The Burnout Epidemic

We are nowadays facing a paradox: whilst business organizations are regularly challenged about the issue of psychosocial risks, we continue to manage stress and its excesses primarily as a personal development approach. Meditation classes, letting go, yoga retreats, sport practice and the invitation to eat in a healthier manner emerge as the most supported measures against this societal problem.

Jennifer Moss is sounding the alarm on the structural causes of this chronic stress, which increasingly often leads to burnout. She explains why these solutions, focused on well-being, are insufficient to remedy a situation that has largely gone wrong. At issue, the multiple interruptions in our daily life, fragmented work, endless to-do-lists and the steep increase in the number of meetings. The pandemic and the sudden introduction of teleworking have only aggravated a tendency that was already underway.

Amongst the solutions that she proposes, many rely on common sense but are quite often forgotten. Suppressing uninterrupted notifications, accepting not to always be reachable, scheduling time to think things through, setting time and space limits to our availability… If we were ordered to do the opposite, we would express outrage! Yet… A clear-sighted outlook on our daily life calls for self-questioning.

A mine of pragmatic and applicable advice.