How do I know if my burnout is serious? - QA Realm Forum
https://qarealm.com/d/62-how-do-i-know-if-my-burnout-is-serious
Tags: #How, #Do, #Know, #If, #My, #Burnout, #Serious, #QA, #Realm, #Forum, #Burnout #MentalHealth #Stress #WorkplaceWellbeing #MentalHealthAwareness #SelfCare #BurnoutRecovery #Psychology #MentalFatigue #ProfessionalHelp
Coaching isn’t about fixing people — it’s about keeping them.
Retention rises when leaders coach consistently, not reactively.
Let’s shift the narrative.
#LeadershipDevelopment #RetentionStrategy #CoachingCulture #LeadBoldly #WorkplaceWellbeing #EmployeeEngagement
http://leadboldly1.blog/2025/12/17/coaching-isnt-a-performance-tool-its-a-retention-strategy/
Your company updates software before it updates people — and it shows.
L&D is the human operating system upgrade every organization desperately needs to prevent crashes, burnout, and outdated leadership.
#LearningAndDevelopment #LeadershipEvolution #FutureOfWork #LDCulture #PeopleFirst #WorkplaceWellbeing
This blog isn’t just a rant (though we’ve earned one).
It’s a learning guide — a way to understand emotional labor, name it, navigate it, and stop letting it silently drain your energy or define your worth.
👉 If you’ve ever been “the strong one,” the fixer, the stabilizer, or the unofficial therapist at work… this one is for you.
#EmotionalLabor #InvisibleWork #WomenInLeadership #HRLife #LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceWellbeing #StrongOnes #BurnoutPrevention…
http://leadboldly1.blog/2025/12/15/emotional-labor-the-invisible-job-description-no-one-pays-for/
A straight, honest look at what it means to feel unseen at work and how strength grows from it. #CareerTruths #HonestWorkTalk #ProfessionalGrowth #LeadershipThoughts #WorkplaceReality #HighPerformers #CareerMindset #WorkplaceWellbeing #CareerClarity #SanjayKMohindroo
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-you-give-your-best-still-get-overlooked-quiet-truth-mohindroo--9yv6c
A straight, honest look at what it means to feel unseen at work and how strength grows from it. #CareerTruths #HonestWorkTalk #ProfessionalGrowth #LeadershipThoughts #WorkplaceReality #HighPerformers #CareerMindset #WorkplaceWellbeing #CareerClarity #SanjayKMohindroo
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-you-give-your-best-still-get-overlooked-quiet-truth-mohindroo--9yv6c
Conflict isn’t the villain — avoidance is.
When you learn to pause, stay curious, and see conflict as information, you grow into a wiser, more grounded version of yourself — at work and in life.
Here’s your guide to turning conflict into clarity, trust, and emotional mastery.
#LeadershipDevelopment #ConflictResolution #EmotionalIntelligence #WorkplaceWellbeing #LeadBoldly #ProfessionalGrowth #CommunicationSkills #PsychSafety #SelfAwareness
Empathy isn’t agreement — and somewhere along the way, we forgot that.
Great leaders know how to understand someone’s perspective without surrendering their own.
Here’s your guide to connecting with humans and keeping your boundaries intact.
#LeadershipDevelopment #EmotionalIntelligence #ModernLeadership #WorkplaceWellbeing #PsychologicalSafety #EmpathyAtWork #LeadBoldly #CoachingCulture #HumanCenteredLeadership #PeopleFirstLeadership
Ever caught yourself spiralling over a workplace setback? What if the real edge is simply how you reappraise stress?
Latest data suggests individuals who reframe stressors raise performance by 21% and slash burnout by 17%.
Emotional skills aren't just soft – they're tactical.
Pharmacist who was shown graphic images of genitalia by male colleague awarded almost €90,000
A hospital pharmacist who was failed by the HSE after she was shown graphic images of male genitalia…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines ##WorkplaceWellbeing #IE #Ireland
https://www.newsbeep.com/243784/
Let Moxxi hold your hand when she tells you this: If you forced an employee to accept worse conditions and laughed when they said this wasn't acceptable, and asked if they really thought they were worth 10k more a year, and didn't tell anyone when they took a leave of absence, you're not a leader, you're a bully.
Moxxi has been waiting for them to return. Now she's thinking they might never come back. Don't do that. Don't make Moxxi sad.
