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Studies have shown that napping improves both cognitive performance and physical brain health, so it’s no surprise that it also means a brief nap translates to a boost in productivity on the job. That explains why nearly half of workers in the U.S. sleep during work hours—and a third admit to literally sleeping on the job……Continue reading….
By: Jeff Somers
Source: LifeHacker
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Critics:
Evidence suggests that the etiology of burnout is multifactorial, with personality factors playing an important, long-overlooked role. The researchers identified the prominent personality factor neuroticism in the development of burnout. Cognitive dispositional factors implicated in depression have also been found to be implicated in burnout.
Burnout is thought to occur when there is a mismatch between the job and the worker. A common type of mismatch is work overload. For example, work overload can occur when a worker survives a round of layoffs, but after the layoffs the worker is doing too much with too few resources. Overload may occur in the context of downsizing, which often does not narrow an organization’s goals, but requires fewer employees to meet those goals.
The research on downsizing, however, indicates that downsizing has more destructive effects on the health of the workers who survive the layoffs than burnout; these health effects include increased levels of sickness and greater risk of mortality. The job demands-resources model has implications for burnout, as measured by the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI). Physical and psychological job demands were concurrently associated with the exhaustion, as measured by the OLBI.
Lack of job resources was associated with the disengagement component of the OLBI. Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter identified six risk factors for burnout in 2001: mismatch in workload, mismatch in control, lack of appropriate awards, loss of a sense of positive connection with others in the workplace, perceived lack of fairness, and conflict between values.
Although job stress has long been viewed as the main determinant of burnout, recent meta-analytic findings indicate that job stress is a weak predictor of burnout. These findings question one of the most central assumptions of burnout research. In a systematic literature review in 2014, the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services (SBU) found that a number of work environment factors could affect the risk of developing exhaustion disorder or depressive symptoms:
- People who experience a work situation with little opportunity to influence, in combination with too high demands, develop more depressive symptoms.
- People who experience a lack of compassionate support in the work environment develop more symptoms of depression and exhaustion disorder than others. Those who experience bullying or conflict in their work develop more depressive symptoms than others, but it is not possible to determine whether there is a corresponding connection for symptoms of exhaustion disorder.
- People who feel that they have urgent work or a work situation where the reward is perceived as small in relation to the effort develops more symptoms of depression and exhaustion disorder than others. This also applies to those who experience insecurity in the employment, for example concerns that the workplace will be closed down.
- In some work environments, people have less trouble. People who experience good opportunities for control in their own work and those who feel that they are treated fairly develop less symptoms of depression and exhaustion disorder than others.
- Women and men with similar working conditions develop symptoms of depression as much as exhaustion disorder.
In line with the work of Christina Maslach and Susan E. Jackso The World Health Organisation has defined burnout as consisting of:
- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
- increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job
- reduced professional efficacy.
- Symptoms sufferers, past sufferers and health professionals associate with exhaustion disorder.
A 2023 study by Elin Lindsäter et al. found a wide range of symptoms had by people formally diagnosed with exhaustion disorder. The most common symptoms reported by people currently suffering with the condition were tiredness (48%), lack of energy (41%), difficulty recovering from exertion (33%), poor general cognitive functioning (33%), memory issues (32%) and difficulty coping with perceived stressors and demands (31%). Some research indicates that burnout is associated with reduced .
job performance, coronary heart disease, and mental health problems. Examples of emotional symptoms of occupational burnout include a lack of interest in the work being done, a decrease in work performance levels, feelings of helplessness, and trouble sleeping. The Swedish health department has defined the effects of exhaustion disorder as being:
- Concentration difficulties or impaired memory
- Markedly reduced capacity to tolerate demands or to work under time pressure
- Emotional instability or irritability
- Sleep disturbance
- Marked fatigability or physical weakness
- Physical symptoms such as aches and pains, palpitations, gastrointestinal problems, vertigo or increased sensitivity to sound.
There is research on dentists and physicians that suggests that burnout is a depressive syndrome. Thus reduced job performance and cardiovascular risk could be related to burnout because of burnout’s tie to depression. Behavioral signs of occupational burnout are demonstrated through cynicism within workplace relationships with coworkers, clients, and the organization itself.
Forced overtime, heavy workloads, and frenetic work paces give rise to debilitating repetitive stress injuries, on-the-job accidents, over-exposure to toxic substances, and other dangerous work conditions. Williams and Strasser suggested that healthcare workers have focused much attention on the workplace risk factors for heart disease and other illnesses, but have underemphasized work-related depression risk.
Other effects of burnout can manifest as lower energy and productivity levels, with workers observed to be consistently late for work and feeling a sense of dread upon arriving. They can suffer concentration problems, forgetfulness, increased frustration, and/or feelings of being overwhelmed. They may complain and feel negative, or feel apathetic and believe they have little impact on their coworkers and environment. Occupational burnout is also associated with absenteeism, other time missed from work, and thoughts of quitting.
As in depression, chronic burnout is also associated with cognitive impairments in memory and attention. Research suggests that burnout can manifest differently between genders, with higher levels of depersonalisation among men and increased emotional exhaustion among women. Other research suggests that people revealing a history of occupational burnout face future hiring discrimination.
Maslach suggested that preventing burnout requires a combination of organizational change and worker education. She and Leiter argued that burnout can occur in connection to six areas of work life: workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values. For example, with regard to workload, an organization should take steps to assure that a worker has adequate resources to meet job demands.
With regard to values, clearly stated ethical organizational values are important for ensuring employee commitment. Supportive leadership and relationships with colleagues are also helpful. Hätinen et al. suggest “improving job-person fit by focusing attention on the relationship between the person and the job situation, rather than either of these in isolation, seems to be the most promising way of dealing with burnout.”
They also note that “at the individual level, cognitive-behavioural strategies have the best potential for success.”One approach for addressing these discrepancies focuses specifically on the fairness area. In one study employees met weekly to discuss and attempt to resolve perceived inequities in their job. The intervention was associated with decreases in exhaustion over time but not cynicism or inefficacy, suggesting that a broader approach is required.
In a book about educators, Barry A. Farber suggested that strategies such as setting more achievable goals, focusing on the value of the work, and finding better ways of doing the job can help teachers experiencing occupational stress. In addition to interventions that can address and improve conditions on the work side of work-life balance, the ways in which people spend their non-work time can help to prevent burnout and improve health and well-being.
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