Do you ever burn out at work?

Yes – Monotony, being sedentary, and not having enough work.

Customers. Idiocy. Inefficiency. Other people. Worst when all put together.

@laureth That’s what my day felt like today!!!

I am burnt out as I type this.Complete artist’s block and it sucks.

The one thing that will burns people out in record speed is complaining.
Complaining is a downward spiral. You complain and then soon you start finding new things to complain about. Then you go into work fully expecting things to suck, which of course it does because you’re looking for things to complain about.

It can’t be helped that people at work are going to disappoint you in some way. You can’t dwell on that stuff. You need to think about why you’re there in the first place. Is this something you want to be
doing? Why are you doing it? Who depends on you to be doing it?

Things you can do to avoid burnout:
take breaks
make friends with co workers
plan stuff after work
have career goals

@Captain_Fantasy Oh! That’s probably why I hated my job so much! Everyone in my office spent half the day complaining and no time coming up with solutions.

I figure I am burned out when I start making many typing mistakes. then it is time to take a break or go home.

It started in November when I had to rush to a project in Brussels, Belgium, I got back for a few days at Christmas then went to start a project in Illinois. I kept at that one until the beginning of February. I had a day off and went back to Pennsylvania for a major snow storm and my father’s funeral. Headed back to Illinois for a couple more weeks, had two days off and went to the new project in Indiana where I am now. I’ll be here for a couple days then heading back to Illinois. With any luck I’ll finish up the job in Illinois and be home for a couple weeks R&R. I don’t know what comes next but there is a good chance that I’m heading to China.

Yeah, I get burned out, the last time I got this burned out I ended up in the hospital for a month.

Yes. That’s what vacation time is for.

Cell phones and e-mail now make it all but impossible to hide. Everybody seems to want a piece of your hide and some days it all at the same time!! Honestly who actually as the strength to do this???

@Cruiser I was taught to operate independently, with little support. I try, really hard to maintain that stance. Of course that leads to a periodic burn out.

Yea, I burn at work all the time
…wait thats not what this question was asking :P

I work in 7 different hospital departments – I deal with ego tripping on an hourly basis – I work with poor cancer patients for whom cancer isn’t the worst of their problems – I am a depository for their anger and emotions and desperation. Yes, there are many days I am burned out at work.

@Ron_C I have experienced that since I was a young man. As hard as it is, it is a form of freedom I would never surrender!

Yeah, I’ve been there. It’s one of the reasons I’m giving up my clinics.

Happened to me today.

I worked seventy hours last week, had Sunday off then worked ten hours yesterday.

I got to work today and crashed. Couldn’t function. So I left at 2PM, got a haircut, then took a two-hour nap.

Which was great, because I had to teach from 7 to 10PM.

I burned out because I was too smart for my own good

@Cruiser you are right. I was trained as an electronics technician in the Navy. They try to give you an excellent base in electronics to make you able to operate independently. When it is midnight in the middle of the ocean, there is very little back-up available.

I think that kind of training helps shape your whole life. I was and am the person that isn’t afraid to go to new places and try new things. The phrase I have always hated the most is “we never did it that way before…).

Burnout is usually a serious condition. Don’t confuse it with periodic listlessness.

@Rarebear Really? What will you be doing in place of them? Incidentally, I received an advertisement once for a seminar called “Non-Clinical Careers for Physicians.” Apparently it was quite well attended.

@Dr_Dredd I’m taking over as critical care director at my hospital. No room for clinics. I’m still doing clinical work, just not as much outpatient.

So, @mattbrowne what do you call it when you can’t even think about thinking, don’t want to hear anyone’s problems, and don’t have the ambition to get out your chair? Is that burnout or listlessness?

About the time I really started feeling burned out, I found out I could take early retirement. I did.

@Rarebear Cool. Good luck!