The 7 Types of Rest Librarians Actually Need and How to Get Them
I know many of us are struggling right now. Things are rough out there for libraries and for us as people living in the world. When we think about self-care or rest, most of us default to the physical, things like getting enough sleep, maybe squeezing in a workout, or taking a vacation day. And those things matter. But if you’re someone who sleeps eight hours a night, takes your lunch away from your desk, and still feels depleted? You’re not doing self-care wrong. You might be missing the other six types of rest your body and mind need.
There are seven distinct types of rest that we all need to function well. The problem is that we tend to focus on one or two while completely neglecting the others. Sometimes it is because we forget that there is more than one way to rest, sometimes it is because we don’t have a choice.
You know, when I talk about the research around healthy work environments and well-being at work that so many of the conditions that lead to rest deficits aren’t individual problems; they’re organizational ones. This isn’t about librarians needing to be better at self-care. It’s about library workplaces creating conditions where rest is possible.
Let’s look at the seven types and what they look like specifically in library work.
1. Physical Rest: Beyond Sleep and Exercise
Physical rest includes both passive rest (sleep, napping) and active rest (restorative movement like stretching, yoga, or massage). Most of us understand this type of rest, even if we don’t always get enough of it.
What it looks like in libraries: Standing at service desks for hours without breaks. Shelving carts of books. Sitting through back-to-back meetings in uncomfortable chairs. Working split shifts with long commutes. Being expected to come in when you’re sick because there’s no coverage.
What helps: Adequate sleep and vacation time, yes. But also, ergonomic workstations, permission to take actual breaks, and gentle movement during the day.
The institutional piece: Here’s where organizational responsibility comes in. Libraries need staffing levels that allow people to take breaks without guilt. They need to plan for absences during cold and flu season instead of expecting people to work through illness. They need to provide ergonomic equipment without making staff jump through hoops to get it.
The personal piece: I’m someone who prioritizes sleep. Because I’ve struggle with sleep for years, I have good sleep hygiene. But I have had to learned that physical rest also means listening to my body during the day. Sometimes that means doing gentle stretches between video calls. It means using my lunch break to move my body instead of eating at my desk while answering emails. And sometimes it means admitting I need to take a sick day instead of pushing through because I think I should be able to handle it. The older I get, the more I realize that ignoring what my body is telling me just leads to longer recovery times.
2. Mental Rest: When Your Brain Won’t Turn Off
Mental rest is about giving your mind a break from constant decision-making, problem-solving, and information processing. You know you need mental rest when you can’t stop thinking about work, when your brain feels foggy, or when you’re making unusual mistakes.
What it looks like in libraries: Fielding complex reference questions back-to-back. Troubleshooting technology problems all day. Managing competing priorities with inadequate time. Keeping track of multiple projects while being constantly interrupted. Making decisions about collection development, programming, and budgets, often with limited resources and high stakes.
What helps: Short breaks during the workday. Time to think without interruption. Journaling to offload racing thoughts. Mindfulness practices. Even just five minutes of sitting quietly between tasks.
The institutional piece: Libraries need to build in transition time between programs and meetings. They need to create spaces, physical and temporal, where staff can work without interruption. They need to reduce the expectation that everyone should be immediately available at all times. Stop scheduling meetings back-to-back. Stop treating “busy” as a badge of honor.
The personal piece: You know you need mental rest when you’re lying in bed mentally drafting emails or replaying difficult conversations. Journaling before bed can help, not pretty journaling, just brain dumping everything onto paper so it’s not rattling around in your head all night. Try building in a transition time between different types of work. Schedule meetings for 45 minutes or 30 instead of 1 hour. Start meetings a quarter after or 30 minutes passed the hour to help build in breaks for attendees. After a complex project, do something mindless for ten minutes before jumping into the next thing. Your brain needs that reset, even if it feels inefficient in the moment.
3. Sensory Rest: Relief from Overstimulation
We live in a world of constant stimulation, and libraries are no exception. Sensory rest means reducing the input your senses are constantly processing, the screens, the noise, the fluorescent lights, the visual clutter.
What it looks like in libraries: Multiple computer monitors. Fluorescent lighting. Background noise from patrons, phones, printers, and HVAC systems. Too much time on a service desk with no access to a quiet space to decompress. Open floor plans where there’s no escape from stimulation. Being on Zoom calls all day, where you’re constantly watching yourself on screen.
What helps: Stepping away from screens periodically. Close your eyes for a few minutes. Spending time in quiet spaces. Dimming lights when possible. Using noise-canceling headphones in open workspaces (if your role allows).
