Many Of Us Are Burned Out

Feeling stressed about work even when you’re at home with family and friends? You’ve got lots of company these days in recession-scarred America, where working more but having less seems to be the new way of life.

More than a third of U.S. employees (36%) say they're experiencing chronic work stress, according to this year's American Psychological Association survey.

And 32% of the survey's 1,546 respondents say they plan to seek employment elsewhere within the next year.

That’s right, a third of American workers are burned out, reports mediabistro.com.

Those who responded to the survey cited salary concerns, lack of opportunities for advancement, heavy workloads and long hours as sources of their job stress, according to David W. Ballard, who is head of the APA's Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program.

The program seeks ways to create healthy organizational cultures that support employee well-being and organizational performance.

Weighing Stress Types

Some stress is positive, according to the APA, releasing adrenaline that can enhance a person's performance and problem-solving ability.

But chronic stress, defined as constant and persisting over an extended period of time, can cause anxiety, insomnia, muscle pain, high blood pressure and a weakened immune system.

Such stress puts people at risk for developing illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and depression.
“It's easy to get isolated, trudging to work every day,” says Ballard, who recommends building new skills and maintaining connections with friends and colleagues who can be sources of brighter career opportunities.

Try Coping Strategies

If too much work is the problem, cut down on your workload, for one thing, career expert Roberta Chinsky Matuson tells CNNMoney. Conversely, if you want a promotion, ask for extra work.

Actually, the key here is asking; don’t suffer in silence. Ask for a patient ear from a friend, for help from a co-worker, or for advice from your boss.

“It’s one thing to do the work of two people while a position is being re-staffed. It’s another to continue to take on two jobs for the rest of your working life,” Chinsky Matuson says.

“Let your boss know that you are drowning and ask for a life preserver to keep you afloat.”

Most Stressful Jobs

According to CNBC, they are real estate agent, advertising executive, public relations officer, highway patrol officer, commercial pilot, police officer, surgeon, taxi driver, corporate executive and firefighter.

Journalist was not among the top ones but, as anyone who worked in a newsroom would tell you, daily newspaper deadlines often were heart-stoppers, putting aside for a moment ugly office politics and occasional crazy readers.

So what to do about your situation? An advancement or exit strategy can counter chronic stress.

“Employees can boost their own morale because they realize that they are not helpless victims tied to a bad economy,” says Cheryl E. Palmer, president of Call to Career in Silver Spring, Md. “They are preparing themselves to embrace future opportunities when they become available.”

If a heavy workload seems to preclude efforts for accumulating skills and connections, perhaps it's time to be a little less of a perfectionist.

“Most times, if something is 80% done, it's ready to go. The extra 20% really won't make much of a difference,” says Chinsky Matuson, author of Suddenly In Charge: Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around.

“This philosophy will help you leave the office before 8 p.m. each evening,” she says, and it will free up time to prepare a move up – or out.

Still, you don't need an expert to tell you, the worst kind of stress is self-imposed, when you set the bar unreasonably high. As the old McDonald's commercial urged hungry viewers: You deserve a break today!

Ken Cocuzzo

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Restoring Work, Life Balance

For those who lost their jobs, were forced to change jobs or had their jobs threatened during the Great Recession, there may be a silver lining – the discovery that work is not the end-all, be-all you may have once thought.

That’s right; work is not the most important thing on the planet. There’s is more to life than “working for the man every night and day,” as John Fogerty's lyrics go in the old “Proud Mary” song of a few decades back.

The downturn years that began in December 2007 have caused workers to question career-related sacrifices, including time away from family, less leisure and fewer self-improvement activities.

They are a few of the findings of a recent study by Wayne Hochwarter (right), a Jim Moran Professor of Business Administration at Florida State University College of Business, and research associates Tyler Everett and Stuart Tapley.

They reviewed the Great Recession’s role in changing employees’ thoughts about work, commitment to their families, and the pursuit of a more balanced lifestyle.

“The objective of the study was to see if we could identify shifts in thinking, as well as the causes of these changes,” Hochwarter says.

Opinions gathered from more than 1,100 full-time employees, across a range of occupations and career stages, showed the following:

* 48 percent reported the recession increased their appreciation of family;

* 37 percent reported the recession promoted thoughts that work isn’t as important as it once was in the grand scheme of things;

* 49 percent admitted the recession helped them recognize the value of people over things;

* 23 percent indicated the recession increased awareness of an over-commitment to work at the expense of family and recreation;

* 42 percent confirmed most of what happens at work is out of one’s control regardless of commitment and effort; and

* 43 percent agreed the recession increased motivation to be a better person rather than just a better employee.

Finally, more than 70 percent of employees acknowledged that most days at work “seem like they will never end” — a commonly held belief in work settings where increasingly more time and output is expected with less support and fewer guaranteed rewards.

The study also indicated recession-related stress tends to manifest differently in men and women.

“Digging a little deeper into the data, it was evident that men’s reflective, and often remorseful, thoughts were driven by recession-related job insecurity and its subsequent role in encouraging hostile work treatment,” Hochwarter says.

He suggests it’s common for work stress to push employees to places they would not otherwise go, in terms of thoughts and actions, when it reaches intolerable levels.

Such stress is apparent in the comment of one study participant, a 48-year-old manager of a production facility who was laid off by his longtime employer. “I broke my back for this company, missed my kids growing up, and for what? Nothing!” the man says.

Women’s thoughts, on the other hand, were triggered by conflicts between work and family obligations. Women reported job obligations have increased in recent years — in terms of time and energy — resulting in fewer hours engaged in family life.

The study also uncovered a generational divide, with those born after the mid-1970s more likely to have struck a better balance between work and personal life, especially as it relates to friends, family and leisure. Work shares equal or lesser status.

In this sense, younger employees seem to exert a positive influence on Baby Boomer co-workers in making them realize there's a bigger world outside the office. A great work ethic is important for success, but it does not guarantee it.

WMB finds the study interesting in terms of shared experiences, but the results are not really that surprising when you take a closer look.

Life stresses fall into major areas – job loss, death of a loved one, failing marriage, buying a home, having children, and being a crime victim.

Some or all of these things are part of living a long and full life; you get the good with the bad but, hopefully, more good than bad. Striking a balance between work and your personal life is the key to survival.

For those who got hammered by the Great Recession (and there are millions in this financial mess), now is a great opportunity to rebuild your life on terms more to your liking.

If parts of your old life were not working, you can start anew with something personally satisfying. Trying to reinvent the past (your old job) isn't likely to move you forward into the future.

As for me, I practice what I preach at writenowworks.com. If you like this post, please share it.