Parental burnout: What is it, how it differs from burnout, and how to bounce back
As rewarding a role that parenting may be, parental burnout is very real - exhaustion, feeling detached from your children, being less effective as a parent, and feeling fed up with the parenting role. Learn what to do to bounce back and improve your relationship with your children.
coping with parental burnout
By Emily McGurk and Joyce Chong
Conversations around burnout as a workplace phenomenon has exploded in recent years, but there is a growing body of literature identifying that burnout occurs not only at work, but also in other roles paid or unpaid) in which meaningful activity creates a stress response – students (academic burnout), volunteers, caregiver, and also parents.[1][2][3] Today we’re focusing on parental burnout which we are increasingly seeing in our clinical work, along with its impact on the parent-child relationship and general self-esteem. At a glance, it’s easy to see how the role of parenting leads to burnout – long hours, multiple requirements, little job control, and so on, it’s easy to see how parenting can lead to burnout. In this article we explore what parental burnout is, its impact on the parenting style and parent-child relationships, signs of parental burnout, and tips to bounce back from parenting-induced burnout.
“A survey of 17,000+ parents from 42 countries found higher rates (5-8%) of parental burnout in individualistic cultures (commonly Western countries) than in collectivist cultures [4]”
What is parental burnout? How does it differ from ‘regular burnout’?
Traditionally, the concept of burnout was coined to describe the outcome of prolonged and untreated workplace stress and identified three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, emotional distancing (e.g. reduced empathy interacting with clients/colleagues), and reduced efficacy. [1][5]
Research into parental burnout has borrowed from job burnout research, but also identified unique components in parental burnout - Parental exhaustion (emotional and physical), Disconnection from children (emotional distancing), Contrast to your previous parenting self (loss of parental efficacy), and feeling Fed up of the parental role: [6][7] Let’s take a closer look at each of these components:
Parental exhaustion
We get it – the parenting role can seem draining. Long hours on-call, a high mental load (organising appointments and schedules, anticipating as well as reacting to their needs), and never-ending multitasking can make for a challenging role. Throw in sleep deprivation or difficult parent-child interactions, and it’s a recipe for exhaustion.
It’s further been suggested that the type of parental exhaustion experienced may differ depending on the age of the child, with physical exhaustion more common in parents with young children, and emotional exhaustion more common with adolescents or teens due to higher levels of conflict. [8]
Emotional distancing/cynicism from the parenting role
When burnout occurs at work, employees can start to detach from the job and their clients. However, when it comes to parenting, the same detachment takes on a different form. It appears that exhausted parents disengage emotionally from their child [4][6][7][8] by:
Seeking out the child less, thus leading to fewer interactions.
Parents ending interactions earlier, speaking and asking less, and interacting with less enthusiasm and care.
These all have implications for the parent-child bond.
Contrast with previous parental self (Loss of parental efficacy)
“I’m not the parent I used to be” is a great way to summarise this component to parental burnout. [7] You may have an idea as to how you should parent, and your previous parental self may have been able to achieve it, however when parental burnout sets in it affects your ability to show up as the parent that you wish to be. Contrast with previous parental self can trigger feelings of shame and guilt.
Feeling fed up
Finally, feeling fed up is a component of parental burnout where one tires of ‘doing’ the parenting [3][4][6][9] .
The role can feel never-ending, the rewards can seem to pale in comparison to the effort that you put in, and you feel like a shadow of your former self. Resentment can quickly build up.
Together, these can lead to reduced fulfilment in the parenting role, poorer quality of parent-child interactions, with both impacting on the parent-child relationship. At its extreme, these factors – particularly emotional exhaustion, emotional distancing plus feeling fed up – are have been linked to parental neglect and even violence [9]
WHAT Causes PARENTAL BURNOUT?
Parenting is one of the hardest jobs in the world. It requires a shift of focus from prioritising your own needs to focusing on meeting the needs of your dependent children. However, parenting doesn’t exist in a vacuum and there are other demands on parents – other caregiver roles, work, studies, life admin, running a household, and so on. Let’s take a closer look at what it takes to raise children and how this contributes to parental burnout.
Raising children – the tasks
Children have physical needs that need to be met for their development – security (including shelter), education, nutrition, sleep, and adequate health care.
Emotionally, children’s needs include the need to feel safe, loved, and belong. To help them become independent and realise their potential (that is, become self-actualised), they need to be supported to explore and develop their thoughts, choices, likes/dislikes and ideas [10]
To meet these needs, parents consider their children’s schooling, extra-curricular activities (sport, music, playdates, languages, arts, and so on), health support requirements, amongst many factors.
The parental background to raising children
Raising children doesn’t exist in a vacuum – to help children become independent and realise their potential, parents need the finances and time to provide for children’s needs, as well as the parenting skills to support and nurture their children.
However, for modern-day parents, there are some clear pressure points that contribute to parental burnout. [11][12] These pressure points can be external or internal:
EXTERNAL factors in parental burnout
A busy schedule (extracurricular activities, sport, medical appointments) leading to a high mental load
Children’s differing ages and developmental stages.
Children’s physical health and mental health needs (acute or chronic)
Balancing kids with looking after older parents
Work-family conflict (whether paid work or volunteer work)
Coparenting disagreement
Limited support in the parenting role (e.g. single parent, living away from usual supports)
The family’s level of disorganisation
Internal Factors in parental burnout
Managing parental temperament vs child temperament
Parental perfectionism leading to a disparity in expectations between ideal and real parent
Wanting to give your children the best opportunities/experiences and not let them miss out
Difficulties saying no/setting boundaries
Your own medical or mental health needs that affect your capacity to parent
Parenting skills and emotional insight
Own upbringing and the desire to overcome your own childhood unmet needs
HOW DOES YOUR CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE AFFECT PARENTAL BURNOUT?
