We have all had those tired, groggy, not particularly productive days of work. For many of us we call that Monday! Sometimes the lack of focus and low energy carries on for more than the start of the week resulting in further frustration and even less production. This type of behavior, if sustained over a long period of time, can be the result of work exhaustion or more commonly known as burnout. There are three easy steps anyone can take to help handle burnout.
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Firstly, what is burnout? Burnout is a psychological term used to describe long-term exhaustion and diminished interest in work. There can be many factors leading to burnout, but if left unrecognized or treated for too long it can result in total physical, mental, emotional, and creative exhaustion. There are many signs to keep an eye out for that point to burnout.
- -Finding it hard to motivate one’s self to even go to work
- -Feeling cynical or embittered by your work
- -Having cranky or overly critical conversations with coworkers
- -A general lack of productive energy
- -No personal satisfaction from the work you are producing
3 Steps to Handle Burnout
Step 1 – Assess the Cause of Burnout
Burnout can be caused by many different factors, and more often than not it is a combination of these factors that is the cause. In order to help alleviate burnout, the first step is to assess what factors of work are the causes. As 3D and VFX artists we always want to be learning new skills, and are in the middle of a life long quest to improve our artistic ability and create great art.
- -Lack of growth as an artist or stagnation
- -Overworked with too many hours
- -Over scheduled
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One of the best ways for employers and employees to accomplish these assessments is through performance evaluations. After assessing the areas that are causing the stress and strain at work, an artist can then move onto devising a solution.
Step 2 – Devise a Plan or Solution
Depending on he cause of your burnout; there are many different solutions to consider. For example, if you feel that you just have too many tasks that you are responsible for, then perhaps simply delegating some tasks can alleviate the stress. However more often than not it is more than one factor, so perhaps a combination of solutions is required.
- -Delegation of tasks
-A break or vacation
-Take a class or workshop
-etc
Step 3 – Execute the Solution
For many of the solutions that you come up with it is simple enough to execute on your own, but for others it might be necessary, or have more impact if those solutions are taken to management. Delegating tasks can be simple enough to do and very effective with the right people. If you feel you are not learning anything new in the job you are at, then requesting further training from managers is a possibility, or perhaps just requesting an allowance of time in your schedule for you to attend a continuing education course of some kind. It is also possible to open up dialogue with managers to request a subscription service to a website that offers tutorials to aid in each artist’s growth. Taking vacation time is something that usually needs a manager’s approval. With vacations it can be nice to go somewhere and simply decompress, and get away from all the stress. The hardest choice at that point might be where to go, and what to bring with you! Sometimes when someone has been experiencing burnout for an extended period of time, a normal length vacation will not have the necessary regenerative effect needed. In those cases a longer vacation or even a sabbatical can be suggested and discussed with management.
Burnout is a serious hindrance to the productivity and happiness of a 3D artist. It is something that can be assessed and resolved through simple steps, but many artists feel reluctant to simply address problems they are having. What methods do you use for avoiding burnout and work exhaustion?