If you decide to pursue greater productivity, be aware of the possibility of burnout. While being a productive worker can be fulfilling, as human beings we have limits to our energy. If you work too hard, for too long without a break you can become tired, fall out of "flow", and feel bored, de-energized, and even depressed.

You can't always tell when job burnout strikes. In many instances, people who feel unhappy or depressed are not able to pinpoint the reason. But job burnout victims often share many of the following feelings and circumstances;

Boredom: Every now and then we all have a day when we would rather be strolling in the park than be stuck in the office. That's only natural. However, people experiencing job burnout are bored almost all the time. They are turned off by their assignments and have little enthusiasm for the job.

Continuous Stress: It is no fun having to wake up each morning knowing you have to go to a job you despise. The symptoms of stress are different for different people, but be alert to symptoms like nervousness, fatigue, sleeplessness, heartburn, headaches, stomach aches, and constipation. They may be a sign that you are suffering stress caused by job burnout.

Overworked Feeling: Do you work too hard? Do you feel pressured by time, by deadlines? Do you say things like, "I wish there were 26 hours in a day?" If so, watch out! Overworked people are likely to suffer fatigue and stress that can eventually lead to job burnout.

Underworked: Surprisingly, being underworked is even more likely to lead to burnout than being overworked. The fact is, most people want to work and feel as if they are contributing to the company. If you are not working at your dull potential, you will feel unproductive and unsatisfied.

One person recently hired in my company complained to be. "I beg for more projects at work, but the partners won't give them to me. I feel like I am wasting my time. What's the point of being at work eight hours a day if I can complete my assignments by 11 in the morning?

He was quite apt in his point because he was hired for Analytical Projects but was asked to do market research using search engines, which was too little of an effort for him to do. One web scraper and everything he used to do within a few hours.

After only 6 months on the hob, this person is already sending out resumes and looking for a new position. He hopes to land a job with some good consulting firm, where he feels, his talents will be put to better use - and he will avoid job burnout.

Time Consciousness: Do you find yourself glancing at your watch more than four times an hour? Have you ever thought that an hour had gone by, but when you looked at your watch, it had been only five minutes? Does the second hand on the clock seem to move too slowly these days?

Job burnout victims are often extremely time-conscious but in a negative sense. They use the progression of time to help get them through the day, rather than to make the day more productive. And, they find that time on the job passes much more slowly than time at home. People who enjoy their work, on the other hand, find that the business day passes quickly.

Loss of focus: When you enjoy what you are doing, it is easy to tackle the work with enthusiasm and vigor. However, job burnout victims have a hard time applying themselves to their work because they find it boring and unfulfilling. If you find yourself staring at the same piece of paper for hours or reading the same paragraph over and over or you constantly feel drained and drowsy during the day, you may be a prime candidate for burnout.

Low Self-Esteem: According to a study, you are what you do. So, if you don't think much of what you do, you won't think much of yourself.

Job burnout victims can get caught in a vicious cycle of self-degradation because they are dissatisfied with their job, and think work is a waste of time. And they feel worthless because they think they are failures in their careers. Making this situation even worse is the fact that some people have an uncanny knack for sensing when others are feeling low and taking advantage. This makes those at their lowest point resent themselves and their jobs even more.

Withdrawn: As self-esteem, sinks lower and lower burnout victims become overly introverted and withdrawn. They don't socialize or communicate with coworkers because of their work-inflicted inferiority complex.

They look at co-workers who are seemingly satisfied with their jobs and say to themselves, "These people are doing okay. So it must be me, not the company or the job".

Can't face the day: A close friend of mine found he was spending every morning hanging over the toilet throwing up. The thought of going to work was distasteful to him. If getting out of bed to face the workday is an agonizing struggle, you probably have an advanced case of job burnout.

Now, if you are suffering from these symptoms, either a mild or a severe case of job burnout is there. Here are a few ways to avoid and overcome job burnout;

Ask for more work: Not getting a chance to work to your full potential is one of the biggest reasons for job burnout.

Why don't managers delegate more to their staff?
One reason is that they never learned how: most managers are doers, not delegators. Another reason is that a poor manager makes him - or herself feel more important by hogging all the work and leaving staffers in the dark.

Working under a manager who refuses to delegate makes people feel frustrated and useless. If you are not being used to your fullest potential, ask for more work. Tell your supervisor that you can tackle more.

Take on different work: People joke about being stuck in a rut. But it is no joke. One Chef I know used to say that he would die in this restaurant itself because he was never sent to any other place to work.

Life shouldn't be a grind. It should be enjoyable, fun, and even thrilling. So, if you feel stuck in a rut, get out. Break your daily routine by doing something new. For example, if you have always wanted to write but never tried it, volunteer to write an article for your company newsletter or just try to journal down your own life.

Even a slight change of location can make all the difference. For example in my friend's case, he was later transferred to banquet services, because of which he felt good and kept on working in the same restaurant but with new staff.

Learn something new: Some people spend their professional lives rehearsing and reworking the same limited bits of knowledge they picked up in school and their early training. For instance, a person working in HR Tram complained to me that because he had become a specialist in background checks, he had essentially done background checks for dozens of different clients throughout his career.

Of course, he could have broken out of this at any time. He could have studied law and written about it or progressed to the legal team in HR, but he didn't. And the longer he stayed within the narrow confines of background checks, the harder it became for him to try anything new.

