Conference quark::human_relations-v1

	 I think there are definately times when we all feel this way.
	 "Burnout" in our jobs can definately lead to decreased
	 productivity in the workplace and put stress on our personal
	 lives.

	 The way I deal with burnout in the workplace is to spend
	 about 15 minutes at the end of everyday planning my next day.
	 Included in that planning is time for ME.  Whether it be a
	 lazy stroll across the building to talk to a friend who knows
	 nothing about my project (hence not talking work for a couple
	 minutes and enjoying the stroll) or maybe its talking a walk
	 outside on a nice warm day at lunch.  I schedule a few
	 minutes for myself on hectic days to calm myself down.  You'd
	 be surprised at the results a few minutes can cause.

	 Personal life is a real kicker, I know for a fact that its
	 very hard to explain to most people that the reason you
	 haven't spent time with them in the past X weeks/months is
	 that you have been working so hard and getting so stressed at
	 work that its difficult to relax when you aren't at work.
	 Some people take the "distance" personally instead of realizing
	 it for what it really is.  I've been on both ends of this
         situation and its rough for all parties involved.  I've
         learned to accept the fact that when I don't hear from
         someone I love its that they are busy...it doesn't mean that
         they love me less.  Being on the receiving end of the
         distance, I've learned that the quality things are what
         counts...not quantity. 

	 I guess the way I deal with burnout is that I find quality
	 time for ME....I get that refresher that I need...especially
	 on a daily basis.  I take a walk, I exercise, I do the
	 "little things" that count so much for the people I love.
	 Also, I am no longer afraid to let my mind be wiped clean of
	 the work that is stressing me.  One of the major problems I
	 faced with "burnout" was that I could not let myself totally
         forget the work...even if it is only for a few minutes...I
         feel that totally divorcing my mind from the subject is
         definately necessary to combat the "burnout." 

	 good luck!

	 kath
	 

    Having a full time job with OT, and working towards two degrees
    (Science and Art) as a full time student, I have experianced Burn-out.
    It usually only hits when I miss a couple nights in a row sleep.
    What I do is to just keep going and ignore it.  Eventually it passes
    and I'm myself again in a day or two.
    
    Bill

    
    
    	At one point in my "past life" I was going to 2 different schools full
    time nights, while holding my full time(40+ hours) job.              
    	One day I just stopped functioning............ It was at that
    point I learned the most important thing one can do is take time
    for themselves. That is the key..... You need to find time to do
    something for yourself.. It does not have to be a lot of time either,
    just quality time.
    	I personally made myself get away more frequently from my normal
    life..... I went on more walks, drove to the beach..etc...........
    It is suprising what a fresh attiutude can do, and change is the
    best thing in the world to give yourself a new attitude.
    
    
    
    
    	Goodluck.... What you are facing is something very difficult.
    It can "screw up" all parts of your life if you allow it to... 
    
    	As an afterthought........ Take a stress management course...
    Or there is always counselling.(This can be very beneficial)
    
    
    Keep the faith and goodluck.
    

    I quit working.  Not totally, I now only work 40 hours a week. 
    
    The only thing about doing that is you have to be willing to drop
    a rating in your performance review.  To me that will be worth it
    if it happens.  I was working from 7 to 4:30 Monday through Friday,
    then I'd log in from home and work from 8pm to well past 1am or 2am.
    And then work all day Saturday, and most of Sunday afternoon/evening.
    
    Sure the work was getting done, and my review (rating wise) was really
    good, but I was a wreck, because I was doing the work of 2+ people.  
    So, the middle of December I went on a 2.5 week vacation, and when I
    came back, I came back to ONLY work 40 hours a week, and thats it.  
    It has done wonders for my personal life.  I am able to do the things 
    I've always wanted to do.  
        
    It did create quite a strain at work, because now it looks like
    I'm not performing as well.  I'm performing just as good - in fact
    probably better, because I'm no longer carrying the stress I did.
    
    It was something my boss still has not gotten used to. But sooner
    or later, he'll come around, its just a matter of time, I'm sure.

    I don't mind putting in 80+ hours a week in work, but you have to
    be appreciated.  When its obvious that you're not, its up to you
    to change the situation. 
    
    Gale

    Hi--
    
    As a victim of "burnout" myself, I just have to answer this note.
    
