The ONE THING You're Missing to DITCH Burnout for GOOD
let’s face it…
you’ve heard most of this shit before!
rest. say “no”…ya da, ya da!
There is probably a lot about burnout that you’re already familiar with. You know you need to take care of yourself. You know you need to not work so much. You know that you need to do all of this to overcome your burnout. But, there is one thing that is underappreciated AND hugely important.
AND THAT THING THAT MAKES SUCH A HUGE DIFFERENCE IS…
HAVING SOCIAL SUPPORT!
A common thing I have felt - and have heard from clients - is that they “feel alone” in their burnout. They feel like they’re the only one that is struggling and when we’re alone, we’re isolated.
High-achievers also struggle most profoundly because we often have difficulty asking for help. Because we pride ourselves so much on our capabilities, asking for help or needing support from our colleagues often undermines our very sense of identity in our work and in our life. But like it or not, we do need that social support to help us feel better about our burnout. And it’s not just my personal opinion…
science is on my side, too!
When I did a little research to see if there was a relationship between social support and burnout, the first things that came back were a number of scientific studies. These studies assess burnout and social support by profession: social works, psychologists, nurses, correctional staff, students, entrepreneurs, managers, etc.
In any study, there is going to be some variation by profession, but some of the conclusions that these studies drew were:
Social support was associated with a higher feeling of challenge and control, which was the biggest contributor to preventing work-related burnout (here)
Higher levels of social support were associated with lower levels of emotional exhaustion, lower personal achievement, etc. among hospital nurses (here)
Different types of social support influenced different dimensions of burnout, with each dimension of burnout being influenced by at least one type of social support in correctional staff (here)
Feelings of personal accomplishment were directly related to the level of supervisor support in nurses in Shanghai (here)
Higher feelings of social support are correlated with lower levels of student burnout (here)
Entrepreneurs have less social support than manager do (here)
Social support is also correlated with lower job burnout in female worker-level employees (link tbd - original article location was changed)
Job burnout levels can be predicted by work-life balance and social support factors, such as neglecting life, emotional support, taking time for oneself, carrying work to home, etc. (here)
Women have significantly higher burnout rates with less perceived support than men do. Additionally, this study showed than single people have greater burnout than married people and perceive significantly less supervisory and family support. Older, married men who have been with their company longer perceive more support than younger, single, female counterparts. (here)
High levels of coworker and supervisor support were associated with low levels of burnout-related measures, such as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment (here)
Social support has a higher impact on feelings of job stress and burnout in female entrepreneurs than males. (here)
There are 2 contributing factors that affect and predict burnout in entrepreneurs - conscientiousness and neuroticism. Entrepreneurs that are not conscientious experience higher neuroticism and burnout and cope less effectively. (here)
So, what is the take away from all this research?
One, burnout is correlated with a perceived lack of social support. Two, there are gender and profession-differences between the levels of burnout experienced. Three, that marital status also impacts the level of perceived support and therefore burnout. Four, that burnout is worse for female entrepreneurs than males.
but, what does it all mean?
social support is crucial to overcoming burnout.
Yes, a number of these studies were looking at peer and supervisory support, but obviously, until my business gets a little bigger, I can’t reach a hand into every corporate environment on planet earth and train supervisors on how to better support their employees.
But fortunately, those aren’t the only places we can get support in our lives. We can also get support from our peers, our families, and our friends. This is exactly why I’ve created my Take Back Your Life Membership program - to provide you with the peer support you might be lacking as well as the coaching to help you create the supportive environment you need at work.
Join Us in the TBYL Membership >>
Not sure? Hit me up and let’s chat about if this is the right community for you.
If not, then, my friend, you know what you need to do: focus on creating supportive relationships in your life. It’s not only going to make you feel more connected and give you a better sense of belonging, but it’s also going to give you that missing ingredient in helping you overcome your burnout!