Life and work become dull when you stop learning. So, make it a point to broaden your knowledge, master new skills, and learn new things. For example, instead of throwing away college catalogs and course solicitations you receive in the mail, sign up for a course on a new topic that interests you. Or, if you don't have time for night school, you can always read blood or attend a lecture online.

Rehasing the same knowledge you have always carried around in your brain is safe and easy, but it is also boring and can lead to job burnout. When you are continually learning new things about your work, you keep your interest and excitement level high.

Try Something New: Go on a hike, or learn to play guitar. This new thing that you try doesn't have to be work-related. The simple act of doing something you have never done before will boost your spirits and give you a new outlook on life - a positive attitude that will spill over onto your job.

By continually trying new things, you become well-rounded and well-rounded people are the most content personally and professionally.

Be more active in your own domain: Somewhere along the way, you may have lost the zest for your work like engineering, science, sales, retail, or business that you had when you first started. And you have forgotten why you became an engineer, a photographer, or whatever it is you do, in the first place.

You can escape job burnout by rekindling your interest in your profession. Join your professional society, if you haven't already. Become active by attending meetings, reading journals, and research papers. Take a course or teach one in schools or colleges. Take responsibility for training one of the new employees in your department or someone who you think needs to learn these skills to get a good job. The people who are active in their field are usually the most successful and the most satisfied with their careers.

Restructure your job: As I gave the example of the manager who was an Analytics expert but was working as a Market Researcher, perhaps you too have been forced into a role against your will. Maybe you had hopes of doing "creative" projects but found yourself handling dry, routine procedures day after day. If you are unhappy with your job as it is, you can solve the problem by redefining your role in the organization.

First, look for things that need doing but that aren't being done. The volunteer to take this work on. For example, let's say that you are a technical manager who would rather be doing something like computer programming. If your department needs to develop some software and you are fluent in coding language, you can take responsibility for writing the programs. As your department's need for customized technical programs grows, more and more of your time could be devoted to the codes. By satisfying a need, you have also restructured your job to suit your tastes.

Attack problem co-workers head-on: Maybe your life is being made miserable by a co-worker who simply refuses to cooperate with you. The two of you are supposed to be working on some of the same projects, sharing information and ideas. But your "partner" is a loner who always gives you the cold shoulder whenever you try to get together.

Confrontation is unpleasant, so you could remain silent and try to make the best of it. But you won't be solving the problem; you will just be running away. And you will only grow more miserable as a bad situation stays bad.

The better tactic is to confront the uncooperative coworker head-on. Tell your co-worker you have a problem that you want to discuss in private. Then, tell him or her your feelings. Explain that you want to do a good job but you can't unless the two of you can find a way to work together productively and without friction. Be direct, and say, "It seems that whenever I approach you you are not available. Have I done something to make you hesitant to work with me? Is there a way we can get together on this?"

In many cases, the source of our unhappiness at work is another person - a person who is making life difficult for us. By confronting difficult people with the fact that they are being difficult, you force them to admit their poor behavior and take steps to correct it. Which makes life easier for everyone.

Change Departments or Teams: Sometimes, you cannot change the person who is creating a problem for you. Or there may not be another job or task in your department or team that can provide you with career satisfaction. In that case, changing departments or teams may be the answer.

Change Company: If there is no place in your company where you would be happy, then maybe you should change your company entirely. The unfortunate fact of professional life is that many places are simply horrible to work in; many bosses are despotic tyrants; and many companies are very poorly managed. If you are in one of these places, the best thing that you can do is to get out as soon as possible. But be sure to keep your job hunting a secret and don't quit your present job until you get a new one.

On the other hand, don't rush your resume to the printer at the first sign of trouble. Changing jobs is a major step. Are you sure that the problem cannot be solved by less drastic measures, such as a change of assignment, a heart-to-heart talk with the boss, or a week's vacation? Before quitting, try and make things work out. Only when you are convinced that you can't improve your present situation should you put yourself back on the job market.

Change fields: Changing careers is an effective cure for severe job burnout. If you have had it with what you do for a living, maybe you should do something else.

One of my friends was stuck in an insurance sales job. Although he was performing, his work-life balance was haphazard. So I guided him to go to the HR Department once. He gave some interviews and landed alow-paying HR Job, but once he started working, he was more stress-free and liked his job a lot.

A few years down the line, he was able to switch to a good-paying job in a big city and settled with his family there.

There are several reasons why people hesitate to choose this option. One is the feeling that they studied for a specific career and they would be wasting their dedication if they moved into a field for which they were not formally trained. But that is faulty reasoning. The real and tragic waste is working at a job that no longer fulfills you.

The second reason for hesitation is financial. People worry that they will have to take a severe pay cut when they switch fields because they will be starting at entry level. But that is not always the case. True, you may not make as much as you are making now, but you will probably earn enough to maintain your present lifestyle. If not, perhaps your savings can see you through for the year or two it takes to reach a respectable salary in your new profession.

The third factor that keeps people stuck is that they fear radical change. But the change doesn't have to be radical, it can in fact be small. For example, a technical writer who is sick and tired of turning out operating manuals doesn't have to join the circus to find happiness. maybe a different type of writing - say, newspaper reporting - will be enough of a change to break the career doldrums.

The decision to change jobs or professions should be made only after a lot of careful thought and soul searching. But change of some kind is definitely called for when you are stuck with a bad case of job burnout.

After all, you spend more than a third of your waking hours at your job. Doesn't it make sense to have a job you like?

Job Burnouts are common thing these days because we see around the world that people who are working hard in their jobs feel more pressurized to deliver every single time. By following the above steps, you should be able to get out of a job burnout.