{"id":70608,"date":"2022-10-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-23T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/?p=70608"},"modified":"2022-10-24T22:58:54","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T02:58:54","slug":"it-admin-burnout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/blog\/it-admin-burnout","title":{"rendered":"Preventing Burnout: A Peek Into the Darker Side of IT Admin Roles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Note: this article is a prelude to our upcoming webinar Mental Health for IT Admins: Helping the Helpdesk<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>Join Rick Ginsberb, psychologist, and Ricky Jordan, senior technology manager of Primitiveskate, on November 3rd at 12:00 p.m. EST for tips for how to reduce stress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was my first job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was 22 years old, and my life looked nothing like a Taylor Swift song<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My \u201cdream job\u201d had slowly turned into a Groundhog Day nightmare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The prestige of having a downtown parking permit, eating lunch at the state capital, and making media lists at a public relations agency had worn off faster than the heels of my bargain, leather boots. The inconvenient reality: I was approaching burnout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Abruptly switching from the rigors of academia to the monumental<\/em> responsibility of making coffee proved jarring. Feelings of restlessness, boredom, and despondency began to brew. Sadly, I feared bringing up these feelings with my employer. \u201cWhat if they say I\u2019m ungrateful for this opportunity I had enthusiastically rallied for?\u201d I thought. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to a 2022 Microsoft survey<\/a>, my experience wasn\u2019t unique. The survey revealed 48% of employees and 53% of managers report feeling burnt out at work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this article, I\u2019ll share some information I wish I would have received in my early career. I\u2019ll also share some specific tips for IT admins seeking better work-life balance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Mayo Clinic <\/a>defines job burnout<\/em> as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A special type of work-related stress \u2014 a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to emphasize that burnout isn\u2019t a medical diagnosis. However, experts agree that factors like depression, personality traits, living environments, and long hours can contribute to its onset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With that said, Microsoft identified two types of burnout: the first type involves disengagement<\/strong> from one\u2019s job (like in my story) and the second type describes chronic depletion<\/strong> impacting all areas of one\u2019s life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Health insurance provider Cigna says<\/a> major job stress can result from \u201chaving too much work, not enough work, or doing work that doesn\u2019t satisfy you.\u201d Whatever the cause, establishing good mental health habits is crucial for long term well being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to a 2021 CIO Insights Report<\/a>, 77% of IT admins described their jobs as stressful. Our friend Jake, an enterprise linux systems administrator, certainly did at one time. In this article for RedHat,<\/a> he describes his experience of pushing himself too hard:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI really didn’t notice it taking a toll on me at the time but, looking back, I started showing symptoms of burnout fairly early,\u201d Jake says. \u201cHowever, it was easy to push aside with the excitement of moving to new roles with increasing responsibility and continuing my aggressive pursuit of learning. Before I knew it, several years had passed and I was officially burnt out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jake says one of his earliest signs of burnout was a decreased interest in technology. At the onset of his career as a sysadmin Jake loved tinkering in his home lab to experiment with new products, reading new documents, and applying newfound knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, no job is without its occasional stressful moments. Different roles produce various types of pressure, challenges, and circumstances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Admins, in particular, may struggle with:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Be on the lookout for these common early signs of trouble and adjust accordingly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s look at some things admins can do to support their mental health and prevent burnout: <\/p>\n\n\n\n This one may take some practice and a hefty dose of courage to execute. But one of the quickest ways to improve one\u2019s mental health is to relieve yourself from the pressure of masking<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Masking<\/strong> is the psychological term for concealing real-time emotions by portraying more socially acceptable ones. Understandably, it sometimes feels easier to act like everything is fine when it isn\u2019t. But masking over a long period eventually becomes downright exhausting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As Dr Margie Warrell, Forbes columnist, says<\/a>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a culture that celebrates positivity, the overgeneralization of \u2018think positive\u2019 to all situations can be harmful as it denies the full human experience\u2026 To downplay, deny or dismiss those not-so-good feeling emotions denies the full human experience.