Struggling with work burnout

[JohnyB]

Hi,

my girl is struggling with work burnout. She is working in this company for over 7yrs, and reached that point that she doesn't enjoy it. It is boring, and co-workers are anoying and not cooperative. Her branch is kinda specific, and finding new job in that field could be very hard if not impossible. She is 31, so IMO it's not too late to learn something new and change job.

I wanna help her, I hate seeing her struggling with this. But I don't really know what to do besides listening to her...

Maybe some of you face that problem with work burnout and have some tips how to handle it?

 

Cheers,

Mark

[umirano]

Does she share your assessment? In my experience it is important to do something about it, to regain a sense of power and control. I have seen people adapt and submit to the situation and over time they sank deeper and deeper into a hole (that they were essentially digging themselves) and felt more and more cornered. I think in such a situation it's justified to take a cut in salary for a while and retrain on the side for some other career. Money never trumps work satisfaction, you spend so much time at work, it is literally impossible to make up for a lack of satisfaction/feeling of relevance by money only.

 

That said, a lot of careers, i.e. jobs are never fully rewarding, it's just the simple fact of our world. Most of the time a salary is sort of damages for pain and suffering, because those are simply things you wouldn't do if you weren't paid that amount of money for doing them. It should not stop us from obtaining a job though that entails the most enjoyable activities possible though.

 

Good luck

[Redhead14]

Hi,

my girl is struggling with work burnout. She is working in this company for over 7yrs, and reached that point that she doesn't enjoy it. It is boring, and co-workers are anoying and not cooperative. Her branch is kinda specific, and finding new job in that field could be very hard if not impossible. She is 31, so IMO it's not too late to learn something new and change job.

I wanna help her, I hate seeing her struggling with this. But I don't really know what to do besides listening to her...

Maybe some of you face that problem with work burnout and have some tips how to handle it?

 

Cheers,

Mark

 

You cannot manage that for her. What you can do is have a nice dinner prepared for her when she gets home, some flowers. Rent a flick. Have some distractions for her outside of work. If she's bringing all this home often, she needs to learn to leave it at work and be focused at home. If you are being constantly barraged and listening, you're gonna be burnt out too.

[JohnyB]

@umirano, yeah, I think exactly the same. I think she also is thinking the same but don't have the guts to do this. I was in similar situation some time ago, I move on and couldn't be happier then now with my job. But in my case it was also bigger salary and doing what I love. In her case is not that easy, her hobby/interest aren't really 'job suitable'. And changing job for sure will cut her salary and other benefits, but like you said, happienes is more important.

 

@Redhead14, I don't wanna manage that for her, just help. I know it needs to be her decision. I'm doing like you said, 'provide a distracitons' to not think about it. And it's not that she is taking this at home all the time or we are talking constantly about it. Only sometimes she mention it, so that's not an issue.

[Redhead14]

@umirano, yeah, I think exactly the same. I think she also is thinking the same but don't have the guts to do this. I was in similar situation some time ago, I move on and couldn't be happier then now with my job. But in my case it was also bigger salary and doing what I love. In her case is not that easy, her hobby/interest aren't really 'job suitable'. And changing job for sure will cut her salary and other benefits, but like you said, happienes is more important.

 

@Redhead14, I don't wanna manage that for her, just help. I know it needs to be her decision. I'm doing like you said, 'provide a distracitons' to not think about it. And it's not that she is taking this at home all the time or we are talking constantly about it. Only sometimes she mention it, so that's not an issue.

 

I'm doing like you said, 'provide a distracitons' to not think about it. -- Just keep up with this. That's all you can and should do. Women don't want men to solve their problems, just support them. That is your role. Take the pressure off of yourself and just rest in the knowledge that you are doing what you can and should do. You are not helpless, you are doing as much as you can be expected to do to actually help.

[Kamila]

She's in burnout but she's still at work ? She's not in sickness leave ?

 

My advice would be she take a leave of absence to gain a new perspective and seek medical help. A professional will help her to identify the causes of her burnout. Mostly it has to do with setting boundaries and asserting herself at work and life in general.

[GemmaUK]

@umirano, yeah, I think exactly the same. I think she also is thinking the same but don't have the guts to do this. I was in similar situation some time ago, I move on and couldn't be happier then now with my job. But in my case it was also bigger salary and doing what I love. In her case is not that easy, her hobby/interest aren't really 'job suitable'. And changing job for sure will cut her salary and other benefits, but like you said, happienes is more important.

 

@Redhead14, I don't wanna manage that for her, just help. I know it needs to be her decision. I'm doing like you said, 'provide a distracitons' to not think about it. And it's not that she is taking this at home all the time or we are talking constantly about it. Only sometimes she mention it, so that's not an issue.

 

From what you've posted here I doesn't sound like she has burn out - you only 'think' she is thinking the same as that which you posted in your opening post and also you say she 'only mentions work sometimes'

 

Sounds more like she just has usual stresses like all of us and she just offloads occasionally.

There's nothing for you to help with - just listen when she talks about it on the occasions she does.