Burned out? Here's how to tell your boss
Published
Burnout can impact your physical and mental health. But it can also have consequences for your career: It can lead to everything from general discomfort at work to professional mistakes to absenteeism.
That's why it's important to talk to your employer if you're feeling burned out.
While it can be difficult to tell your boss that you feel this way, if you don't take action, the risks to your health and career are just too high. If you share what you're going through, your boss might be able to help you. It's very likely that your boss not only has tools or resources to share with you, but they may even be brave enough to share their own story about job burnout.
Here's how to have this important conversation.
Arrange a one-on-one conversation
Whether in person or virtually, it's important to have this conversation in a private setting. If you already meet your boss in person, for example at a weekly meeting, you can bring up the topic at this meeting. If not, ask your boss if he or she can set aside half an hour for a one-on-one meeting with you.
Plan what you want to say
Before the meeting, think about what you want to share and what you hope to gain from the conversation. You need to understand why you feel burned out. Your boss won't be able to guess why you're feeling burned out, and you shouldn't put the burden on him or her to figure out why you're feeling that way and what you can do about it.
If you're not sure what's bothering you, take some time to think about what's going on in your life. There can be more than one cause of burnout. Once you've figured out what the problems are, think about how you can communicate them to your boss.
Be specific with the problems and solutions
Don't just say you're burned out. Be prepared to share what is overwhelming you. For example, you could say, "Five Zoom meetings a day is too much" or name an aspect of a project that is really stressing you out. Then offer solutions. If your workload has increased recently, do you have any suggestions on how to manage it better? Is there a way to streamline the processes so they are less intensive?
By the time you end the conversation, you should already have some solutions ready to help you reduce your burnout and do your job more effectively.