The institutional piece: Libraries should provide break spaces that aren’t just repurposed storage closets with a microwave, with furniture that was deemed too gross or old for patrons. Create quiet spaces where staff can decompress. Consider lighting options beyond harsh fluorescents. Acknowledge that open office plans, while cost-effective, create sensory overload for many people. And please, stop scheduling full-day video conferences without adequate breaks.
The personal piece: You might not realize how much sensory overload is affecting you until you have a contrast. Many librarians discovered this during the pandemic when working from home. The difference between an open office environment and a quieter home space can be stark. Even when you’re working, be more intentional about reducing sensory input. Close unnecessary browser tabs. Turn off Outlook notifications during focus time. Take your glasses off and close your eyes for a few minutes when you feel that overstimulated buzzing in your head. Take your lunch away from your desk. Get out of the building and experience nature, look up at the sky, even for a few minutes. Look out a window. These seem like small things, but they make a real difference in how depleted you feel at the end of the day.
4. Emotional Rest: Permission to Be Real
Emotional rest is about having the space to express your authentic feelings instead of performing emotional labor constantly. It’s the freedom to say “I’m struggling” without immediately having to reassure everyone that you’re fine.
What it looks like in libraries: Maintaining a pleasant demeanor with difficult patrons. Absorbing community distress, about book challenges, about access to resources, about homelessness, about technology barriers. Managing up when you disagree with administrative decisions. Suppressing frustration when policies don’t serve patrons’ needs or when local, state, or national politics interfere with intellectual freedom or other professional values and ethics. Performing “niceness” even when you’re dealing with harassment or unreasonable demands. All of these involve emotional labor and often invisible labor.
What helps: Having people you can be honest with about how you’re really feeling. Setting boundaries with emotionally draining situations. Processing difficult interactions instead of stuffing them down.
The institutional piece: This is huge. Libraries need to move beyond the veneer of niceness that makes it impossible to address real problems. They need psychological safety, environments where staff can voice concerns without fear of being labeled “negative” or “not a team player.” They need clear protocols for handling abusive patron behavior instead of expecting staff to just absorb it. They need to acknowledge that emotional labor is real work and stop treating it as an expected personality trait, especially for women and people of color. It is important to ensure staff have downtime away from patrons and coworkers in a private space to allow staff to process emotions without masking. Make sure tasks that involve emotional labor are not piled on to one person or a small group. Look at policies and practices to help distribute invisible labor equally.
The personal piece: This is the type of rest many of us struggle with most, especially those of us who are “fixers”; we see problems and want to solve them, or we see something that needs to be done and we do it. But that means we often don’t give ourselves space to feel frustrated or sad or angry about workplace challenges. You don’t have to immediately move to problem-solving mode. Sometimes things just suck, and you need to acknowledge that before you can move forward. Be selective about who you process difficult situations with; some people help you feel heard, while others inadvertently make you feel like you need to manage their reactions to your feelings.
5. Social Rest: Recharging Your Social Battery
Social rest isn’t about being anti-social; it’s about balancing draining social interactions with restorative ones. It’s the difference between being “on” all the time and having a real connection.
What it looks like in libraries: Being in public-facing roles all day. Attending committee meetings. Making small talk at community events. Navigating workplace relationships and politics. Dealing with interpersonal conflicts. For introverts, neurodiverse people, and people in minority groups, even positive social interactions can be depleting without adequate recovery time.
What helps: Time alone to recharge. Saying no to optional social events when you need to. Spending time with people who energize rather than drain you. Having control over when and how you engage socially.
The institutional piece: Stop making attendance at social events outside of work hours feel mandatory. Respect that different people have different social needs. There are many reasons people may not work to socialize outside of work, that does not mean they are antisocial or unfriendly. They just need different conditions to thrive. And it might mean they have healthier boundaries. Reduce the number of meetings that could be emails. Create roles that balance public interaction with behind-the-scenes work. And please, stop using “culture fit” as code for “people who want to hang out together outside of work.” This leads to favoritism and bias.
The personal piece: Librarians work in a profession that requires significant social engagement. For years, you might have thought something was wrong with you because you felt exhausted after days that other people found energizing. Understanding that social rest is a real need can be liberating. It doesn’t matter if you’re an introvert or extrovert, neurodiverse or neurotypical. Be honest about your capacity. Don’t attend every optional event. Build in alone time after intense social periods. And stop feeling guilty about it, this isn’t antisocial behavior; it’s self-awareness about what you need to show up as your best self.
6. Creative Rest: Replenishing Your Capacity for Innovation
Creative rest is about appreciating beauty and inspiration without the pressure to produce something. It’s what we need when we’re experiencing creative fatigue, when every brainstorming session feels like pulling teeth, when we can’t think of one more way to make storytime engaging.