As children we all have core needs, including emotional needs – secure attachments, a sense of identity, freedom to express needs and emotions, spontaneity and play, as well as limits and self control [10]. Having our emotional needs met meant that we can recognise our potential as adults.
For those of us who had our needs met, the way in which we were parented sets up a template for how we would like to parent. However, for those whose needs were unmet, this can form an explicit desire for how NOT to parent, or we may end up perpetuating negative parenting experiences we experienced as children, and lead to the development of what is known in schema therapy as early maladaptive schemas (EMS)
EMS are core ways of seeing ourselves and the world. When we become parents, EMS then influence how we parent. Five broad domains of early maladaptive schemas have been identified [10]
Individuals who grew up with disconnected and detached parents may feel emotionally deprived or even a sense of defectiveness at rejection.
A lack of parental limits as a child can lead to a lack of self-discipline, including a sense of entitlement and difficulties with self-control.
Children who grow up in an environment where love and attention were conditional may find themselves in self-sacrificing and approval-seeking patterns, believing that others needs are a priority.
Growing up in perfectionistic and critical environments can lead to developing unrelenting standards for themselves and others, leading to perfectionism and punitiveness.
Experiencing overprotectiveness or overintrusiveness when growing up can lead to a lack of sense of self and lack of independence, which can lead to a sense of failure, dependence, or developing an enmeshed relationship with others.
Early maladaptive schemas that we developed as children have a profound impact on how we parent - we may perpetuate what we're used to, or we may go on the attach to undo what we experienced. In turn, our parenting style can then shape the schemas our children develop, with resulting impact on their mental health. Indeed, EMSs have been associated with personality disorders, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, OCD, and PTSD [13]
How might these internal and external factors combine to create parental burnout? Some examples include:
Holly felt disconnected from her parents as a child and learned to keep a tight rein on her emotions and to be emotionally self-sufficient. When she became a parent she wanted to right the ‘wrongs’ of her own childhood and made it her mission that her children would feel happy and loved at all times, and that they would have an unbreakable bond. However, her son is a storm of emotions, and Holly feels overwhelmed by his outbursts and her inability to fix his problems. She keeps researching online and tuning in to podcasts to uncover what to do to help her son and feels burnt out by the never-ending process.
Matt grew up in a perfectionistic and critical environment, yet thrived as he was extremely outgoing and sporty which helped him to step into unfamiliar situations. This approach has served him well and led to success in high pressure environments at work He expected that his son would be just like him, however his young son clings to him and is not willing to engage with activities. Matt is frustrated that his son won’t respond to his coaching to do better and is exhausted by the constant fighting with his partner to take a ‘softer’ approach. His expectations of his son and his style of supporting his son are creating conflict for him and leading to burnout.
Nivvy was her parents’ princess - she was indulged by them and everything came easily to her - academically, socially, and professionally. As an adult, Nivvy was in control at work, maintained an immaculate house, and was always supported by her family and friends. When Nivvy started her much awaited family it became her primary focus, yet 10 months into parenthood she missed her pre-baby life. Nivvy feels trapped in the daily grind, out of control, like a failure - her days revolve around washing, cooking, and cleaning but this cycle is never-ending. She is frustrated that others aren’t willing to take over the mundane tasks and instead tell her that this is part of being a parent. She doesn’t understand how she can love a role so much yet resent it at the same time.
Sarah’s family struggled financially and as a result she missed out on catch ups with friends and having the newest things as a result. Because of this, Sarah often felt disconnected and ‘less than’ her friends. Sarah was determined that her children would always be included (playdates, sport, music) and had everything (toys, gadgets, nice clothes, regular holidays). To afford her children’s lifestyle she works extremely hard, and in the end feels exhausted and confused as to why her children are cranky and ungrateful…despite ‘doing it all’ she doesn’t feel present for any of it.
A path out of parental burnout - tips to cope
Importantly, parental burnout isn’t something that you have to tolerate and endure just because other parents are in the same boat. Step back and reflect on where you are currently in your parenting journey, where you would like to be as a parent, and what type of parent-child relationship you wish to nurture. Work with a psychologist (like Emily!) to step through a path to reduce parental burnout:
1. Work with a psychologist. The cause of parental burnout is nuanced and multi-layered - each parent’s early experiences (and schemas!) is different. Each parent also faces different external factors that drive burnout - some parents have multiple children with busy schedules, some have children with complex health needs, some lack support. Work with a psychologist to help you to untangle the many layers that have led you down the path to parental burnout, and find a way forward.
An additional benefit of having periodic check-ins with a psychologist is that they are also trained to identify emerging mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, burnout, problematic alcohol use and can work with you to build skills to improve coping.
2. Understand your identity. Whether you like it or not, your childhood journey influences those parenting triggers that push you towards parental burnout. Unmet needs that you experienced as a child shape how you wish to parent. By exploring your identity, early maladaptive schemas, and needs, you can better understand your triggers for parental overwhelm, and put a plan in place to parent in a more deliberate way.
3. Make a mindset shift. To combat parental burnout a mindset shift is a must. It helps to explore your expectations and thoughts - regarding how you should parent, what your parent-child relationship should look like, what your parenting experience should feel like, and whether you can practice self-compassion when faced with parenting setbacks. By shifting these mindset challenges you can bounce back better from parental burnout. A good starting point is to recognise that you can love your children whilst experiencing frustration regarding parenting, or grieving a loss of your independence.
