they may be too tired, or feel apathetic about them, said Angela Neal-Barnett, a psychology professor at Kent State University and author of “Soothe Your Nerves: The Black Woman’s Guide to Understanding and Overcoming Anxiety, Panic and Fear.”
Taking time off can relieve burnout in some cases — people come back to work feeling recharged and better able to tackle their workload. But when people are intensely stressed, vacation is more like a Band-Aid. They might feel better when they’re away, but as soon as it’s time to return, they become anxious again.
To determine if you’re burned out, Dr. Bennett recommended asking yourself a few questions once you’re back at work: Were you able to sleep easily during your time off, but now you toss and turn? Does your heart rate jump when you’re driving to work or sign on to Slack? Does your schedule leave no room to spend time with loved ones or decompress?
How to ease the transition back to work.
One reason burnout can be so pronounced even after a vacation is that people tend to work harder in the days before they’re off, Dr. Gallagher said. It can be overwhelming to go from intense work, to vacation, and then straight back into work.
If you’re able, give yourself a buffer day before going back to work, Dr. Gallagher advised. Use that time to rest and reset: Unpack if you traveled, get groceries and ease into life back home so the transition is less abrupt. It may also help to outline a quick game plan, she said. Think about what you can realistically accomplish the next day, and make a list you can tackle when the work day starts.
Once you’re back at work, pay attention to how stress affects your body, Dr. Bennett said. She advised jotting down notes each day on how you’re feeling, and what seems to be causing it.
If you notice you always get a headache after talking to a certain co-worker, or if you feel particularly anxious before a recurring meeting, make a plan to calm yourself down. Maybe that’s taking a minute for a breathing exercise before the meeting, or stepping away for a quick walk right after a conversation.
Your colleagues can also be a resource, said Christina Maslach, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley who studies burnout. Ask them how they manage the workload, or cope with a difficult boss. You can work together to identify what Dr. Maslach calls “the pebbles in the shoe” — the persistent irritations of a job — and brainstorm ways to address them. Maybe you can delegate a task you dread to a co-worker who doesn’t mind it; maybe you can turn a meeting into an email.
If you’re continuously struggling to keep up with work, the answer may ultimately be to find a new job — which Dr. Bennett acknowledged is easier said than done. In the meantime, she suggested stepping back and looking at whether your workload is sustainable and realistic. If it’s not, she said, it may be time to have a transparent conversation with your manager about what needs to change.
And remember that exhaustion isn’t a weakness, Dr. Maslach said.
“You could be doing a good job — a runner could be doing an incredible marathon race,” she said. “But you’ve got to recover before you go onto the next one.”
