Job burnout for moms: symptoms and recovery steps

Non-stop work

There is no exaggeration in this statement! Although you might be working eight or nine hours at your job, as soon as you finish this shift, you return to your other full-time job with no vacations, incentives, or compensations. Working without a break, especially in a physically and mentally exhausting job like motherhood, hurts mental health and is the spark for burnout.

What is job burnout?

It is a prolonged psychological and mental stress that occurs due to work. It is accompanied by chronic exhaustion, constant job dissatisfaction, and inefficiency in your career and personal life, eventually driving you to isolate yourself from both.

As a working mom, your constant attempt to balance work and family life worsens this condition. It makes you feel severe mental exhaustion, affecting your mental health, marriage, friendships, and relationships with colleagues and superiors.

Symptoms of job burnout

The World Health Organization recently classified this type of burnout as a medical diagnosis like diabetes, rheumatism, or other diseases. It is not a normal state of fatigue that may disappear simply by taking a vacation, working fewer hours, or working from home. The following are the most prominent symptoms of job burnout:

• Lack of energy and decreased productivity.
• Constant fatigue and exhaustion even after a good night's sleep or a weekend break.
• Decreased job performance.
• Lack of feeling of belonging at the workplace.
• Loss of job satisfaction.
• Criticizing the job and everything related to it.
• Increased irritability.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Change in sleep patterns.
• Feeling physical symptoms like headaches and abdominal pain.

Steps to Recover from Burnout

Leaving job burnout untreated hurts your overall health, particularly your mental health. It can lead to problems on both a personal and professional level. Therefore, do not neglect this matter and take the following steps immediately:

1| Getting enough rest

It's about more than just sleeping eight hours every day. General rest is the best medicine; slow down your daily pace, and rest whenever you can. Engage in relaxing activities such as listening to music, drawing, sitting on the balcony, or reading an enjoyable book.

2| Take frequent breaks

Spread your one-hour lunch break throughout the day and take frequent short breaks for five or ten minutes every hour. During long working hours, taking regular short intervals is one of the best ways to rest during the day.

3| Self-care

It's simple - getting enough sleep, avoiding staying up late, eating healthy food, and regularly exercising are the foundation of self-care. Arrange your daily tasks around these basics, and don't compromise on them. Exercise doesn't have to be at the gym. We know you're a working mom, and a half-hour of home exercise with your kids or half an hour of walking with them is also sufficient and one of the best ways to spend quality time with them.

4| Practicing yoga and meditation

You only need to join a yoga class if you don't have time. Relax and breathe slowly for ten minutes in the morning before you start running in the never-ending marathon race of tasks and errands. Gradually relax your muscles with deep, slow breathing at night before you go to sleep to get rid of the effects of tension on your body and get better sleep.

5| Get support

Being surrounded by supportive people in your personal and professional life is essential. Ask your husband for help with your family duties, share your worries with him, and ask him to support you in overcoming feelings of frustration and stress emotionally.

Talk to working mothers in similar situations, and try to meet them regularly, even once a month during the weekend, for a coffee. This group therapy session is enough to recharge your energy. Ask for support from your colleagues at work and delegate some of your tasks to them if possible. Please speak with your employer, ask for more flexibility, and give up the mask of the superwoman who doesn't need help; we both know it's a false mask and one of the reasons for your burnout in the first place.

 

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