Workplace Fitness: Job burnout vs. your health

If you love going to work everyday that's awesome, but unfortunately you are a minority. More people than not are doing the "work to live" thing, and feel stressed out and unhappy about their job pretty regularly. Whether you're not getting paid enough, you've got a pile of stressful projects coming due, or you just picked the completely wrong field for yourself, burning out on the job is a serious problem -- for both your career and your health.

Realizing you have a problem...Hate to use a cheesy cliché, but the first thing you have to do is acknowledge that you're burning out at work. It's a vicious downward spiral, and you can't climb out unless you make a conscious effort towards change. So what signs should you be watching for?

There are lots, but some of the most common are chronic fatigue or feeling run down all the time, being angry or irritable, shortness of breath, feeling overwhelmed, feeling hopeless, or changes in weight (gain or loss).

So you're fat, tired, helpless, hopeless -- and in a bad mood to boot. That does not sound like a recipe for success, so you better pull yourself out of the funk before things get any worse. Start by changing your focus and rearranging your priorities: don't let your job take over your life. Come home at a decent hour, take breaks at lunch away from your desk, and avoid bringing work home with you at the end of the day. Switch things up by rearranging your daily schedule and reorganizing your routine, and plan a vacation so you have something to look forward to. Maybe most important of all? Make sure you take time out on a regular basis to have fun and enjoy life.

And if all else fails, maybe you're at the wrong job altogether. Not to advocate quitting everytime you have a bad day at work, but paying attention to what you'd really love to be doing and making moves in that direction could possibly banish workplace burn out altogether.