DUCK. DUCK. QUACKERS.

I love the metaphor of a duck. Calmly cruising along and bobbing for bites to eat with its legs paddling nineteen-to-the-dozen while cruising from place to place across the water.

We all feel a bit like that duck sometimes. Left, right, left right. Work, life, work life. Hammering away, half-underwater, trying to keep the duck afloat. And it’s a lot.

The challenge of ‘always on’ is that it’s harder than ever to switch off. So we don’t. And the faster we swim, the stronger the current. Like the frog in the pot getting hotter.

ONE IN FOUR DUCKS ARE BURNING OUT

According to McKinsey, around one in four professionals experience burnout. Ask Deloitte and it’s more like 75%. It all depends who you ask and what you ask them. But either way, it’s growing.

So what is burnout? The World Health Organisation defines it as a syndrome resulting from chronic work-related stress. It results in feelings of energy depletion and exhaustion. You feel knackered. But the more insidious symptoms are increased mental distance from your job and feelings of negativity or cynicism. It all adds up to us not being great at what we do.

And we feel it. Some catch it early and call a time out. Some throw in the towel or jump the fence to something new. And others don’t see it coming. We 'push on' and 'soldier through'. The adrenaline drives us, the cortisol builds and we don’t see the wall before we hit it. That was me.

IT’S NOT BECAUSE WE DON’T CARE

Going back to McKinsey’s research, perhaps the biggest challenge is that we recognise burnout and we’re trying to fix it. But it's not working. While more than 30% of professionals report moderate distress, around three quarters of HR decision makers have made mental health a top priority.

But are we treating the symptoms and missing the cause? Are we handing out Panadol to people with hangovers and sending them back for a drink at the pub?

IT’S NOT WHAT WE DO, IT’S HOW WE DO IT

Professional work has always had stress in it. That’s how we make stuff happen. ‘Pressure makes diamonds’ is a geological fact and a motivational truism. And we can’t all block our diaries and yoga through lunch while waving the flag of work/life balance.

Good thing is, we don’t need to. It’s not the amount of work that causes the biggest problem. It’s the way we work together to get it done. When it comes to overall wellbeing, how we work has almost three times more impact than how much we have on our plates.

It’s the confusion that’s killing us. Lack of role clarity. Lack of clear communication. Lack of actual or perceived support from our managers. But let’s not blame those managers, because everyone’s sailing in a similar burnout boat, so they’ve got little left to give and the problem is contagious.

SO HOW DO WE CHANGE THE STORY?

The answers are actually simple. We know what people need to thrive at work. It's just three things. We need to feel like we’re part of something, feel like we’re getting somewhere and feel like what we’re doing actually matters. Without these senses of purpose, achievement and belonging, we can quickly feel like rats turning wheels in the lab.

So how do we boost them? Little things make a big difference. It easy to give someone a sense of achievement with genuine appreciation. Noticing when they do stuff. Taking the time for a simple thank you is a tonic for both sides.

We can build a sense of purpose by cutting through the noise of busy-ness and making the big picture clear. This delivers double-duty. Because people who know why they’re doing what they do get a buzz from the autonomy of how they do it.

And we can build a sense of belonging just by stopping to chat. Having open and honest conversations, actively listening and genuinely connecting as humans. A problem shared is a problem halved… until your phone goes buzz.

IT'S NOT YOU, OR ME, IT’S EVERYONE

In a world that’s recovering from Long Covid where change is the new normal, workplace stress is the cost of doing business. It's a tricky time for everyone. And the mental health tips and yoga are all helpful. But the real answer is in building better boundaries and being better humans.

Nobody can do everything and no one ever expects us to. But it’s easy to feel like they do. And that’s where the problem starts. The biggest workplace stress in any team is the fear of letting other people down. So we kill ourselves to avoid it. Until we can’t... and then we do.

It’s ridiculous when you think about it. But also totally human. Or is it duck? Left, right, work, life, hammering away under water. But you can really help the duck by making the time to chat. Does she know where she’s heading? Does she know why it matters? And does she have Duck friends to share the load on the way?

The best thing about being human is that we’re human. And the best way to recharge human batteries to spend quality time with other humans, just like us. And I reckon that's the best way to stop the ducks from going quackers.