For most of my 20’s, I had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t right at work.

At the time, I couldn’t figure out what that feeling was.

But looking back, it all seems rather obvious. I chose my work ahead of my wellbeing, I prioritised my boss over myself and I put my job ahead of my life.

Work had such a stranglehold that it took a mental breakdown in the form of burnout to wake me up to this. 

That experience was about as much fun as a root canal.

But it did have one big upside. Nowadays, I can spot the warning signs as soon as they go from green to amber. Whereas back in the day, the warning signs went from green to amber to red and even when the fire was raging, I still couldn’t see what was going on.

Being a bit grumpy didn’t seem like a big deal. 

When the grumpiness turned to anger, the anger to bitterness, and the bitterness started changing my personality, none of that seemed like a big deal either.

Even when I was lying in bed at 3am with my head spinning, it didn’t seem off. If anything, I was telling myself “great job Tom, you’re really putting in a shift at the moment”.

So it just looked like a phase. Like work was rather stressful and a bit full on.

But it didn’t look like I was burning myself to the ground.

It’s the proverbial frog in boiling water effect. If you put a frog in a pan of boiling water it will hop straight back out. But if you put a frog in a pan of cold water and slowly turn up the heat, the frog will boil to death. 

I know this might sound gloomy. 

But it doesn't have to be. Not if you learn to spot the signs.

If you have a sneaky suspicion that the temperature might be rising, here’s a short temperature check you can take right now.

Just rank where you are on a scale of 1 to 10, then add up your scores.

Here goes:

*** You sometimes feel flat on a Sunday evening (1) vs you dread going to work every day (10)

*** You occasionally moan about your job (1) vs you're utterly cynical about your work and everyone you work with (10)

*** You notice you have less energy some days (1) vs you’re emotionally drained at the end of every single day and when you start work again on a Monday, it feels like you haven't had a weekend (10)

*** From time to time, you find yourself choosing work over your hobbies (1) vs you’ve abandoned all the activities you used to enjoy (10)

*** You’re drinking more coffee than you used to (1) vs you rely on caffeine to get through your day (10)

*** You’ve become a bit snappier (1) vs you regularly take your frustration out on your family, friends and colleagues (10)

*** You're leaning on the gym, food or alcohol more than you used to (1) vs you can't get through the week without them (10)

*** Work plays on your mind now and then (1) vs you find it impossible to fall asleep or stay asleep) because of work (10)

*** You sometimes wonder if your efforts are being noticed (1) vs no matter how hard you work, it's never enough (10)

*** You seem to be picking up more bugs than usual (1) vs your body is always fighting some sort of illness (10)

*** You sometimes daydream about a different job (1) vs you feel like you’re trapped in your job with no way out (10)

Take a note of your score.

Then answer the questions again in a couple of weeks and see if your score has gone up, down or has stayed the same.

If your score is creeping up, now’s the time to turn down the heat before it boils over.

That would be my advice anyway. Take it or leave it as you see fit.

If you relate to any parts of this and you’d like to get ahead of it, I can help. In fact, helping other people turn their temperature down is a huge part of why I got into coaching in the first place.

More details on my 1 on 1 coaching here:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com 

To fulfilment, 

Tom