No matter how good your job is there are times when you feel exhausted, unproductive and just…burnout. Sometimes the only solution is to find another job but most of the time making a few changes in your “work style” can revive your passion for your work.

This is a list of five red flags that signal you may be at the burnout stage…. and ways to get out of it without ruining your career:

PROBLEM: You can’t wait for clock-out when it’s only been an hour since you clocked-in.
ANSWER: Acknowledge the root of the problem and talk about it with someone whom you can trust. Don’t hold it in. Once you acknowledge the problem, you can then begin the process of resolving it. A good tip is to always focus on getting your work done as it is usually the ‘team’ that irritate workers.

PROBLEM: You’re uninterested and unprepared with meetings.
ANSWER: Find things to motivate you—book, audio CD, or videos. Let it inspire you to appreciate your job and give you new ideas to share on your meetings. Get in with some of the big shots- and don’t be shy.

PROBLEM: You’re making more excuses than meeting deadlines.
ANSWER: No matter how good you are, there are only so many tasks you can do before things get out of your control. Organize your schedule and set limitations. Don’t accept requests and additional projects if you are not 100% sure that you will be able to meet the deadline.

PROBLEM: You complain about your workload all the time.
ANSWER: Maybe you’re the person who can’t say no to colleagues asking for assistance, or maybe you’re the one who organizes everything for your team. Maybe if you decline them and focus on your own workload you would not have so much work to do to complain. Change your role in your team and your colleagues will change the way they treat you.

PROBLEM: You spend half of your time figuring out on how to cut your work load in half.
ANSWER: Ask yourself why you want to get out of your other work load. Is it because you can’t do them all at a given time frame or maybe you get frustrated because you’re stuck with it. If it’s the former, all you need is organizing and time management. If it’s the latter then it’s time for you to make a plan on how to improve your situation. Apply for a different position or request a lateral transfer within your company. You can also go back to school if you feel that it’s what will improve and motivate you.

Either way… with a bit of ingenuity and focus, you can pull back on the reigns of your career and start moving it into a positive future and continue on with your climb up the corporate ladder.

Tags: colleagues, employer, hate my boss, job, job workload, time management

This entry was posted on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 12:12 am and is filed under Free Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.