4. Nurture yourself for sustainable parenting. A stressed out, burnt out parent does not parent well and affects emotion regulation and clarity of thought. Give yourself the space to be an involved parent by thinking sustainably. Importantly, nurture yourself through self-care and setting boundaries, and aim for a style of parenting that you can maintain.
5. Be present and deliberate to improve your parent-child connection. Good-enough parenting is about tuning in mindfully to your children’s needs, your own present needs, rather than stick to achieving what you believe parenting ‘should’ look like.
REFERENCES
[1] Pines, A., and Aronson, E. (1988). Career Burnout: Causes and Cures. New York, NY: Free Press.
[2] Bianchi, R., Truchot, D., Laurent, E., Brisson, R., and Schonfeld, I. S. (2014). Is burnout solely job-related? A critical comment. Scand. J. Psychol. 55, 357–361. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12119
[3] Roskam I, Brianda M-E and Mikolajczak M. (2018). A Step Forward in the Conceptualization and Measurement of Parental Burnout: The Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA). Frontiers in Psychology, 9:758. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00758
[4] Roskam, I., Aguiar, J., Akgun, E., Arikan, G., Artavia, M., Avalosse, H., Aunola, K., Bader, M., Bahati, C., Barham, E. J., Besson, E., Beyers, W., Boujut, E., Brianda, M. E., Brytek-Matera, A., Carbonneau, N., César, F., Chen, B. B., Dorard, G., Dos Santos Elias, L. C., … Mikolajczak, M. (2021). Parental Burnout Around the Globe: a 42-Country Study. Affective science, 2, 58–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-020-00028-4
[5] Maslach, C., Shaufeli, W.B., & Leiter, M.P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual review of psychology, 52, 397-422. Doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397
[6] Roskam, I., Raes, M.-E., and Mikolajczak, M. (2017). Exhausted parents: development and preliminary validation of the parental burnout inventory. Front. Psychol. 8:163. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00163
[7] Roskam, I., Philippot, P., Gallée, L., Verhofstadt, L., Soenens, B., Goodman, A., & Mikolajczak, M. (2021). I am not the parent I should be: Cross-sectional and prospective associations between parental self-discrepancies and parental burnout. Self and Identity, 21(4), 430–455. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2021.1939773
[8] Abramson, A. (2021; October 1). The impact of parental burnout: What psychological research suggests about how to recognize it and overcome it. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/10/cover-parental-burnout
[9] Kalkan, R.B., Blanchard, M.A. & Mikolajczak, M., Roskam, I., & Heeren, A. (2022). Emotional exhaustion and feeling fed up as the driving forces of parental burnout and its consequences on children: insights from a network approach. Current Psychology. 42, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03311-8
[10] The Attachment Project (2024, April 10). The ultimate guide to early maldaptive schemas. The Attachment Project, https://www.attachmentproject.com/blog/early-maladaptive-schemas/
[11] Ren, X., Cai, Y., Wang, J., & Chen, O. (2024). A systematic review of parental burnout and related factors among parents. BMC public health, 24, 376. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-17829-y
[12] Mikolajczak, M., Aunola, K., Sorkkila, M., & Roskam, I. (2023). 15 Years of Parental Burnout Research: Systematic Review and Agenda. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 32, 276-283. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214221142777
[13] Sójta, K., & Strzelecki, D. (2023). Early Maladaptive Schemas and Their Impact on Parenting: Do Dysfunctional Schemas Pass Generationally? A Systematic Review. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12, 1263. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12041263
Imposter Syndrome at work
Ever feel like a fraud at work? Stuck in a negative mindset? You’re not alone. Find out how imposter syndrome holds you back you at work and learn tips to better manage.
Imposter Syndrome: TIPS for Success in the Workplace
By Tayla Stucke
Work is a core component of our identity – we spend around a third of our life at work, building relationships and a sense of self. Imagine, then, feeling like an imposter at work and wondering when you’ll be found out you’re not as competent as others think you are. Remarkably, around 70% of people have experienced Imposter Syndrome at some point in time [1] - where they feel like a fraud and aren’t able to internalise their successes. It affects people from all professions, including university students, academics, students, lawyers, tech professionals, construction, and the like. Transitions in work roles, increased work complexity, and promotions can all trigger self-doubt and lead to imposter syndrome. Let’s see how imposter syndrome shows up in the workplace:
Tate is hard worker who puts in long hours on a minesite. Their performance and can-do attitude has caught the eye of senior management, and Tate has been promoted multiple times within the first year at work and is now supervising people they first started work with. This causes Tate anxiety – after all, why would they listen when Tate has the same years of experience as them? Feeling underserving of the supervisor position, Tate takes on extra reading about management in addition to long days working onsite.
Alice is starting her first year as a surgical registrar. Whilst relieved to finally make it onto a surgical program she has significant doubts – Did she deserve a spot or was she let in due to an error…did she just fluke the interview? Alice feels like an imposter, and this is amplified on a daily basis when she encounters information she doesn’t know. To cope, Alice spends her free time studying up so that she has an answer for any question that comes her way, and tries to avoid giving responses if she is able to. Needless to say, she experiences overwhelm and burnout as a result.
Fresh out of university and two months into his first ‘real’ job as a lawyer, Ethan jumps at the opportunity to join a panel discussion on burnout in lawyers in front of an auditorium of university students. It’s not long until panic sets in as Ethan feels inferior to the other more experienced panellists, leading him to researching exhaustively on the topic. Whilst Ethan does receives positive feedback at the panel discussion for sharing his experiences with burnout, he brushes it off, more relieved that he hadn’t been exposed to be a fraud, and considers himself lucky that he had such a ‘junior’ audience.