    Burnout IS real, and it IS caused by unresolved stress.  Previous
    noters have given some excellent suggestions to deal with stress,
    and they do work.  But you must MAKE yourself do them--get up, leave
    the "scene of the crime", and take a walk, or call a friend, or
    take your lunch and go someplace nice, go shopping or whatever.
    
    For the past 18 months, I have been working steadily on a major
    project.  The part of it that I worked on was always in a state
    of change, and it made it extremely difficult to get my job done,
    and to feel good about what I was doing on it.  I put in long hours,
    and worked constantly to meet my deadlines.  I was rude and short
    with everyone I worked with, and took a lot of my frustration out
    on my husband and family.  I could never stop thinking about it,
    or worrying about it.  I even used to have nightmares about it!
    My body's way of handling the burnout was to break down periodically--
    I'd be out for a week with bronchitis or flu.  Then, once I got
    back, it would start all over again.  
    
    But one day, things came to a head.  I had what was diagnosed as
    a "stress attack" (mimicks a mild heart attack) and was carried
    out of the workplace on a stretcher, and spent the rest of the day
    hooked up to monitors in the hospital.  And all because I wasn't
    dealing with my own stress!!  It can happen to anyone, and you have to head
    it off at the pass, so to speak.        
    
    If you are in the situation where you must be at work, and can't
    find another job, or whatever, then DO take 20 minutes or so for
    yourself each day.  Look into one of the stress management courses
    that are offered in-house--they are very good.  
    
    Don't let the situation control you--control the situation!
    
    Best of luck to you, and please keep us posted.
    
    Jane
        
    
    

    
    I'm afraid this is what is happening to my best friend, and it scares
    me.
    
    She is a full-time nursing student, and has been doing her "time"
    in the hospital (different wards) to learn all of the different
    things there are to learn.  She does this from 7am to 2:30pm, all of
    which is extremely stressful for her, she is in an accelerated learning
    class, and a lot is expected from the students.  She is just beginning
    to do a lot of the assorted medical procedures that nurses do, and
    everything she does is supervised by strict instructors.  The environment
    is very fast paced and the students are expected to keep up, of
    course.  From what I hear, she does great/better than average than
    most of the girls in her class.
    
    Along with this, they are given large amounts of homework and case
    studies to work on at night.  To support herself, she works a lot
    at a local nursing home, usually a few days a week and often "doubles"
    on the weekends.  The nursing home (who paid some of her tuition)
    is supportive and allows her to work on her homework if she has
    time at the end of her shift, but she doesn't always.  She has a
    serious boyfriend (who has no transportation) and he lives 40 miles
    away.  She spends many nights driving down to see him, and getting up
    at 4am to come home and start her day again. To top that all off,
    her parents give her a lot of flak about her boyfriend, not letting
    her have him over to her house, so if she wants to see him she has
    to drive.  She's close to her parents and fighting like they do
    takes a lot out of her. Her weekends are always completely
    jam-packed, and she says she begins the week more tired than she
    ends it.  She is basically just trying to fit too much in, and I'm
    afraid it's too much for her.
    
    There is no other way she can make it.  She graduates in 3 months.
    She also worries a lot about money because it seems like she works
    so much but she never gets anywhere.  On her nights "off" I usually
    (like last night) take her out to a nice restaurant and we relax
    and have a few drinks.  I know this helps her a lot, to be out with
    no "agenda" because she feels so stressed all the time.
    
    She has a very fragile system and has gotten sick quite a few times
    this year.  She still keeps up her pace because she's too close
    to graduation to fail now.  I'm really afraid that once she gets
    out of nursing school she is going to be a real mess or that she
    is going to have nurse's burnout before she starts.  I mean, she
    nurses, whether it be school or work, many days 7-3 (school)
    and 3-11 (work)  How long can she keep that up??
    
    I do the best I can, I keep in touch and do her as many favors as
    I can to make things easier.  She likes to go out and have fun because
    it takes her mind off of things, so I take her out.  I pick her
    boyfriend up at the train station when I can so that she doesn't
    have to rush over after work (it's a few towns over).  I try to
    be there for her to lean on and to be supportive, sometimes typing
    papers for her and doing errands, but still, I'm really worried
    about her.
    
    Any suggestions?
    
