“Burnout” describes a state of complete physical and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged periods of stress, over-working, or physically and emotionally demanding responsibilities.
One of the more difficult things about burnout, is that it’s often hard to identify burnout before it’s too late, and has already had a significant effect on your wellbeing.
The top 3 causes of burnout according to the BITC, Mental Health at Work 2019, were:
- pressure (e.g. too many priorities or targets)
- workload (e.g. working overtime or not taking leave)
- and a lack of support
Spotting the Signs
Some common signs of burnout include:
- lack of interest in hobbies and activities
- exhaustion
- increased anxiety
- insomnia or hypersomnia
- feeling hopeless
- feeling alone
- feeling detached
- ‘escapist’ behaviours
It’s important to remember that whilst these are the more prominent signs of burnout, everyone’s experience is unique and personal to them – your signs might be different. By becoming more attuned to your warning signs of burnout, you’re more likely to be able to recognise it (in yourself or others) before it causes more damage.
What can we do?
Make time for non-work related activities: Often, it’s easy to let your whole life revolve around work. It’s important to find time to step away completely, and do things that bring you joy.
Spot your signs: Become attuned to your own warning signs. Consider sharing these with trusted colleagues or friends, so that you can have each other’s backs.
Ask for help: A task that doesn’t always come naturally to us, but a vital one for those experiencing burnout. Try to avoid people pleasing behaviours and perfectionism, which can both contribute to burnout. Learn to be able to say ‘no’, when you need to. It’s ok to need help, and it’s ok to ask for help.
Advocate for others: If you see someone showing signs of burnout, don’t assume that they’ll “handle it” or “get over it”. Try talking to your peers, signposting to support and helping them find help.
Burnout in the Games Industry
Whilst burnout can occur in any profession or industry, it has a high prevalence in the games industry specifically. Following our Mental Health Summit with BAFTA in 2023, over 80% of games industry professionals in attendance reported current or previous experience with burning out.
The games industry is full of passion and care, which can foster incredible workplaces, but is also a tough environment of expectations, deadlines and a sense of guilt-bound duty. We cannot urge the leaders in this space enough to practice responsible care and support for their employees.
Particularly important for remote working, making time for non-work activities can be crucial to maintaining more balance with work. Work days are supposed to have breaks! Build in ‘watercooler’ chats to online meetings or arrange appropriate social time for teams outside of work.
Creating processes that address overtime, being ‘on call’, working unsociable hours and taking leave are a great start to more sustainable workplace standards for our teams. From our experience, this must come from the top-down, with these values embodied at all levels of hierarchy within games companies.
Want to learn more about how you can support your employees? Join our Level Up Programme for free.
Resources
‘Prioritising wellbeing and avoiding burnout‘ – Game Dev Champions Master Class from Rosie and Sky
‘Everything you never wanted to know about burnout’ from GI.Biz
‘The effects of burnout’ by Callum Underwood
Goodbye World: Finding a way forward – an interview with the developers