Tate, Alice, and Ethan are all competent individuals who have earned their positions through hard work. However, they feel undeserving of the positions they find themselves in and can’t seem to shake persistent self-doubt. That’s the thing about imposter syndrome…it takes away your accomplishments and competence, tricking you into thinking that external factors are the reason for your achievement – luck, your skill in deflection and deception, and the audience’s kindness or lack of awareness of the subject matter.
“I still have a little imposter syndrome...it doesn’t go away, that feeling that you shouldn’t take me that seriously. What do I know? I share that with you because we all have doubts in our abilities, about our power and what that power is.”
SIGNS OF IMPOSTER SYNDROME AT WORK
Think of imposter syndrome like a nagging voice in your head telling you that you're not good enough, even when all signs say otherwise. The term imposter syndrome is a variation of ‘imposter phenomenon’, a phrase coined by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes to describe the persistent doubt of one's success despite evidence suggesting otherwise, alongside an inability to internalise successes [1]. Below are some ways in which imposter syndrome shows up at work.
You feel like a fraud, that others think you are far more competent than you really are, and that you’ll be exposed.
Like our doctor Alice, there’s moments of looking over your shoulder and thinking that you’re only in your position because of some error, and that it will all be taken away from you in an instant. Holding this belief often leads to heightened pressure on yourself to maintain this perception of you. [2, 4]
You routinely compare yourself to your colleagues and come off worse.
Social comparison is a strong maintaining factor in imposter syndrome - you compare your perceived shortcomings to what you consider to be the talents of your colleagues. That is, you cherry pick your flaws and hold them up against others’ strengths – understandably, feelings of inadequacy can arise, and reinforce the belief that you’re not good enough to perform in your role. [5]
You struggle to internalise your achievements and successes
Thanks to imposter syndrome, your achievements are dismissed and explained away as resulting from external factors like luck or others’ support, rather than recognising the role that your skills and abilities played in the success. [2, 4]
You rely on behaviours to hide your perceived shortcomings
When you feel like a fraud, you behave in ways to avoid being found out:
You may overcompensate (perfectionism, we’re looking at you!) by working towards impossible standards to avoid potential failure and exposure much like Ethan the lawyer.
You may also procrastinate at first, then rush to finish the job and qualify your performance with the time pressure you were under (Learn more about the link between perfectionism and procrastination here).
Or, you try to avoid the task altogether to avoid the potential for failure.
While these behaviours may help you avoid scrutiny in the short term, unfortunately they maintain Impostor Syndrome by reinforcing your belief that your abilities aren’t good enough as they currently stand. [2, 3, 4]
WHEN DOES IMPOSTOR SYNDROME APPEAR?
Impostor syndrome can rear its head in a variety of workplace scenarios, with transitions and changes in roles and responsibilities often highlighting imposterism, as seen in the situations facing Tate our supervisor and Alice our doctor. Stepping into higher responsibilities often involves being confronted with unfamiliar tasks and scenarios at work, which can lead to uncertainty and feelings of imposterism. [2] Some more specific transition points may include:
Moving from studying or training into a work setting when you find yourself facing new challenges whilst working with highly experienced colleagues. Feelings of insecurity and self-doubt can intensify due to unhelpful social comparisons with those far more experienced than you. [6]
Promotions and advancement into more senior roles can also trigger impostor syndrome, leading you to doubt your competence and ability to meet the increased demands of your new position – this may be working on more technically complex projects, or taking on new tasks (for example, managing a budget for the first time). [2]
Stepping into the leadership space or being lauded for your expertise can also prompt feelings of imposter syndrome. Being seen as a leader in a particular space or field means people may expect you to have all of the answers and be skilled at guiding and mentoring others. The pressure to meet both your own and others' expectations can be overwhelming. [2]
A NOTE ON IMPOSTER SYNDROME + MENTAL HEALTH
Given a significant amount of time is spent at work, constantly living in the imposter headspace can have a real impact on your mental health.
Feeling out of your depth and scrambling to learn everything you can is likely to lead to overwhelm and burnout. In James’ case, spending all of his time learning about lawyer burnout has resulted in increased stress and leading to panic. Similarly, Tate is new to being a supervisor and upskilling on management techniques in addition to long work days onsite.
Spending all your time preoccupied at work and/or overcompensating to avoid being exposed can result in stress, reduced quality of life and work/life balance, and depressive symptoms, as in Alice’s case. Unfortunately, Alice is only at the very start of her long surgical training period.
The challenge is that these difficulties can affect energy levels, motivation, concentration, and memory – all of which are important for work performance. This, in turn, can lead to feelings of inadequacy and exacerbate imposter syndrome.
TIPS TO MANAGE IMPOSTER SYNDROME AT WORK
If you feel plagued by imposter syndrome at work, here are our top tips to help you contain your inner critic.
TIP 1: Flip the Script on Unhelpful Self-Talk
Unhelpful self-talk can be a relentless companion, especially when grappling with imposter syndrome. Recognising and challenging the thoughts that come from your own inner critic can be a great first step.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there. ”
The next time you feel anxious when faced with a competence-related task, turn your focus inwards to your thoughts. What do they sound like? Here are some examples to look out for:
"I just got lucky this time. I'm not really that skilled."
"Everyone else seems to have it all figured out. I'll never measure up."
"I only succeeded because someone was nice to me. I couldn't have done it on my own."
"I don't deserve to be here. Eventually, people will find out I have no idea what I’m doing."
