Ways to Overcome Burnout in Your IT Job

Finding the perfect job in tech can be hard but making sure you can achieve a steady work-life balance can be even harder. Unfortunately, IT job burnout is becoming more common as our work lives become busier, more demanding, and more technologically advanced.

Overcoming IT job burnout and getting back on the right track is crucial to your career, your health, and your personal life. Let’s explore the causes, consequences, and how to recognize and handle burnout in your current IT role:

What Causes Burnout?

Tight deadlines, heavy workloads, intense analytical goals, and stressful working conditions are a handful of reasons why employees become burned out. Besides what is happening at work, stressful events in your personal life can also add to your stress and likelihood to become burned out.

Sometimes high stress conditions are just part of the job, but unrelenting stress can quickly lead to burnout for even the most dedicated and adaptable tech professionals. The demands you will encounter depend on the type of tech job, but no matter what, if there is too much work for one person to do within a certain timeframe, then the amount of stress can quickly become too much.

Another factor that people might not consider when dealing with job burnout is feelings of guilt. Some people feel bad taking days off and go months or even years without taking a vacation or personal day. They might also feel guilt over not meeting impossible demands. These factors can cause you to feel overworked and more unhappy in your position as time goes on.

What Are the Consequences of Burnout?

No one wants to feel burnt out at their job. Not only does it create a negative work environment for you and your coworkers, but you are also not able to do your best since you don’t feel your best. Some of the other consequences of IT job burnout include high stress and mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and irritability. The physical ailments caused by chronic stress can quickly become serious, including trouble sleeping, high blood pressure, memory and focus issues, headaches, and more.

These physical and mental manifestations of burnout can start to affect your professional and personal life as well. Job burnout can even put your job in peril if you experience a decrease in work quality, miss workdays, have a negative attitude, or start making more mistakes. Negative attitudes are especially bad for the work environment as this can affect the whole team. If one person is constantly complaining and being negative, it will bring down the team’s morale and have a negative impact on everyone else’s stress levels and mental health too.

Before it gets to that point though, it is important to address the issues you are facing at work so they can be taken care of before things take a turn for the worst.

What Can You Do About IT Job Burnout?

Both tech employees and workplaces have an obligation when it comes to overcoming IT job burnout. When you start to feel yourself becoming overwhelmed with your workload, communicating efficiently to your manager helps them understand your stress and the problems you’re facing. There could be a number of different solutions that will help reduce your stress depending on your situation. Sometimes managers may not realize the total workload you are handling, so they can shift deadlines or move some work to another team member. Perhaps they can change the priority of certain assignments and help you tackle the work a different way. They also may be able to point you to resources such as an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or other counseling available through your benefits program.

Other ways you can mitigate job burnout in your tech career include prioritizing self-care by making time to rest, relax, and be present with friends and family. Set firm boundaries around your hours when possible and don’t check your phone outside of your work hours. In today’s hyper-connected world, it can be easy to fall into the trap of constantly checking your email or company messaging app. Unless you are on call, it’s okay to step away from work and take time to recharge. Making time for yourself and your personal life is crucial to achieving a healthy work-life balance and not becoming overworked in your IT role.

Looking for Your Next IT Role?

If it’s time make some changes in your IT career, then check out our open tech job opportunities and apply today! Our team can help you find the right balance through contract, contract-to-hire, and direct hire job options.