If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last two-plus years dealing with a global pandemic, it’s the importance of mental health, and maintaining a good balance between work and home life. May was mental health awareness month, and there was no shortage of articles published that discussed the varying degrees of mental health, and how it relates to the number of people who have quit their jobs over the past two years.
The Mayo Clinic describes job burnout as a special type of work-related stress—a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity. While not an official medical diagnosis, there are some experts who think depression and other conditions can be behind burnout.
The Mayo Clinic goes on to share the following factors that can contribute to job burnout:
- You have a heavy workload and work long hours
- You struggle with work-life balance
- You work in a helping profession, such as health care
- You feel you have little or no control over your work
The reason I mention all of this is because I saw a few articles come across my desk on the topic of burnout in architecture. Architect magazine had an article recently titled, “The Burnout Problem in Architecture.” Architects Bob Borson and Andrew Hawkins discussed burnout in a recent episode of their Life of an Architect podcast. A quick Google search popped up many more articles on the topic of architects and burnout, such as Monograph, a project management software company built for architects by architects, which published a blog post on the state of burnout in architecture (2021). In it, they share the results of their survey of 225 architects meant to better understand the current state of burnout in architecture.
In all of the articles I came across, the common theme is that while the pandemic didn’t cause the burnout many in the architecture profession have felt and are currently feeling, it certainly exasperated it, creating a tipping point. However, the topic is definitely not a new once. Archinect had an online article in July 2019 titled, “Burnout, and the Architecture Work Culture.” Architizer has a blog post called, “Understanding Burnout in Architecture School and the Profession,” in which the author, architect Mike LaValley, discusses his own case of burnout.
There’s also advice online about how to handle burnout. For instance, in February of this year, Archinect published an article called, “As burnout soars during the pandemic, one expert offers advice.” And the blog, Architect Two Cents, has an article discussing “9 Ways for Architects to Overcome Burnout.”
All in all, architects (like so many of us) are overworked, working long hours, trying to juggle the demands of both home and work. Understanding burnout and its symptoms is important. Knowing what to do next is harder. Before burnout becomes worse, take the steps needed to slow down and even stop running in circles. Take some time off. Limit the number of hours a week you work. Spend more time at home and with family and friends. Do what you need to do for yourself. Your mental health is important and ignoring the issues doesn’t help anyone. Personally or professionally.
