As you may have seen on social media, May was Mental Health Awareness Month. As the month has come and gone, let’s not forget the importance of our mental health.

We often associate mental health with anxiety, stress, or even fear – but mental health can encompass everything from experiencing joy or sadness to feeling worn out with your current work or life situations. When we ignore our mental health or choose to keep pushing through exhaustion, we can experience burnout.

When leaders and team members know the signs of burnout and strategies for dealing with it, they can better identify and prevent burnout for themselves and their teams.

Burnout has become a buzzword we usually associate with the Great Resignation and the holiday season. But burnout is more than just a buzzword or a trend for young people.

Burnout is a legitimate mental health issue we shouldn’t ignore as it can negatively impact one’s health, relationships, and work performance. When leaders and team members know the signs of burnout and strategies for dealing with it, they can better identify and prevent burnout for themselves and their teams.

What is burnout?

According to the World Health Organization, burnout is an "occupational phenomenon" that is derived from chronic workplace stress. Burnout is characterized by feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job, and reduced professional efficacy.

When you work in a church or other ministry, your initial thought might be to pray for strength, talk to trusted coworkers, advocate for yourself, or perhaps take some paid time off to give yourself a short break. However, if the feelings don’t subside, this is a sign you may be experiencing burnout.

Signs of burnout

Compassion fatigue, no longer caring about work or people in your ministry
Chronically distracted at work
Feelings of hopelessness about work
Feeling short-tempered or easily angered

Strategies for dealing with burnout

Ask for and take a sabbatical.
Seek out help from other church leaders
Schedule breaks throughout your workday (and stick to them)
Advocate for yourself by identifying what you need and asking for those things

Set boundaries to prevent burnout by advocating for yourself or saying no to new conflicting tasks that may overload you. While saying no can be challenging, good boundaries can help to reduce your increased workload and allow you to minister more effectively for years to come. When you decline tasks that are conflicting, you prevent additional stress that will ultimately burn you out.

“Saying no can be challenging, but good boundaries can help reduce workload and allow you to minister more effectively for years to come.”

Advocate for yourself by ending your workday at your scheduled time, with the expectation that any additional responses to emails or phone calls will be made the following workday – instead of adding the pressure to respond after hours.

Schedule regular breaks on your calendar and take a micro break. A micro break is a 10-minute break to help address immediate physical, mental, and emotional needs which can increase your overall well-being. Microbreaks are proven to improve performance, motivation, and concentration. They can also decrease stress and improve how you see your job.

Burnout gone unnoticed can gravely impact leaders and team members. Let’s consider the information above to acknowledge the signs of burnout, offer to support a team member who may be exhibiting signs of burnout, and if we find ourselves experiencing burnout, acknowledge it and plan to control what you can control.