Once you've identified your unhelpful thoughts, practice interrogating them, looking for what evidence there is to support your thoughts vs. what evidence there is against it, acknowledging BOTH positive and negative evidence exist.
For Tate the supervisor, this looks like balancing feeling out of depth in a new role and area they are not knowledgeable in (managing others) with recognising that they have been promoted on the merit of their performance.
TIP 2: Embrace Failure as a Friend and Not a Foe
A fear of failure in imposter syndrome can trigger stress and anxiety, as well as frantic efforts to avoid having failed. Fundamentally, it is the viewing of failure as a threat that contributes to negative feelings and actions. What this mindset ignores, however, is that failure is not always a negative outcome, but rather it is crucial to both personal and professional growth:
“Failure is information – we label it failure, but it’s more like, ‘This didn’t work, I’m a problem solver, and I’ll try something else.’”
If failure is viewed negatively and as something to avoid, being faced with the possibility of failure stress and anxiety can be daunting and result in avoidance and/or overcompensation.
If failure is seen as part of a problem-solving exercise (involving trial and error), challenges and setbacks are seen as crucial to growth and development. A fear of failure (and, by extension, being ‘found out’) eases.
For our doctor Alice, this may include acknowledging that:
She has a very steep learning curve ahead of her, and that she will make many mistakes - no registrar starts off as an expert and comparing herself to senior consultants with decades of experience is unhelpful.
What she perceives to be ‘failures’ is just a collection of knowledge that she doesn’t yet possess, but being around the consultants highlight specific areas for her to focus on in her training. Adopting such a growth mindset helps her to embrace failure better.
TIP 3: (Really) Celebrate the Wins!
Imposter syndrome can overshadow successes, leading to the discounting of achievements. However, taking time to reflect on the work that you did, the skills that you drew on, and the process of achieving your goal can help bolster your sense of self-efficacy and esteem.
“Success is a series of small wins.”
For James, this would involve recognising that he was invited to speak on the panel, appreciating the positive feedback he received from his presentation, acknowledging that his input was well received alongside his more senior co-panellists, and seeing the panel discussion as an opportunity to learn from others.
TIP 4: Seek Tailored Support
As you can see from the examples of Tate, Alice, and James, each person’s experience of imposter syndrome and the circumstances they face are all unique. So, whilst we have suggested general tips above, we recommend you seek tailored support for imposter syndrome with a psychologist experienced working in the intersection between work performance and wellbeing (like me! I also have a particular interest in helping those stepping into the leadership space). Work collaboratively to understand the specific triggers for your imposter syndrome, identify unhelpful mindset and self-talk, and find a path forward to ease the hold of imposter syndrome.
REFERENCES
[1] Clance, P. R., and Imes, S. A. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15(3), 241–247. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0086006
[2] K.H., A. and Menon, P. (2022), Impostor syndrome: an integrative framework of its antecedents, consequences and moderating factors on sustainable leader behaviors, European Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 46 No. 9, pp. 847-860. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-07-2019-0138
[3] Grubb, W. L., & Grubb, L. K. (2021). Perfectionism and the Imposter Phenomenon. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 21(6). https://doi.org/10.33423/jop.v21i6.4831
[4] Maftei, A., Dumitriu, A., & Holman, A.-C. (2021). ”They will discover I’m a fraud!” The Imposter Syndrome Among Psychology Students. Studia Psychologica, 63(4), 337–351. https://doi.org/10.31577/sp.2021.04.831
[5] Gutierrez, D. (2022) The Impact of Impostor Phenomenon in the Workplace: A Multi-Generational Perspective. dissertation. https://www.proquest.com/openview/549a251f717dbda4948fc53ef61abaf3/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
[6] Stelling, B. E. V., Andersen, C. A., Suarez, D. A., Nordhues, H. C., Hafferty, F. W., Beckman, T. J., & Sawatsky, A. P. (2022). Fitting In While Standing Out: Professional Identity Formation, Imposter Syndrome, and Burnout in Early Career Faculty Physicians. Academic Medicine, Publish Ahead of Print. https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000005049
Early career burnout - Part 2: Workplace factors
Burnout is on the rise, and it’s disproportionately affecting millennials, Gen Zs, and those in the early stages of their career. Read on to learn what workplaces can do to help.
EARLY-CAREER Burnout (Pt 2: workplace factors)
by Giulia Villa, Fel Donatelli + Joyce Chong
EARLY CAREER BURNOUT – A REFRESHER
In case you missed it, our last article was a primer on early career burnout and those individual factors that increase the risk of suffering from this affliction. To refresh:
Early career burnout refers to the work-related state of mind comprising exhaustion, distancing from one’s work, and decreased personal achievement [1] affecting new graduates.
Burnout is affecting millennials at a higher than average rate compared to the general population (84% vs. 77%), resulting in higher levels of turnover according to a survey on burnout conducted by Deloitte.
The proportion of Gen Z experiencing burnout is catching up to Millennials, with this in part attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic that saw the lines between work and play blurred even further, as well as removing office-based social networks as a coping strategy.
Individual factors that lead to early career burnout include constant connection to work (no) thanks to technology, a fear of failure and negative feedback, as well as mindset, imposter syndrome, and perfectionism.
Looking at individual factors in burnout sheds light on only one piece of the puzzle. Critically, workplaces shape conditions that lead new graduates down the path of burnout. In this second part of our series on early career burnout, we look at those organisational factors and see what actions workplaces can take.
Organisational factors in early career burnout
Various organisational factors contribute to early career burnout, and it’s helpful for workplaces to consider how they can promote better wellbeing to buffer against it.
