Talk Burnout

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My personal blog where I discuss topics related to mental health in the workplace.

All You Need to Know About Cynicism

The World Health Organization recently updated their definition of burnout to consist of three components. In this 3-part series, I am going to do a deep dive into each component to teach you all you need to know about burnout!

The second component of burnout is "feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job". I'm sure we've all dealt with people that are cynical or sarcastic at work. Dealing with them can be a real drain on your energy! Even if you're not cynical yourself, talking to others that are cynical can lead to burnout.

There are many different reasons why people might start feeling cynical. Some of the more common factors include:

  • Feeling like your work is insignificant. We all want to feel like the work we do matters.

  • Being pessimistic. If you're not optimistic about the long term prospects at your job you can start to feel cynical.

  • "Cover your ass" culture. No one likes to feel constantly questioned and to feel the need to document everything you do to cover yourself.

How can you overcome cynicism?

  • Remember why you do what you do. At my earlier job in healthcare IT, we would regularly talk about how our work benefited patients. This helped motivate us by giving us a reason to come to work every day.

  • Appreciate your coworkers. Yes, we're all here to do a job, but showing appreciation for your coworkers can help build trust and keep things positive. If you enjoy being around the people you work with you are much less likely to become cynical.

  • Limit interactions with "energy vampires". If you spend most of your time around people that drain your energy, then over time you will naturally become more cynical. The next time a coworker starts a venting session, see if you can get out of it by politely excusing yourself back to your desk or telling your coworker that you need to finish up an urgent project.

You may think being cynical is normal, but that doesn't have to be the case. Here are some of my favorite books about happiness at work:

Is there anything else you want to know about cynicism? Do you think I missed something? Feel free to email me and let me know.

Kevin Joseph