    Dilly 

    I'd suggest that you read a really good book on the subject (my
    dad gave it to me - we both got a lot out of it).  It's called "Burn
    Out - How to beat the high cost of success" and it's by Dr. Herbert
    J. Freudenberger (Ph. D.).
    
    I lent it to a friend because I thought it might help her (she was
    becoming kind of a stress-puppy and working long hours and so forth).
    I asked her how she was doing at reading it, and whether it was
    helping.  She said she would read it in bits and pieces while she
    was Batch Processing things.  I giggled a bit, because that's *not*
    the way to avoid burn-out.... ;).
    
    -Jody
    

    re: .6 Jane
    
    Boy did you hit the nail square on the head.   Yes unresolved stress
    is a killer.  I continue to experience the stress and its effects
    but now I'm doing something about it. In my case a job change and 
    professional help are called for.  Burnout is real, the name 
    unfortunatly does not describe the problem and is frequently
    misapplied.  I can tell when the stress has reached the boil point
    now, I cannot perform, the memory goes to pot, and the general feeling
    of out of control sets in.  It can get into an endless loop condition
    where the more out of control you feel, the more you try to control
    without success.  This sends you right back to the start of the
    last sentence.  I try to break the loop, do something different,
    go somewhere _I_ like, or just get a little more sleep for one day.
    
    The responses I've read do point out one thing, pay attention to
    yourself.  ASK YOU, whats important?  Are you working toward it?
    Oh yes there is a question _I_ ask me, it it important to _ME_?
    
    Afterall its your body and mind....  Have you hugged yourself today?
    
    Cheers, john
    
   
    

    RE: .9  and .6 too.
    
    John, Jane,  I was really surprised when I read your notes. Because I
    could have written those exact words myself. I'm kind of surprised
    to hear that others have felt the same and/or experienced the
    same physical disintegration. 
    
    So, I'd just like to say thanks for sharing your thoughts on this
    and I wholeheartedly endorse the advice you've offered.
    
    							Hank 

    	One more note............ When your body and mind is stressed
    so are other parts effected..... Correct diet (Nutritional) can
    play a big role. 
    	When I was severely stressed I ended up in the doctors.....The
    first thing to go on me was the muscles..(Between shoulders and
    neck) and then it went all over......Vit b complex and c was a needed
    part of my diet....... And I still am having problems all based
    on that time I allowed myself to burn out.
    

    I just got back from the doctor's office, symptom: burn-out.  I
    have been working like crazy for the last few months.  I am working
    on two graduate degrees, trying to keep up with piano practice for
    concerts.  I usually go to bed at two in the morning and get up
    at seven during week days.  On weekends, I go to bed at four or
    five in the morning and get up at ten.  My doctor told me that he
    was very surprise I did not die.  He ordered me to take a vacation,
    but I can not do it for I am new here and my time off is limited.
    I just have to live with it then.
    
    Take care of yourself before you end up in the hospital like me.
     

    Given that the work situation can't be changed all that quickly,
    one must look outside of work ... an outside interest, some positive
    social experiences, a hobby, excercise - will all help.
    
    	The most significant help must come from within - i.e. your
    attitude. If you accept that the work situation is a temporary reality
    which you can not change, but know full well that it will change
    in time, or that you will be able to effect a change, and just go
    with the flow, you will feel better about things.
    
    	I hope this helps.
    
    				Guy B.
    

    The base note is close enough to describing me that I have been
    asked if I wrote it.  
    
    Add to that note the following: I have been living on the road for the
    past week and will be on the road for at least another week, living in
    hotels and eating generally unhealthy foods, setting host to access my
    account.  No end in sight.
    
    When I find myself stressing out I concentrate on the goal.  When
    the pace gets just a bit too fast I find that letting up causes
    me more stress than if I hold my pace so I look towards the achievement
    of completion.
    
    Sure, my social life consists of asking the waiter the contents
    of my French Goop and my personal time consists of 20 minutes of
    CNN before I fall asleep.
    
    It's the choice I made and it works for me.  Workaholic?  Probably,
    but somehow, in some perverse way, I enjoy it.
    
    Kris

    Boy can I relate to this note.
    
    On top of the fact that I'm burning out from the 200+ phone calls
    I take per day while trying to do my administrative work in major
    interrupt mode, I have been having financial and medical problems.
    We have also recently lost 1 family pet and are having to put the 
    other one to sleep tomorrow due to cancer.  I keep saying I just 
    can't deal with all of this but I keep on dealing with it (at least 
    I think I am).  I feel as if I'm burning out at work and in my personal
    life.
    
