From Burnout to Balance and Creating Well Beings at Work
- Brainz Magazine
- May 19
- 4 min read
Joanna is a Clinical Psychologist with over 25 years of experience working in the NHS and privately, and now runs a thriving private practice, Key Psychology Services, online and in-person. She is passionate about helping people make changes to both their physical and mental well-being using evidence-based approaches.
Helping people back to work after a period off sick, or helping them decide whether to take time off, is part of my job. Words used to describe how they feel include overwhelmed, burnout, stagnant, stuck, not challenged enough, or feeling useless. The opposite of burnout is rust-out. Is this similar to being stagnant and stuck? These themes were mentioned by high earners through to lower earners, so it was evident that finance isn’t necessarily the key factor.
“No job is worth your health,” I often hear myself saying – from personal and professional experience.
Feeling stagnant and stuck can lead to low motivation and low mood. Likewise, burnout also leads to these symptoms. Why does it matter how you got there? Being off work, taking a dose of antidepressants, and returning to work refreshed and medicated must be the answer.
It’s really not that simple. If it were, we wouldn’t have employees repeatedly off work or struggling when they return. To really benefit from time off, uncovering the underlying reasons for stagnancy, stuckness, or burnout is much more worthwhile in the long run, “The Root Cause,” as Dr. Chatterjee often refers to.
Here are five interesting concepts to consider when thinking about wellbeing at work and how to create a workforce of well beings.
Same role, different role, or different job? Skills, challenges, passion, purpose, and creativity
Passion, purpose, skills, challenges, creativity and personality form part of my psychological assessment to determine if a person fits the job. Often, individuals experience extreme stress when they have no creative outlet and feel as though their job is pointless. If the job does not feel worthwhile, then the question becomes whether to stay in the job and pursue a worthwhile hobby, or move to a different role or job that fills the creativity or purpose cup.
Flow occurs when there is a good balance between challenges and skills (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). Studies have indicated that rock climbers also experience flow, which makes a good case for pursuing challenging hobbies. It may be that if work can’t be changed, then a good balance with more challenging and purposeful leisure pursuits can be achieved. Coaching and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can help people identify this in both their work and non-work life.
1. Burnout or rust-out?
I draw on my undergraduate research project, which involved looking at job satisfaction and mental wellbeing, clearly a topic I’ve been interested in for a long time. The effects of unemployment on mental health, and whether staying at work or being off is better for mental health, were central to this research. Recalling Jahoda’s Vitamins and Warr’s Categories of Mental Wellbeing forms my framework for helping individuals return to work, either in their original role (with or without adjustments), a different role, or even through a career change.
2. Taking time off work
Sometimes employees struggle with taking time off work and figuring out what to do during their time away. There is often guilt around doing things and being productive. However, this can actually help with mood and anxiety, often the reasons for being off and common symptoms of stress. A routine is helpful, along with being active, connecting with people, eating well, and also resting. It’s not necessarily a time for doing nothing, and clients often need help organising a routine and letting go of guilt. It’s also the time to identify the root cause, which is when I introduce the concepts of purpose, passion, and creativity.
3. Returning to work
Working alongside occupational health in large corporate companies raises this question frequently, as do conversations with managers in smaller companies: When is it good to be off work, and when is it good to return, if at all? Increasingly, people are fearful of the workplace and of returning. Homeworking or hybrid working can make the return easier, so it’s often circumstantial.
4. Phased return or not?
For some people, a phased return helps, particularly when managing a physical condition, such as chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia, where pacing is important for energy management. If anxiety is the issue, a graded approach back to the workplace is often helpful. Again, homeworking and hybrid working can ease this process.
5. Reasonable adjustments, what is reasonable?
Reasonable adjustments can include working different hours, reduced hours, having more time for projects (especially where neurodiversity or health issues are involved), or an adapted environment. These adjustments can often make the difference between someone being able to manage their role or needing to change it. Identifying what’s lacking or overly abundant can help employees find balance and manage stress levels more effectively.
Finally, I was uplifted to hear my son’s head teacher say at his leaving assembly, with parting words, “How are you going to make a difference?” Feeling worthwhile, having good self-esteem, and enjoying work all contribute to good mental health and presenteeism. If this isn’t possible, where does the joy and positive self-esteem come from? Is it enough to derive that from a leisure pursuit if not from work? This leads to the next topic: work/life balance and how to achieve it. The mention of purpose, passion, and creativity can be lightbulb moments in CBT coaching sessions, not to mention JOY!
For further ideas and individual sessions, contact Dr. Joanna Livingstone here or email here.
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Read more from Dr. Joanna Livingstone
Dr. Joanna Livingstone, Clinical Psychologist
Joanna is a Clinical Psychologist, Coach and NIA Wellbeing Movement Practitioner. Her interest and passion for helping people make lasting changes both to their physical and mental well-being is at the heart of her work. With her 25 years of experience working in the field, she has assessed and treated individuals with a range of conditions. Her particular interests are in workplace wellbeing, ADHD coaching, maternal wellbeing, boosting brain chemistry through psychological techniques, and trauma-based medico-legal work. She has also combined her passions for psychology and wellbeing dance to provide Wellbeing in Motion workshops and retreats, which she offers locally and internationally.
