Beat Burnout

Recognizing the signs and taking action can save your sanity and your business

By Ann Field

A little bit of stress can be a productivity booster, an extra push to help rev up your performance. Then there's the acute short-term strain that can be caused by anything from a family emergency to unexpectedly having to make a major presentation. Burnout is different. It's a reaction to constant, relentless, day-in, day-out stress, the kind that starts as soon you get up in the morning and doesn't stop until you put your head on the pillow—and probably not even then. "It's a psychological syndrome that occurs in response to chronic stress in the work environment," says Christina Maslach, a pioneering researcher in burnout and a professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. Business owners, who typically work nonstop, juggling many balls at once, may be more susceptible than many others, says Michael Leiter, a professor of psychology at Acadia University in Nova Scotia and an expert on burnout. "Most entrepreneurs experience a bout of burnout at some point in their careers," says Leiter. And a bad economy can make the day-in, day-out pressures of running a business even worse.

That's why it's imperative for small business owners to understand what burnout is and how to deal with it. The signs are not that hard to recognize, but it's important not to confuse them with symptoms of other conditions, such as depression. If you're burned out, you first need to find a way to reenergize yourself. It can be a bit trickier to diagnose the underlying cause of your burnout and devise an effective response. Here's how to get started.

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