    I think the only thing that keeps everything at a tolerable level
    is the fact that I've set aside 2-3 nights a week for exercise.
    I "clog" (its sort of like tap dancing) for 3 hours/night, helps 
    take the aggressions out.  I also have some good friends that I lean
    on when necessary.  
    
    Sure is nice to have a place like this where you can express your
    feelings on the subject.  I think its helped me just acknowledging
    that a problem exists.  Based on the 1st couple of months of this
    year, if I had the option to cancel the rest of 1989 and move on to 
    1990 I might just go for it.  I just keep telling myself its got to 
    get better and I try to keep a positive outlook and clog, clog,
    clog those problems away.
    
    Thanks for listening,
    
    Jan
    
    

    
    At the company I worked for before DEC, I went through three separate
    periods of burnout.  I found myself handling each one differently, 
    probably because I saw it coming sooner each time.  (Half the problem
    is that by the time you know you're burned out, you don't have as many
    emotional and physical resources to deal with it.
    
    Late in my 8.5 years with the company, I sent to a management seminar
    that addressed burnout as one of the topics.  Here's a list of
    burnout avoidance steps (which I kept over my desk for a while).
    They don't all apply to every case, but they got me thinking about
    ways I could be more flexible, and also thinking about priorities.
    (It helps when you tell a boss that a little flexibility now will
    make you more productive - and creative - over the long haul.)
    
    Good luck - hope this helps...
    
    Ron
    
    
    
    o	Pace yourself according to your own natural rhythms and responses
    
    o	Delegate some responsibilities to others
    
    o	Try to reverse the pattern of denial.  Make a list of the tasks
    	you;ve been avoiding and make a point of completing one, then 
    	another, and on to the next.
    
    o	Take a look at how you;ve been eating, the amount of rest you
    	get, and the amount of exercise you take.
    
    o	Don't add to your own stress by starting a rigid diet or a harsh 
    	exercise routine -- do these things in moderation.
    
    o	Talk about your feelings with close friends or relatives.
    
    o	Don't rely on your memory.  Write things down; keep a phone
    	log; write things on a calendar; keep a Rolodex.  [This was
    	one of the most important ones for me - at the time I had
    	five writers working on over 40 projects, and had 10 regularly
    	scheduled meetings a week.]
    
    o	Rearrange your work hours if possible.
    
    o	Pamper yourself.  Give yourself rewards for coping with
    	stress -- a weekend in the country, a new book, a
    	class in Japanese. [The way I am in foreign languages,
    	this would hardly be a stress reducer for me!]
    
    
    List reproduced without permission from course material from 
    "Management for Publications Professionals" Editorial Experts, Inc.

    
    There was one thing I did forget, the last two note reminded me.
    
    You have to have friends you can talk to, and that you listen to.
    Better then even they will see the signs before you do. 
    
    Cheers,
    john
    

    RE: many
    
    And while you're exercising, eating right, getting more sleep, etc...
    say to yourself:
    
                   "and this too shall pass..."
    
    
    You have *no* idea how this little bit of hope has helped me through
    even the darkest days of my life.

    Jodi-
    

    Try an experiment.
    Go home at 5 today or tomorrow or friday
    And do not feel guilty:DEC is a big company, and the stock will
    not take a tumble tonight!
    
    If it is affecting your personal life, you have to assess what is
    more important in the long run.  If it is effecting your health,
    then you need to slow down.  You only get one body!  About 5 years
    ago,  I was working very late, losing weight( which was nice), but
    my hair was going grey!  Well, I left the job.  My hair has less
    grey today than 5 years ago.
    
    To get out of a bind, it is sometimes necessary to take the time
    to analyze how you spend your time, and plan a little.  This of
    course cuts into the day, but it may make you feel better about
    the hassle in that you have control.  Plan your next few weeks,
    put in deadlines, approximate the hours needed to complet the project,
    write down the hours spent in meeting.  If this adds up to 40+ hours
    (which I suspect it will), then see if there are a few items someone
    else can help with (really look at this)   For meetings, get someone
    else to attend, tell the person holding the meeting, or get notes
    from someone else.
    