Job characteristics and design
The overall environment of a workplace is a major contributor to the wellbeing of every employee. Burnout has been linked to excessive workload, inadequate compensation, lack of community and absence of administrative support [2] . More specifically, the following job characteristics are believed to contribute to burnout:
Low autonomy and job control where an employee does not have much independence or influence in their role.
Low role clarity where an employee has low understanding of their role and responsibilities.
Subjective overload where the expectations of the workplace exceed the employee’s capabilities.
Optimising job design means crafting a balance between keeping the employee engaged and benefitting the organisation. The presence of low autonomy/job control, low role clarity, or subjective overload, all pose a risk to employee motivation and satisfaction. Indeed, job characteristics are more likely to predict burnout than individual factors, suggesting that job re-design is the most effective way to prevent burnout.
Onboarding processes: Lack of adequate support, training, and socialisation in the role
Commencing a new role is fraught with confusion and uncertainty. Questions fill the heads of new graduates - what will my colleagues be like? What does my future have in store? What’s expected of me? Indeed, a lack of role clarity is most frequently observed as ambiguity in relation to:[3]
How their job performance will be evaluated.
Whether there are paths for career progression.
What is the scope of the responsibilities.
The expectations of others.
This confusion about their role is just another thing for new starters to worry about and in fact has been linked to higher stress levels and emotional exhaustion.[4] A good understanding of the job description and the relevant duties and responsibilities is crucial to ease the anxiety and inadequacy often experienced by new graduates. It is important to inform new starters of all things relating to their role as part of their onboarding process.
Sometimes, new graduates face a culture of ‘learning by osmosis’. However, a lack of adequate support, training, and socialisation as part of an onboarding process, can contribute to individuals feeling overwhelmed early on in their career. This can lead to feeling underprepared for the role, and inadequacy and frustration can set in thereafter. A lack of socialisation with peers into the role may mean new graduates struggle to assimilate into the role.
Flexible work practices and ever-evolving technology breeds the ‘always on’ culture
Even before COVID-19’s arrival we were witnessing an increasingly blurred boundary between work and play due to technology and flexible work practices (in fact, take a look at this article on constant connection contributing to burnout amongst millennials ). Smartphones and laptops have revolutionised the way that we work; their portable nature means we can essentially always be ‘always on’. Notifications and alerts can lead to overwhelming ‘telepressure’: the feeling that you have to respond to any email as soon as it arrives[5] .
If the separation between work and play wasn’t already challenging enough, the global pandemic transformed traditional ideas of what can constitute a workplace. Many companies opted out of physical office spaces indefinitely in favour of working from home, whilst others were in prolonged lockdown and forced into a more permanent state of blurring the boundaries between work and home lives.
Unfortunately for those commencing their careers just before, or during the pandemic, working from home early in the piece meant missing out on structured formal onboarding processes as well as the informal, ad hoc collegiate support that emerges from being co-located. Put simply, it meant that some new graduates were left to navigate the overwhelming world of their new career from the solitude of their home.
Organisational culture
Workplaces play a pivotal role through their culture, so is your organisational culture building graduates up or burning them out? Organisational cultures that expect high performance and value output above all else, reinforce maladaptive perfectionistic behaviours, emphasise constant connection with the expectation of immediate replies to emails sent all hours of the day, and disparage errors made upon first attempt, are environments that may contribute to burnout.
Certainly, organisations hiring graduates are aware that they are in the early stages of their career, thus careful consideration should be given as to how to support them through this process through a combination of setting expectations in relation to a learning and feedback culture, as well as communicating realistic work practices and performance expectations.
Tips for organisations
Given the importance of the workplace in fostering burnout or sustainable work practices amongst new graduates, how can organisations better support those in the early stages of their careers?
1. NURTURE A SUPPORTIVE ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
Getting an organisation’s culture right is critical as it serves to support new graduates early on in their career. Ways to promote a positive organisational culture include:
Hiring the right leaders who practice intentional leadership styles who will promote a culture of support and sustainability across the employee lifecycle and emphasise realistic work practices as well as valuing the idea of failing forward. The standards and behaviours imposed by leaders trickle down to affect all employees, greatly influencing organisational culture. Transformational leaders, who engage and motivate employees to enact the change they want to see, have been shown to decrease burnout by improving job satisfaction, performance and personal accomplishment.[6][7]
Actively discourage leaveism, or the practice of working when one is not supposed to be working, including using annual leave, sick days, or weekends to catch up.[8] This may include limiting access to technology and encouraging ‘proper’ time off. Discourage long working hours and constant connection as badges of honour, and instead stress the responsibility of employees to look after themselves to enable optimal performance when they are at work.
Model realistic work practices and work/life balance, particularly in high performance cultures. It’s important for early career individuals to get an idea of how to step into this next phase of their lives, and how to set boundaries around work so that they have time to recuperate and focus clearly the next day.
Have a culture of learning and foster a feedback culture insofar that a new graduate is expected to not know the answers, to make errors, and to fail and these are all viewed as a necessary part of career development. Emphasise the value that new graduates can bring to the organisation. A rigid feedback culture can foster feelings of frustration and hopelessness in new hires. The ability to give feedback is an important component of any employee’s job control and engagement, which we know can be a predisposing factor for burnout.
2. HIRE NEW GRADUATES FOR ‘BEST FIT’ AND CHECK IN REGULARLY
Organisations that hire on the basis of school grades fail to consider if a graduate will be a good fit for that particular role. Developing capability frameworks and success profiles means that organisations are aware of what it takes to succeed in the roles they are hiring for. This cascades down to the hiring process, and incorporating psychometric assessment to match job characteristics to new graduates can not only reveal who may be the ‘best fit’ for the role, it may also reveal areas for an employee’s development and potentially reduce turnover.
