B2B with a Twist Publication - Work • Stay • Play October Edition Work Stay Play Winter 2018 Edition | Page 21

Balance
Source: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/work-life-balance
• providing activity and a daily structure
• a sense of meaning and purpose
• relationships and a sense of community
• financial independence.
Stress and burnout
Stress is a natural human response to challenging or
dangerous situations. A small amount of stress, such as
working to a deadline, can actually be helpful and allow
increased alertness, energy and productivity.
Burnout is a state of emotional and physical exhaustion that
can occur after a long period of excessive or stressful work.
The 3 key features of burnout are:
• emotional exhaustion
• a feeling of detachment from work or becoming cynical
• reduced efficiency or lacking a sense of achievement.
Burnout also includes the concept of ‘compassion fatigue’
where one loses the emotional capacity to care about others.
This can lead to simply ‘going through the motions’ and can
be a problem for those in health or caring professions where
compassion is integral to their work.
But certain aspects of work can have a negative impact
on mental health. Job stress, isolated working conditions,
psychological demands, a lack of rewards for effort, job
insecurity and a lack of control in the job can make mental
health problems more likely.
However, ‘living on adrenaline’ can only be effective for a
short time. If the pressure goes on for too long or becomes
greater than our ability to cope with the stress, it can drain
our physical and mental resources. Stress can have a negative
effect on physical and mental health, relationships, work and
wellbeing.
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