Burnout in the context of Australia: the great burnout
The 2023 State of the Future of Work Report has found that Australian workers are experiencing burnout at alarming rates. It surveyed 1,400 Australian workers and the major finding was that 25-55 year olds (named prime-aged workers by the report) are affected the most with 50% feeling exhausted by work. This group has also reported worse physical and mental health since the pandemic.
Sales is a stressful job, with different everyday stressors that contribute to an overwhelmingly high rate of sales burnout. Each of the factors that contribute to this stress have been exacerbated by COVID and the economic slump. The fear of job security, added childcare responsibilities, introduction of remote work are just a few of the added stresses that highlight the differences between pre and post pandemic life and the need to incorporate this into work standards moving forward.
Here is the advice on how to prevent sales burnout from Katie Maycock, stress and burnout specialist.
How to Prevent Sales Burnout
First and most importantly, don’t forget to check in with yourself. You need to do it regularly – assess where you are at, how are you feeling? Are you overly stressed? Why are you stressed? Self awareness is a key step in managing your stress levels and preventing burnout. On a scale of 1-10 how are you feeling? What can you do to improve?
- Getting enough sleep is crucial to managing stress and burnout. It impacts your ability to process emotions. The ideal is 7 hours of sleep a night.
- Set clear boundaries. Protect yourself from overcommitting to tasks and working excessive hours. Working in sales means that it isn’t always the 9-5 regular hours but you still need to be strict with the times you start and finish work, this includes checking your notifications.
- Practice self care, take a moment out of your day to do something that makes you happy. It might be exercise, spending quality time with friends or meditation.
- Create and incorporate healthy habits into your day to day.
- Development stress management techniques.
- Seek support, talk to a manager to find a solution and prioritise your workload to incorporate more balance.
In order to prevent sales burnout, don’t forget to check in with yourself. It’s important to take a step back to reset and recalibrate.