Manager syndrome: what it is and how to prevent it

Occupational fatigue

Burnout is commonly understood as mental and physical exhaustion. This condition is caused by constant overstrain, for example, when a person works for a long time at the limit of his strength and mental resources.

He tries to complete many tasks and manage absolutely everything, ignoring fatigue and stress. It is not surprising that one day the moment comes when motivation and strength disappear, and it can be difficult to restore them.

If you continue to work in this state, it will certainly affect your health and quality of life. Therefore, excessive fatigue must be fixed as early as possible, before it has yet turned into burnout. If for a long period you did not find time for rest and recovery, then over time, any, even insignificant, load will be perceived as an obstacle.

In this situation, we tend to engage in self-flagellation. We can blame ourselves for laziness, unwillingness to work, lack of success. But the truth is that this is not a matter of willpower, but the normal limitations of physiology. Everyone needs rest.

Prevention of the manager’s syndrome

To prevent the development of the manager’s syndrome, first of all, you need to adhere to the basic recommendations regarding sleep and rest, nutrition, balance of physical and mental stress.

You need to sleep at least eight hours a day. At the same time, it is important that sleep is uninterrupted. Follow the diet and take care of its balance, try to control the level of vitamins and trace elements in the body (this will require a doctor’s consultation).

Denying ourselves sufficient satisfaction of simple physiological needs, we harm not only the body, but also the psyche: on an unconscious level, this is experienced as an unsafe situation, and the brain switches on the “alarming expectation” mode.

In addition, rest is extremely important – a time when you are not doing anything useful. It is as much a necessity as food and sleep. If you are a workaholic, then make it a habit to have pleasant, distracting activities.

Even when we just lie or sit idle, our brain is actually busy – it processes the information received during the day. Previously, there was much less information, and more time to assimilate it, and thanks to this, a person did not encounter such a variety of different anxieties.

An effective way to combat stress and anxiety is physical relaxation. For example, massage or dance classes. It is not necessary to visit the gym and expose yourself to power loads, walking is enough to release tension and gain strength.

You can get rid of burnout!

To properly deal with burnout, it is important to understand the reasons behind it. This condition is provoked not only by excessive workloads, but also by subjective factors. For example, you don’t like what you do. At an unloved job, it is difficult to perform even simple actions. They will require more strength than activities that bring pleasure.

Also, burnout can occur with constant distractions. Today, employees often need to multitask. When a person performs several projects at once, switching to calls and negotiations with colleagues in parallel, a lot of energy is expended.

A lot of effort goes into the decision-making process. Time management techniques will help to evenly distribute the load, streamline work so as not to look for new solutions in any situation, but to use blanks. It is important to outline a work plan in which even regular distractions will not unsettle.

An unobvious cause of energy loss is anxiety. It can arise because of “burning” deadlines, because of the fear of hearing criticism, or for other personal reasons. For example, during the pandemic, many companies switched to remote work, and for some employees such conditions turned out to be stressful, as the actual and psychological boundaries between home and work were erased.

In order to prevent the manager syndrome, it is extremely important to work on positive self-esteem. Getting feedback from colleagues and management is not always possible, and who, except you, knows exactly what you managed to achieve and with what work? Try to keep a diary of achievements on your own. Record in it all the successes for the day, even if they seem small to you. This is a simple and effective practice that will help you see that you are not in vain.

It happens that people refuse to rest, thinking that if they go on vacation, then “everything will collapse” at work without them. And here it is important to understand that you are not alone and your colleagues are also capable of performing certain tasks, if they are given such an opportunity. Sometimes you need to allow yourself to rest, and give others a chance to prove themselves.

It also happens that it is difficult for a person to follow the recommendations for self-healing. He seems to feel in a wheel and cannot stop. Often this happens because the organization of rest and useful practices also requires effort, but they are not there, because the exhaustion is too great. In addition, any change is disturbing, even if it is positive. If you notice these moments in yourself, do not hesitate to seek help from a specialist. Working with a psychologist, you will replenish the necessary resources.