Once hired, it’s important to check in on a regular basis with graduates particularly on those aspects known to contribute to burnout (autonomy, job control, role clarity, workload) and make adjustments to their role where indicated.
3. INVEST IN YOUR LEADERS (and, in turn, your culture)
Leadership plays a vital part in your organisational culture.[9] Leaders set the tone for their team in terms of expectations for performance, they can motivate them towards high performance and cohesion, and in doing so weather challenging times.
There are factors that contribute to good leadership, and by investing in the development of their leaders organisations are investing in better organisational culture. Perquiro outlines these factors in their A BRAVE Leader model, identifying these qualities as critical to good leadership:
Authentic leaders have a strong understanding of their own values and act with integrity.
Balanced leaders remain calm in challenging situations and are open to feedback.
Rational leaders use logic to guide decision making, are consultative, and check their own assumptions.
Action-oriented leaders act promptly and demonstrate accountability.
Visionary leaders communicate the organisation’s vision and invests in building collective goals.
Empathetic leaders show genuine care and concern for others.
4. SEEK ASSISTANCE
In much the same way that we would encourage individuals to reach out and seek help if they’re experiencing burnout, organisations would be well-placed to call in consultants to look at their overall culture, as well as their hiring and onboarding processes, and how these facilitate or buffer against burnout in their team and, particularly, their new graduates.
A blend of organisational design and workplace consultants (such as our organisational psychology arm Perquiro) and clinical and registered psychologists that focus on workplace mental health (that’s us!) can help set your organisation on the right path through helpful work design, appropriate recruitment practices, and equipping employees with the right tools to help them manage their own wellbeing.
Early-career burnout getting you down? Grab our tip sheet below to learn more about how to help yourself.
REFERENCES
[1] Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W.B., & Leither, M.P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review in Psychology, 52, 397-422.
[2] Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2008). The truth about burnout: How organizations cause personal stress and what to do about it. John Wiley & Sons.
[3] Handy, C.B. (1976). Understanding Organisations. Penguin, Harmondsworth.
[4] Jackson, S. E., Schwab, R. C., & Schuler, R. S. (1986). Towards an understanding of the burnout phenomenon. Journal of Applied Psychology 71, 630-640.
[5] Peake, M. (2015, July 10). Do you have early career burnout? Friday Magazine. https://fridaymagazine.ae/life-culture/people-profiles/do-you-have-early-career-burnou-1.1547679
[6] Lowe, K. B., Kroeck, K. G., & Sivasubramaniam, N. (1996). Effectiveness correlates of transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic review of the MLQ literature. The leadership quarterly, 7(3), 385-425.
[7] Zopiatis, A., & Constanti, P. (2010). Leadership styles and burnout: is there an association?. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
[8] Hesketh, I., & Cooper, C.L. (2014). Leavism at work. Occupational medicine, 4, 146-147.
[9] Mohelska, H., & Sokolova, M. (2015). Organisational culture and leadership – joint vessels? Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences, 171, 1011-1016.
Early career burnout - Part 1: Individual factors
Burnout is on the rise, and it’s disproportionately affecting millennials, Gen Zs, and those in the early stages of their career. Read on to learn what you can do to manage your burnout.
EARLY-CAREER Burnout (Part 1: Individual factors)
by Giulia Villa + Joyce Chong
What is EARLY CAREER BURNOUT ?
Commencing a career is an important transition point in a young person’s life, and the first ‘real’ job should be an exciting new adventure. Yet the challenge of adapting to a new role and a new lifestyle can come with a great deal of stress. For many who are in the early stages of their career, and starting to feel stressed and anxious about work, it’s important to consider if poor wellbeing is tipping into early career burnout. Burnout is a work-related state of mind comprising exhaustion, distancing from one’s work, and decreased personal achievement [1].
Why are new graduates at the beginning of their career at a higher risk of burnout? There may be a combination of factors, including experiencing challenges they feel underprepared to cope with, or unable to fit into a new culture and way of life. Overwhelmed and unable to adjust to their new circumstances (both professionally and personally), these individuals then start to experience burnout.
Burnout is a phenomenon recognised in many professions - something routinely identified amongst junior doctors and nurses, teachers and academics (amongst many others) - yet we all have the potential to experience burnout, no matter our profession or our stage of career, and it has a very real effect.
“Consider the impact of health professionals caring for the lives of others, workers operating heavy machinery, and teachers tasked with educating the next generation, turning up to work feeling frazzled and overwhelmed. ”
Indeed, burnout is regarded as such a significant issue that the 11th Revision of the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) has classified it as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.[2]
Organisations should sit up and notice the very real implications that burnout has for employee wellbeing and mental health, lost productivity, and turnover, and it is something that is disproportionately affecting early career employees. In fact:
Burnout is affecting millennials at a higher that average rate compared to the general population (84% vs. 77%), resulting in higher levels of turnover according to a survey on burnout conducted by Deloitte.
The proportion of Gen Z experiencing burnout is catching up to Millennials, with this in part attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic that saw the lines between work and play blurred even further, as well as removing office-based social networks as a coping strategy.
In this two-part series on early career burnout we look at reasons why new graduates at the beginning of their career trajectory are at risk of burnout, and what can be done to make the transition easier at the organisational and individual levels. Here, we shine a light on those personal factors that contribute to early career burnout.
Individual factors in early career burnout
For many, ‘early career’ follows many years at university or in an apprenticeship. Stepping into a job can look very different from sitting in a classroom, or working under significant direction, as you transition into working independently in an organisation. Below are some individual factors that contribute to early-career burnout.