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Does that mean you should hold a therapy session with everyone you come across? No, but giving yourself permission to say you\u2019re having a stressful moment can take a huge load off your shoulders. It also makes you appear more relatable to your colleagues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Based on our daily conversations with admins, most of them seem to switch back and forth between a minimum of six different solutions a day. Constantly navigating between several tools in a short amount of time \u2013 MDM, RDM, IAM, password management, etc.\u2014 can quickly create mental fatigue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to a 2021 Cornell University report<\/a>, individuals take 9.5 minutes on average to resume a productive workflow after switching between digital apps. Todd Waits of the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute<\/a> borrows the computing term \u201ccontext switching\u201d to describe this inconvenient reality: <\/p>\n\n\n\n From a human workforce perspective, context switching is the process of stopping work in one project and picking it back up after performing a different task on a different project. Just like computing systems, human team members often incur overhead when context switching between multiple projects.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Beyond simple task batching, IT admins can make things easier on themselves by consolidating their toolkits whenever possible. The JumpCloud Directory Platform consolidates several of the tools admins depend on behind a single pane of glass. Jumpcloud is an elegant IAM, MDM, and SSO all-in-one solution<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re looking for a 100% cloud-based platform to quickly provision\/deprovision users, control data and application access, monitor activity for compliance, and more, we invite you to sign-up for a free trial today<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At this point, we\u2019ve all heard of mindfulness. Though it may sound like an overly simplistic solution for managing stress, the practice is extremely powerful once mastered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mindfulness<\/strong> is the ability to maintain moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environments \u2014 without judgment or resistance. That last part is the crucial aspect of mindfulness most people and online articles miss. As the saying goes, \u201cWhat we resist persists.\u201d Research shows<\/a> most people spend 47% of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they are doing. Having several tabs open in your mind\u2019s browser just creates a lot of unnecessary stress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The solution is to approach each task with your full attention. You can notice any conflicting thoughts that arise and tag them before refocusing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Examples of thought tagging categories include past thought, future thought, fear thought, dialogue, <\/em>and image. <\/em>Over time, this gives your mind the message that you are in control and these thoughts are of little importance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, consider scheduling a brief awareness break during your day. Here\u2019s an example of what that may look like: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you eat lunch at your desk everyday? If so, you\u2019re definitely not alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of us enjoy eating leftovers while watching our favorite YouTube channel for rest and relaxation. But the temptation to answer a quick question or complete a \u201cquick task\u201d that comes in is often too great to ignore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, try completely unplugging and moving to a separate location for lunch. Whether that be outside on a bench, in another room of your house, or a coffee shop. During this time, put your phone away and on silent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to nourishing your body, lunch is a great time to catch up with colleagues and friends. Completely unplugging for at least 30 minutes will likely provide a significant boost in energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Admins are accustomed to helping others before helping themselves. The very nature of the job is to support others in their <\/em>moments of stress. But that should never come at the expense of your personal well being. The reality is more organizational leaders need to initiate conversations about mental health and set positive examples.Are you looking to connect with other IT admins? Join us November 3, 2022 for our upcoming webinar Mental Health for IT Admins: Helping the Helpdesk<\/a>.<\/em> Psychologist Rick Ginsberb and Technology Manager Ricky Jordan will be sharing more practical habits for peace of mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The nature of an IT admin\u2019s job is to support others in moments of stress. But that should never come at the expense of personal well being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":70612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2781],"tags":[],"collection":[2776],"platform":[],"funnel_stage":[3016],"coauthors":[2640],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\n\n\nWhat Is Burnout? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What Does Burnout Look Like for IT Admins?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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4 Tips for Improving Mental Health<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Stop Masking Your Emotions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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2. Reduce Tool Sprawl<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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3. Practice Mindfulness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Your mindfulness break can be as short as 5 minutes or as long as you desire. The more often you connect with your body, and detach from your thoughts, the more relaxed you will feel throughout the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n4. Unplug During Lunch<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Prioritize Your Mental Health \u2014 You Deserve It<\/h2>\n\n\n\n