Beating Burnout – An Individual and Organizational Toolkit

The WHO calls burnout an “occupational phenomenon”, a syndrome “resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Gallup and KPMG research show burnout is rising, costing billions in time lost from sick leave, lower productivity and resignations. Burnout affects individuals causing anxiety and depression but also affects organisations manifesting in exhaustion, increased mental distance from a role and decreased efficacy. With more and more pressure to innovate and be constantly connected, we are not finishing the stress cycle we need for recovery. In addition, technology is stealing our focus and dopamine so we are struggling to prevent or recover from burnout.

• What is burnout, how it is different to eustress
• How is technology exacerbating burnout and preventing recovery
• Studies including Freudenberger’s stages or burnout and Maslach’s organisational risk factors
• What can organisations do to prevent or manage burnout beyond offering yoga
• What can individuals do to manage or recover from burnout (including tech tools)
• How to break the dopamine/tech addiction cycle preventing us from switching off

Key Learnings

1. Practical tools for an individual to recongise burnout early and tools to recover
2. Practical tips for leaders to help their team members prevent or recover from burnout
3. Practical tips to break to tech addiction in personal and work time and help switch off

About Caterina

Caterina is currently Managing Legal Counsel at VGW Holdings Limited. She has worked extensively across private practice and inhouse roles and has a business focused way of partnering with stakeholders across the business and practices empathy when working with, and managing, others.

Along her career, in addition to business and legal skills, Caterina has developed legal operations expertise. She has always used a growth mindset to add skills to her legal expertise, and an interest in improving her wellbeing and those of her colleagues lead her to studying a Diploma of Positive Psychology and starting a monthly ACC Docket column called Positively Legal three years ago where she focuses on ways we can improve our wellbeing and shares practical tips and insights.

Caterina looks after her own wellbeing through her love of travel, exercising, spending time in nature and reading. A believer in bringing fun to work, she suggests next time you go on leaving changing your out of office to tell people you are taking a break and going to do something fun to look after your wellbeing.