What it looks like in libraries: Constantly developing new programs. Creating displays. Solving problems with limited resources. Being expected to “innovate” without the time, space, or resources to actually be creative. Sitting through another meeting where you’re asked to “think outside the box” while still operating inside very rigid constraints.
What helps: Engaging with art, music, or nature without having to do anything with it. Reading for pleasure instead of professional development. Visiting museums. Taking a walk and actually looking at things. Giving yourself permission to consume creativity instead of always producing it.
The institutional piece: Libraries need to stop treating creativity as something you can turn on and off like a faucet. Innovation requires space, literal time, and mental bandwidth to explore ideas without immediate pressure to implement them. Professional development budgets shouldn’t just cover conferences; they should cover museum memberships, art supplies, and subscriptions to creative magazines. And please, stop asking staff to be creative while simultaneously micromanaging every detail of their work.
The personal piece: Some library roles feel like they require constant creativity and problem-solving, and there are times when you’ll feel completely tapped out. What helps is separating consumption from production. Read fiction without thinking about programming ideas. Visit art museums without photographing everything for social media. Cook without documenting it. You need to fill the creative well before you can draw from it, and that means sometimes just appreciating beauty or creativity without turning it into work. Be present in what you’re doing.
7. Spiritual Rest: Connecting to Something Bigger
Spiritual rest, whether through religion, meditation, purpose, or community, is about feeling connected to something beyond yourself. It’s not necessarily religious; it’s about meaning and belonging.
What it looks like in libraries: Experiencing a disconnect between your values and institutional policies. Being asked to enforce rules you don’t believe serve your community. Feeling like your work doesn’t matter or isn’t valued. Losing sight of why you became a librarian in the first place, because you’re drowning in bureaucracy or fighting book challenges.
What helps: Connecting with your library’s mission in tangible ways. Volunteering for causes you care about. Meditation or prayer if that’s meaningful to you. Spending time in communities where you feel you belong. Reconnecting with the “why” of your work.
The institutional piece: This is where value alignment becomes critical. When libraries require staff to enforce policies that contradict core professional values and ethics, whether around intellectual freedom, privacy, or equitable access, they create spiritual distress. When librarians are forced to compromise their beliefs about serving their community, when good work goes unrecognized, when mission statements ring hollow because actions don’t match words, that’s a recipe for moral injury, not just burnout.
The personal piece: Spiritual rest can come from connecting with why you do this work in the first place. When you’re feeling burned out or cynical, create opportunities to reconnect with libraries’ impact on people’s lives, read thank-you notes from patrons, talk with colleagues about meaningful interactions they’ve had, or volunteer in ways that remind you of the difference this profession makes. Find spiritual rest in nature, in faith or spiritual communities if that’s meaningful to you, or in groups where you can show up as your whole self, not just the professional version. Those connections remind you that you’re part of something bigger than any single frustration or challenge.
Moving Beyond Individual Self-Care
Here’s what I want you to take away from this: if you’re experiencing exhaustion despite taking care of yourself physically, you’re not failing at self-care. You are probably neglecting one or more of the other types of rest, and often because your workplace makes it nearly impossible to get them.
I’ve attended too many conference sessions and workshops or seen online courses that tell library workers how to individually prevent burnout through better self-care. But burnout isn’t an individual problem; it’s an organizational one. All seven types of rest require not just personal choices but institutional support.
So yes, look at where you might be neglecting certain types of rest. Build time for mental quiet, emotional authenticity, social recharging, creative play, and spiritual connection. But also? Advocate for workplaces that make rest possible. Push back on policies and cultures that deplete you faster than you can recover.
Because the truth is, we can’t yoga and meditate our way out of systemic workplace problems. Real rest requires real change, at the organizational level, not just the individual one.
Edited November 18, 2025
Someone commented asking for references and I’m embarrassed I didn’t include them! (Thank you commenter for pointing that out!) Regular readers know they are normally included with posts like this. This post is a longer version of content I’ve been including in my presentations for over a year I didn’t go back and pull the sources I have at the end of the presentation. Here they are!
