We are officially halfway through summer. And while summer is a time for fun and sun it is also a natural inflection point for taking stock of the year’s progress. And many workers are feeling midyear burnout.
As author Cal Newport explains, burnout happens when we have too much administrative overhead and unnecessary work. The realization that you are always toiling, but not making real progress is the psychological core of burnout. Midyear burnout is that same sensation on a larger scale. You realize you have worked so hard throughout the year, but haven’t made the progress you would like.
Eight in 10 employees report feeling at risk of burnout, according to a 2024 Global Talent Trends report from HR consulting firm Mercer. However, only about a third of executives reported that initiatives to reduce stress-related illnesses and burnout would impact their businesses.
As a business owner, I’m mindful that this time of year can be acutely stressful for employees. Here are some strategies we use to help employees avoid burnout throughout the dog days of summer.
Combat summer FOMO
When social media is flooded with turquoise waters captioned “OOO” (out of office), summertime FOMO (fear of missing out) can be a bitter pill for employees at the office. Research shows that FOMO can decrease how we value our one’s current circumstances. In other words, after seeing photos of friends snorkeling off an island in Thailand, you are less excited about our jobs, and certainly enthused to prepare a monthly report for your boss.
Leaders can combat the effects of summertime FOMO by shoring up work-life boundaries and signaling to employees that they can and should take time for themselves. Communication about work expectations and personal time is key.
At my organization, employees know they’re not expected to be “on-call” after hours except for emergencies. We encourage employees to disconnect when they leave the office to fully take advantage of longer days and more opportunities for socializing.
Some companies offer increased flexibility when it comes to working remotely. Other companies roll out Summer Fridays. For instance, at Jellyfish, an engineering management platform, employees have free time from 2 p.m. every Friday from June to August. As the company explained, offering employees those extra few hours improves psychological safety and supports workers who struggle to take breaks.
These practices can help employees enjoy their work, even while others are OOO, and avoid the negative effects of FOMO.
Automate busywork
Poet David Whyte once said that the antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest. The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness.
This harkens back to Newport’s idea that we feel burned out because we’re dedicating too much time to surface-level tasks, or “busywork,” and not enough to the big stuff. But if we can find ways to approach tasks more wholeheartedly—completely immersed and engaged—we’ll feel less burned out.
The fastest way to free up space for meaningful work is to automate your busywork—the repetitive, low-value tasks that clog up your days. This requires auditing your workdays, mapping out your workflows, and identifying tasks that can be handled by an automated tool.
Try to think of your busywork in buckets, such as social media, meetings, financial tasks, and communication. To automate your meetings, you could use AI-based speech recognition to take notes and create digital transcripts. You can automatically save and share those notes in a Google Doc. You could use an automated calendar app to confirm meeting times and send links to join meetings.
We’re fortunate to have so many free and low-cost tools at our fingertips for automating nearly any tedious, manual task. By recapturing time and mental space, we can approach the work that makes us tick more wholeheartedly.
Check in with employees
Too much busywork and too little rest is an obvious culprit for burnout. But as it turns out, insidious factors may also be weighing on your employees. The aforementioned Mercer trends report found that one out of every five employees at risk of burnout attributed it to a misalignment between their values and their employer.
Today, employees want to work for companies that care about the same things they do. For example, many employees expect their employer to pursue a sustainability agenda.
But broad company- and industry-spanning research has limited applicability. The key is understanding the values of your employees and how to better align with them. It starts with hiring. Potential hires should understand your company’s mission and values before coming on board. Leaders can continue the dialogue with targeted surveys and implement an open-door policy for discussing issues that matter to employees.
Another survey by Qualtrics found that 49% of employees consider it important for leaders to speak out on social, political, and environmental issues. Many want their companies to go beyond making a public statement and take action. So start with understanding your employees’ values. Then, determine an authentic plan of action for showing your commitment to them. This can keep engagement high during inevitable lulls throughout the year.
Ease transitions to and from vacation
For employees who vacation during the summer, you might expect them to return to the office ready to hit the ground running. But many workers report returning and still feeling burned out.
It makes sense. Vacation may be a temporary balm, but the extra work required to prepare plus the anticipated onslaught of catch-up emails and tasks can be overwhelming.
In addition to encouraging employees to automate tasks while they’re away (for example, setting up email filters, automating social media posts, etc.), leaders can promote strategies for easing in and out of vacation time. For example, experts recommend outlining a game plan before returning to the office. Make a list of the tasks that need your attention, in order of priority. Decide if there’s anything you can delegate. Also, be mindful of your well-being. For me, that means focusing on my sleep hygiene, eating healthy, and exercising. When I’m at the office, I check in with myself regularly, try to note when I’m stressed, and remind myself to take deep breaths throughout the day.
Self-care doesn’t stop when the vacation ends.
Having bootstrapped my company from 1 to 660 employees, I can attest that building a sense of community feels effortless when your company is small. As you grow, it becomes a challenge. Left unchecked, communication, productivity, and momentum suffer.
Regardless of your company size, it’s essential to continue fostering a unified sense of community—that’s what makes employees feel excited to come to work each day and produce the best work possible.
Hopefully, implementing these strategies can help transform your workplace into a dynamic environment where employees feel essential to the bigger picture. By tackling midyear burnout head-on, you’ll not only sustain motivation and productivity but also keep your team engaged all year long.
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