One problem with working too much—even if we love our job—is that work can crowd out other important things in life. If we put all our time and energy into our purpose-driven work—our “worthy cause”—we can’t put that time and energy into other aspects of life, like relationships, hobbies, and rest.
When you think of job burnout, what kind of picture comes to mind?
Do you picture a Wall Street trader working 80 hours a week who just can’t take it anymore, quits their job, and moves to Costa Rica? Or maybe someone tiredly working two monotonous, minimum-wage jobs they hate just to pay the bills?
When we think of burnout, it’s easy to think of someone hating their job. But that’s not always the case. In fact, the industries at highest risk for burnout are those that involve purpose-driven work—work that people often feel passionately about.
So, if you want a purpose-driven career, there are a few things about burnout you should know:
Passion is a double-edged sword
There are a lot of benefits to being passionate about your job. Passion can keep us going. It can help us do better at our job and like it more. And liking our job matters.
But passion’s ability to keep us going can also be our downfall. There is always more that can be done. More problems to solve, more people to help. And if you get into a field because you want to solve problems and help people, the endless supply of opportunities to solve problems and help people can make it hard to stop. When you can’t pull yourself away, it feels like you’re “always on,” which can be mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting.
Too little work isn’t conducive to well-being, but neither is too much. Too much work can make us miserable. There’s an optimal stopping point of working, and it isn’t the point of near collapse.
One problem with working too much—even if we love our job—is that work can crowd out other important things in life. If we put all our time and energy into our purpose-driven work—our “worthy cause”—we can’t put that time and energy into other aspects of life, like relationships, hobbies, and rest. This leads to work-life imbalance, which according to the Mayo Clinic, can lead to burnout.
Problems with the system
While there are ways we can help prevent and fight burnout ourselves, burnout is not just an individual problem and, thus, it cannot be entirely up to us as individuals to fight it.
Burnout is also a structural issue. It can stem from toxic workplace cultures, our society’s obsession with “workism,” and the idea that if you’re really committed to a cause, you need to go “all in.”
This can be especially true for purpose-driven work, where martyrdom and self-sacrifice are often glorified. But this self-sacrifice can be taken advantage of. When organizations expect the job to be a “reward in itself,” that can serve as an excuse to exploit their workers’ passion. It can lead to excessive or unreasonable demands, poor treatment, and insufficient support. And that’s not good for anyone.
Burnout in purpose-driven professions can be further exacerbated by what Fobazi Ettarh termed “vocational awe,” which refers to the set of ideas, values, and assumptions that members of the profession have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that the institutions are “inherently good and sacred, and therefore beyond critique.”
As Ettarh argues, vocational awe is “easily weaponized against the worker, allowing anyone to deploy a vocational purity test in which the worker can be accused of not being devout or passionate enough to serve without complaint.”
3 tips for avoiding burnout in purpose-driven careers
While purpose-driven industries have higher risks for burnout, it’s not inevitable. Here are three tips for avoiding burnout in purpose-driven careers:
1. Look into what you’re getting into
Some problems are widespread in given professions, and some problems are specific to particular organizations. It can help to talk with people in the specific organization you’re interested in as well as people who are in the profession but outside of the organization. What is their work experience like? Do they feel supported? Are they able to find a work-life balance?
If possible, try to talk with people who used to work in the profession or organization but got out. What was their experience like? Why did they leave?
2. Avoid workplace cultures that promote toxic martyrdom
Working in a helping profession or other purpose-driven workplace does not mean you need to put up with being taken advantage of. You still deserve to be compensated fairly, given clear job expectations and sufficient support, and treated with dignity and respect.
Be wary of organizations that valorize martyrdom. It’s not a sustainable strategy for anyone.
3. Establish boundaries early on
Even if you find an organization with healthy workplace culture and you love your job, it’s still possible to get burned out if you don’t establish any personal boundaries. It’s important to set boundaries early in your career, especially if you have a purpose-driven job. Everyone needs time to unplug, rest, build relationships, play, engage in hobbies, and pursue meaning and purpose outside of work.
Before you put your whole self into your work, ask yourself, What will be left of me outside of work?