References
Abramson, A. (2025, May 6). Seven types of rest to help restore your body’s energy. Https://Www.Apa.Org. https://www.apa.org/topics/mental-health/seven-rest-types
Beddington, E. (2021, November 25). The seven types of rest: I spent a week trying them all. Could they help end my exhaustion? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/25/the-seven-types-of-rest-i-spent-a-week-trying-them-all-could-they-help-end-my-exhaustion
Ericson, C. (2021, September 29). The seven types of rest that can improve your well-being. The Boston Globe. https://sponsored.bostonglobe.com/point32health/7-types-rest-improve-well-being/
Here are the 7 types of rest that can help you to feel fully renewed. (n.d.). Calm Blog. https://blog.calm.com/blog/7-types-of-rest
Maslach, C. (2017). Finding solutions to the problem of burnout. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 69(2), 143–152. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000090
Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., & Maslach, C. (2009). Burnout: 35 years of research and practice. Career Development International, 14(3), 204–220.
Skowron, C. (2022, December 21). The 7 Kinds of Rest You Actually Need. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/a-different-kind-of-therapy/202212/the-7-kinds-of-rest-you-need-to-actually-feel-rejuvenated
Willkomm, A. C. (2022, November 14). 7 Types of Rest. Graduate College, Drexel University. https://drexel.edu/graduatecollege/professional-development/blog/2022/November/7-types-of-rest/
Yang, A. B. (2023, March 30). Don’t rely on work for socialization. https://www.workbetter.media/p/dont-rely-on-work-for-socialization
#7TypesOfRest #burnout #health #healthyWorkplace #mentalHealth #psychologicalSafety #selfCare #sevenTypesOfRest #wellness #workplaceWellbeing
AI is changing workplace mental health! Learn how to Prediksi NPD Karyawan and build better teams. Get the research scoop! #AI #MentalHealth #HR #WorkplaceWellbeing
I’ve taken on some employment recently. The last job I had radicalised me against corporate bullshit. This job is particularly tricky as there isnt much to do. I spend most of my time trying to look busy, as my whole team are high level corpo's who dont realise how unproductive we all are.
To my fellow quiet quitters, anti-corp fighters and disillusioned corporate drones - what do you do to pass the time?
#anticorp #corporation #bullshitjobs #WorkplaceWellbeing #distopia
Ever noticed your energy dip mid-afternoon?
You're not alone – studies show micro-breaks of under 10 minutes can boost mood and reduce fatigue, especially when you choose them yourself.
Over time, these tiny pauses add up: individuals in workplaces with structured micro-breaks have stronger wellbeing, fewer aches, and more energy.
Don't wait for burnout to act – schedule a few micro-breaks today.
Customer support burnout is real — and AI can help fix it. 💡
Discover how AI agents are transforming customer service, reducing stress, and boosting productivity through intelligent automation.
👉 Read more: https://github.com/OliviaAddison/Customer-Support-Burnout-Is-Real-Here-s-How-AI-Agents-Can-Help-
Visit: https://rubikchat.com/
#AIChatbot #CustomerSupport #AIAgentDevelopment #AIChatbotDevelopment #ArtificialIntelligence #AutomationTools #CustomerExperience #DigitalTransformation #AIForBusiness #WorkplaceWellbeing #AIPoweredCustomerSupport #TechInnovation
A new study links workplace AI adoption to increased employee depression 😔, partly due to reduced psychological safety 🛡️.
Read Full Article
#WorkplaceAI #EmployeeMentalHealth #PsychologicalSafety #AIImpact #WorkplaceWellbeing https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-05040-2
Reenviado desde Science News
(https://t.me/experienciainterdimensional/9305)
AI tools promise efficiency at work, but they can erode trust, creativity and agency
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Workplace #Productivity #AIEthics #CriticalThinking #Creativity #Leadership #TechCulture #AIImpact #HumanAI #Innovation #WorkplaceWellbeing
https://the-14.com/ai-tools-promise-efficiency-at-work-but-they-can-erode-trust-creativity-and-agency/
🏆 Darfon Electronics’ Taoyuan Headquarters has officially earned LEED v4.1 O+M Platinum Certification—the highest global standard for green buildings—and the UL Healthy Building Mark Tier 2.
#LEEDPlatinum #HealthyBuildings #SustainabilityLeadership #TaiwanESG #GreenInfrastructure #RCISustainability #DarfonElectronics #CircularEconomy #WorkplaceWellbeing #EnergyEfficiency
Say No to harassment at work with OiRA | Safety and health at work EU-OSHA
#SayNoToHarassment
#HealthyWorkplaces
#EndWorkplaceHarassment
#RespectAtWork
#DignityAtWork
#StopHarassment
#WorkplaceWellbeing #OiRA
#OSHAtWork #SafeAndFairWork
osha.europa.eu/en/highlights/…
