Understanding Burnout 289
Cognitive Dissident writes "New York Magazine has posted a feature story about the growing phenomenon of 'burnout' and the growing interest of both healthcare professionals and even corporate management in this problem. Probably the most surprising thing learned from reading this article is that work load is not the best predictor of burnout. Instead it has more to do with perceived 'return on investment' of effort. So work places are having to learn to adjust the work environment to reduce or prevent burnout. From the article: '"It's kind of like ergonomics," [Christina Maslach] finally says. "It used to be, 'You sit for work? Here's a chair.' But now we design furniture to fit and support the body. And we're doing the same here. The environments themselves have to say, 'We want people to thrive and grow.' There was a shift, finally, in how people understood the question."' NPR's Talk of the Nation also had a recent feature story based on this article."
Re:Are we sure it comes from work? (Score:3, Informative)
I seem to recall sleeping in the same bed as my parents sometimes. It was pretty comforting. I know my brother and my cousins did it as well.
Re:Are we sure it comes from work? (Score:5, Informative)
The writer cited a lot of evidence/studies/etc that described burnout as the state arising when your outlay of effort doesn't meet your expectation of reward. You get bitter and tired and feel like you accomplish nothing, which kills your productivity.
So no, it's not about time worked. And no it's not about just work, at least buy the official psych definition, which is interesting.