    I know when I work a lot, I resent the place.  
    
    when you talked to your boss, did you have your act together, or
    were you just talking off the top of your head?  It is better to
    go in with a plan.   
    
    Also, eat correctly.  Eat lunch, can the coffee, eat a good dinner,
    not fried foods.  Treat yourself to a good dinner, not nachos and
    beer.   Eat cereal (at your desk if necessary) for breakfast, not
    a donut.  
     Hope this helps.
    
    

    Why not take an extra long lunch and enjoy the weather with a 
    dandelion break?  (For those who read Bloom County.)
    
    Bill

    RE:ALL
    
             Well I guess I am not the only one that this occurs to.
    That in-itself, helps!  I work for Field service as a rep.  This
    means that I am the one that has to go out and fix, what others
    have broke.  I have been in this line of work for prox 16 yrs and
    have found that this problem (burnout) is many times taken as just
    "PART" of the job.  I can tell you that there are ways of handeling
    this problem but they are not simple or even easy.
    
             I had one manager, not with DEC, that handled this problem
    as well as anyone I have ever seen.  He, had the ability to observe
    all that was going on around him without appearing to do so.  There
    were many times he would walk up to me and say "get out of here
    for about 30 min and relax".  Since he was new to this particular
    management job there was a lot of disbelief when, after three months,
    the performance of his people bypassed every other group.  His
    contention  was...in our line of work it is very easy to get what
    he called "tunnel vision" and that was the critter that caused many
    of the stress problems.  This person had decided that a few care-free
    moments helped to get around this "normal" result of working on
    a very complex problem.  So this is the way I try to ease my stress.
    Since managers are all different people you may not get one that
    understands these problems or how to handle them.  My point here
    is try to find "something" that works.  You may have to try several
    ideas until you find one that will work for you.  When you do, sit
    down with your manager and explain what these ideas are so that
    person can deal with your needs.
    
    Dave
    

    
    
    
    It isn't the hours of work that gets you, it's the stress.
    Work does not have to be stressful. It can be as satisfying
    and relaxing as a hobby, while still following a tightly
    disciplined course of action.  
    
    Much of the potential stress is not related to the performance
    of the work, but to how you perceive it as affecting your image 
    in the eyes of others, particularly your boss. 
                                        
    This is assuming that the job is not physically tiring or
    monotonous. 100, 120, even 140 hours a week (that's 20 hpurs
    a day) can work if you enjoy it. (Different people need different
    amounts of sleep, just as they have differing nutritional 
    requirements. The optimum is probably one hour less than the 
    time after which you would awake naturally.) Taking a whole 
    weekend off every 2 or 3 weeks will then provide a change of pace 
    that is refreshing and re-invigorating. It's truly *quality* time. 
    
         
                        
    

Tunnel vision is a serious problem not only with "event driven" jobs but with
"long view" jobs such as programming (assuming you have a DEC-style programming
job, with responsibility for functionality, design, and debugging as well).

When I first started out, it struck me how many programmers worked very long
hours but didn't seem to get much done.  After a while of keeping track of my
own time, I noticed a pattern:  I would do well for a while, then run up against
a problem that I couldn't solve or go off for hours on some "interesting"
tangent.  I would resist leaving the office until I was dead on my seat because
of not wanting to leave some particular job-itch unscratched.

Then the next morning, while I was taking my shower or having coffee, I would
come up with the solution to the problem or realize that the solution I worked
so late on the night before was worthless and would have to be redone.  It 
seemed that most of my hours were being spent undoing things that I had done
in other of my hours.

Now, I am usually in the office for longer-than-required stretches, but try to 
stay aware of the possibility of tunnel vision.  If I'm not getting anywhere,
I try to convince myself that it's time to leave.  I also interrupt my work 
fairly often (with other pending work, conversation, VAX Notes, whatever).

Of course, I'm far from completely successful, but it's kept me from going 
through burnout while staying comparatively (: >,) successful in 
meeting deadlines.  I've had managers who were used to whipping the troops 
through 80+ hours a week - they didn't like the look of my method, but didn't
argue with the results (although there was one that always imagined how much
more I would accomplish if I'd just put in those extra 40 hours of effort).
Also, it leaves at least one person with energy available for that final 
horrible crunch that hasn't been anticipated.

Hope this helps someone,
Ray