Many working people today work for over 8 hours a day. In addition to long hours of work, they also spend plenty of time on the commute from work to home daily. As a result, people are always tired. Professional burnout has become an actual concern in many occupations.
Some say that besides being overworked, burnout can also come from being under-challenged at work. Employees suffering from burnout experience stress and soon become negative and cynical about their jobs. While this is a workplace-related issue, it soon begins to affect relationships at home. The trickle-down consequences begin to have an impact on relations with partners.
- You lack time for your relationship
Have you ever been in a situation that causes so much stress that you have no bandwidth to deal with anything else? The same happens when you experience professional burnout. Naturally, you give more time to your work because you spend more hours at your workplace. If your work is giving you so much pressure then it’s impossible to prioritize your relationship. Your relationship begins to feel like another chore that requires your attention. It is very easy to pick your job over your relationship if both require your attention. You could even blame your partner for not understanding that you have other problems to deal with at work.
- Professional burnout affects communication in relationships
Stress of any kind causes problems in many relationships. This is because at this point people react in different ways which strain relationships. Some shut down which makes their partners feel like there exists a distance between them. Some project their frustrations on the people around them. You could find them yelling, being negative or accusing their partners of things that they are not guilty of. When one experiences burnout they are bound to react in one or two of these ways which ultimately strains the relationship.
When there is a communication breakdown between partners in a relationship several things happen. The main result is that intimacy decreases. The two people are no longer on the same wave and so cannot enjoy intimacy like they previously did. Another consequence is that one partner assumes that the other one knows what is going on in their head. One becomes so consumed in their fatigue and stress over work that you assumes that your partner should know this and deal with it.
- It leads to bigger fights
As a result of the lack of time and communication in a relationship, bigger problems emerge. For example, if a partner suggests that the other person should quit their job it might come out as though they don’t respect the other person’s career. Your partner could misinterpret tiny things to mean something entirely different.
If a person deals with stress by isolating themselves then the partner might feel like they are not needed in their lives. The burnout brings so much negativity to the relationship that problems begin to sprout one after another.
While our jobs are important it is necessary to consciously evaluate their impact on ourselves. If you begin to feel fatigued and under too much pressure take a step back and analyze the situation. There are solutions to burnout which can prevent losing a loved one.
Also, check out How To Deal With Pressure At The Workplace
Creating A Healthy Work Environment: Strategies To Prevent Employee Burnout
Why You Get Burnout Even When You Aren’t Overworked