Mindset, Imposter syndrome, Perfectionism, and early career burnout
Mindset plays a powerful role in early career burnout. Consider the expectations you had of your first ‘real job’, and your desire to make a good impression in the workplace. Stepping into the real world may even trigger Imposter Syndrome, in which you feel like an intellectual fraud and fear being exposed. These fears can then lead to perfectionistic coping behaviours so as to avoid negative evaluation, which in turn can inflate workload and contribute to burnout. [3][4]
Openness to feedback and normalisation of ‘failing’
When there is a fear of failure, feedback and asking for help can seem taboo - as if bringing into sharp attention one’s inability to understand what’s expected of them. This mindset [5] can be self-sabotaging, particularly where goals are not communicated clearly to you - rather than asking for clarification, a fear of failure can lead you to spend too much time trying to guess what you’re supposed to be doing.
Ability to manage yourself - what your study habits reveal
Congrats! Your uni days are finally behind you. Or are they? You may have heard every tertiary student’s favourite saying: “Ps get degrees”, mainly that passing your course and getting a degree helps with finding a job. While this is hard to argue against, there are certain student characteristics that set you up for a helpful adjustment to your new role or early career burnout. An 18-year exploratory longitudinal study tracking students through their university studies and subsequently into the workforce found that individuals who showed high initial social optimism, and whose social optimism increased, were less likely to withdraw and ‘self-handicap’ through task avoidance.[6],[7]. Put simply, being able to manage yourself and avoid procrastination bodes well for an easier transition into the workforce.
Constant connection and social comparisons
Yes, smartphones and laptops, as well as the blurring of work and personal spaces thanks to COVID-19, means that many early career individuals can essentially be constantly connected. However, is it in your best interest to be tethered to your work at all hours of the day, dreading each time you receive an email notification?
Constant connection can also breed upward social comparisons with other early-career colleagues, or even those whom you studied with. This can lead to lowered self-esteem as you believe that everyone else has achieved more than you, and create pressure to perform at - or even exceed - what you think others are doing [8].
Tips TO MANAGE early career burnout
1.Manage your expectations
The start of your career is an exciting time indeed, but it’s important to manage your expectations (about the job, about your work pace, about what is expected) appropriately to avoid burning out. Learn all you can about your role, look to others who perform similar roles for guidance, but above all recognise that you are at the very start. Avoid comparing yourself to someone who has done this for 5 or 10 years.
2. Practice self-care (no, really!)
Nurturing your mind, physical health and social life is just as important as nurturing your career. Some ideas for finding balance are:
Make the most of your lunch breaks. Take a mindful break by going for a walk, enjoying a meal away from your desk or calling a friend. This will give your brain a much-needed rest and boost your energy levels for the rest of the day.
Schedule ‘me time’ as you would schedule meetings. Whether it’s an exercise class, your meal-prep time or a social outing, blocking this time out in your calendar will help you stick to your plans.
Listen to your body’s cues. Everyone is different. You may find yourself losing sleep, getting sick more often, or simply being in a worse overall mood. Ignoring these signs is likely to lead to a breaking point later down the track, so be vigilant that your body may be trying to tell you something.
3. Set boundaries with others and with yourself
This may seem daunting to a new starter, but protecting your own wellbeing will make you a better employee in the long run. If you are able to, consider removing unessential work-related content from your mobile phone. Reducing the notifications you’re receiving after work hours will help you switch off, so that you can be more refreshed and productive the next day. New employees often overestimate what their boss actually expects of them. To avoid miscommunications, setting boundaries may involve having a conversation with your employer about your availability outside of work hours and the importance of this time for your rest and wellbeing. Our article on leavism can help you understand what leads us to work outside of work hours or on holidays and what we can do about this.[7]
4. Seek help
Our tip sheet below looks at some ways in which you can manage burnout, but if your burnout symptoms have reached a level that you feel you no longer can control, it may be time to speak to a professional. Most workplaces provide confidential psychological support services via Employee Assistance Programs, or you can reach out to an external professional to assist you in this time such as a psychologist who works with workplace mental health (like us!) to help you understand the cause and drive of your burnout as well as help you manage them so you can go back to feeling like yourself.
Early-career burnout getting you down? Grab our tip sheet below to learn more about how to help yourself.
REFERENCES
[1] Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W.B., & Leither, M.P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review in Psychology, 52, 397-422.
[2] https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
[3] Sakulku, J., & Alexander, J. (2011). The imposter phenomenon. International Journal of Behavioral Science, 6, 75-97.
[4] Dudau, D.P. (2014). The relation between perfectionism and imposter phenomenon. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 127, 129-133. Doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.226.
[5] Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
[6] Salmela-Aro, K., Tolvanen, A., & Nurmi, J. E. (2009). Achievement strategies during university studies predict early career burnout and engagement. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75, 162-172.
[7] Salmela-Aro, K., Tolvanen, A., & Nurmi, J.A. (2011). Social strategies during university studies predict early career work burnout and engagement: 18-year longitudinal study. Journal of Vocational behavior, 79, 145-157.
[8] Patrick, H., Neighbors, C., & Knee, C.R. (2004). Appearance-related social comparisons: The role of contingent self-esteem and self-perceptions of attractiveness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 501-514.
[9] Hesketh, I., & Cooper, C.L. (2014). Leavism at work. Occupational medicine, 4, 146-147
As rewarding a role that parenting may be, parental burnout is very real - exhaustion, feeling detached from your children, being less effective as a parent, and feeling fed up with the parenting role. Learn what to do to bounce back and improve your relationship with your children.