How to cope with burnout

In the best of times, it’s easy to get frustrated with work -- and with all the ways work and life have changed since COVID, burnout is all the more persistent. Even if your office is one of the few that got everything right, a lot has happened that may have changed your professional outlook. Maybe all the headlines about the hot job market and/or the swell of job resignations has got you thinking you should just throw in the towel. And maybe that's the right path for you! But you may not be able to quit just yet, whether it's because your dream company doesn't have any openings, you don't have the financial security, your professional network isn't built up yet, or any other perfectly valid reason. If you have to pay the bills, you’re going to have to stick it out for some unknown period of time.

This point in your life is going to be tough -- we're not going to pretend otherwise. It may be beneficial to lean into self-care, including consulting a mental health professional if appropriate. But there are a few practical ways you can alleviate burnout right now -- things like making your company work for you, not the other way around. As long as you’re going to be stuck at a company, you should be doing things that will benefit you while you’re there! Here are a few strategies to help you approach your day and stay afloat when you’re totally over it.

Create new relationships. It's cliché because it's true: Relationships are everything in Hollywood. The more people you know, the more successful you’ll be. At the same time, every company depends on various partnerships to keep its business running -- finding a distributor for a movie, hiring a director to bring a script to life, utilizing a new advertising platform…the list goes on. This is great news for you, as it gives you an excuse to network while being a huge value-add to your team! In the short term, you might bring in a partner that helps your current company, and that can lead to internal boosts like a promotion or more interesting projects. More importantly, these connections will also be part of your network down the line. They may help you find a job, and they could be key players in your success at future companies. For example, if you’re a development executive, and you take a bunch of general meetings with writers, you’re adding to your roster, and you’ll be able to contact these writers when you’re at your next gig and have an opportunity for them. Even better, your new boss will be impressed by the breadth of your network. You can also create new relationships within your office -- most employers love it when their employees work with other departments to create synergy, and these co-workers will likely become your friends over time. Prioritize relationships above all. There’s usually something on your to-do list that will require meeting someone new -- check that one off first. 
Focus on your professional development. If you’re burned out at work, you probably feel like you’re wasting time. A great way to combat that feeling is to learn something new! Volunteer to lead a new research project. Take advantage of any professional development opportunities your company offers or enroll in a course. Watch YouTube videos to learn the ins and outs of PowerPoint and Excel and wow your team with your improved skills. Read and watch content that interests you as potential source material. Attend (or volunteer to speak at) a conference. The key is to identify an area you've always wanted to learn more about and go for it! Not only will this help curb your boredom, but you'll likely develop expertise that will benefit you in your career long-term.

Do the job you were hired to do. Think about the job you were hired to do -- literally, the job description you’re getting paid for. Is that the job you’ve been doing, or are you completing assignments above your pay grade? Most of us operate with an “I need to earn a promotion” mentality -- we want to impress our supervisors in hopes that it will pay off in the long run. But if you’re in a dead-end job, the extra work is not going to pay off, and even if you think a promotion could be your ticket out of burnout-land, the relationships and skills you cultivate from the first two tips have you covered in that area! Don’t stress yourself out trying to be an overachiever for someone else. Your boss can’t fault you for getting what’s expected of you done. Do the job you signed up for, nothing less, nothing more. You’ll have more mental energy (and potentially after-hours time) for other things. Which brings us to our last point...

Lean in to your personal life. If you’re unhappy at work, try to balance that with happiness in other areas of your life. Spend time with friends and family. Keep up with your favorite hobbies. Volunteer for a cause that's meaningful to you. Give yourself something to look forward to after work each day -- if you're really deep into your burnout, it might be helpful to keep a written list of something you do each day that brings you personal joy or to have an accountability buddy you can swap "happy thoughts" with (we've done this!). When someone asks you what’s new, answer them with something that has nothing to do with work. It's easy to get wrapped up in our careers when we're pursuing Hollywood dreams, but at the end of the day, you only get one life, and your work should support it, not detract from it. Plus, you won't have any great stories to share with the world if your life experience consists of work emails, Zoom meetings, and a mile-high pile of scripts. As much as you can, avoid checking work emails after hours, on weekends, or on vacation. Your team isn't your family. No one's life is on the line if you respond to an email at 9am instead of 2am. Any company that can burn you out is a company that will put their bottom line above your well-being -- so if it would be a "business decision" for them to lay you off in a restructure, you don't owe them your personal time. Plus, studies continually show that people perform better at work when they're happier -- so your boss is benefitting from that trip you take to Cabo!

We're not suggesting that you should ditch all your responsibilities (you don’t want to get fired for cause!). But there are plenty of ways you can reframe your job to be mutually beneficial, and you should channel your energy into those endeavors. And always remember that your own mental health should come first. Your work situation will eventually change, and in the meantime, there’s a lot you can do to make life a little more pleasant.

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-- Angela Silak & Cindy Kaplan