Overcoming Job Burnout: How to Renew Enthusiasm for Work [Paperback]

Ph.D. Beverly A. Potter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2005

Job burnout is something that doesn't simply go away — especially in a chaotic economy. It is a kind of job depression caused by feelings of powerlessness, the loss of control over one's work. The effect can be devastating. The victim dreads going to work. Productivity falls and life becomes increasingly difficult. Burnout is stressful, but it is not caused by stress. Going on a vacation provides relief until the vacation is over and one must return to the job. Overcoming Job Burnout describes how burnout can take hold and how to turn it around. Dr. Potter offers eight proven strategies for increasing personal power and renewing enthusiasm for working. A combination of inspiration and instruction, this updated, revised edition is filled with practical advice, based on the author's years of experience in this field, that readers can implement immediately to renew that sense of engagement and excitement that makes working worthwhile.

Product Details

• Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: Ronin Publishing; 3rd edition (May 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579510744
• ISBN-13: 978-1579510749
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #811,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical Advice, July 14, 2000

By 

Mark (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Overcoming Job Burnout (Paperback)

There are few books on burnout that deal with practical strategies. Many times, we know - at least in part - why we feel burnout. The problem is moving forward, and theoretical analyses of organization structure, etc. are often not that helpful. This book provides detailed strategies for recognizing the factors that lead to burnout and strategies for dealing with burnout. For example, the book indicates that frequent "negative wins" will lead to burnout. We get a "negative win" when we do something in order to avoid something negative. A kid cleaning her room to avoid being yelled at by a parent is an example of a situation with a negative win. An adult cleaning the living room because he wants to relax in a comfortable environment is an example of a situation with a positive win. Potter suggests that we develop ways of providing our own positive wins when we do not get them naturally from the situation. I find these insights valuable in developing my own recognition of situations that can lead me to burnout. I have implemented some of the strategies, and they have helped quite a bit. This is not the perfect book on this subject, but it is a good and useful book - most importantly, it actually does help. I'm very happy that I purchased it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review by Claire Burch of Berkeley, November 7, 2003

By 

Claire Burch (Berkeley, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Overcoming Job Burnout (Paperback)

Dr. Beverly Potter has come up with a self help book that can really help in that it is clear, based on experience, and written for adults with not a tinge of the patronizing tone and cliches that make so many books that try to help far less successful than this one.
All her Stanford training in psychology stands the author in good stead, making this a book that speaks to both head and heart. Our frantic mechanized society today contributes to the deadly dynamic of burnout as described by Dr. Potter, and her methods for avoiding burnout are happily simple and achievable by following her suggestions. Her experience as a writer stands her in good stead and makes reading this book a pleasure.
The author has managed to avoid the pat simplistic directions that taint so many self-help books today. I read it at a moment of personal burnout and found myself embarked on a new voyage of self-discovery as I worked my way through her suggestions. Noteworthy is the refreshingly clean and literate style, so different from the often sentimental advice given in books that try to help our personal crises. This book is marked by a clear intelligence and background of knowledge of our human strengths and frailties. For the weary twentieth century person, bogged down by responsibility and unending chores, the book can be a lifesaver. I recommend it to anyone who, like myself, feels that there are never enough hours in the day to accomplish those goals that we seem to have set ourselves. Dr. Potter's book is refreshingly free of stale ideas. I think the author is an original, and the book should be a best seller - I for one needed it. My hunch is that there are many others like me out there who could benefit from her crisp and inspiring style, as well as engaging content.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good start, November 8, 2002

By 

Stephanie Manley (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Overcoming Job Burnout (Paperback)

Upon reading this book I feel the author is doing her best through examples of others to demonstrate those that have hit burnout. Once its established if you have reached it, or if you are on your way, she moves on to how this can happen, and how much you are empowered to change this. Tips and ideas are given on how to reduce stress and how to help change or tailor your job in a direction that you have the most power. She does not advocate moving on before you have resolved some of the internal issues that have caused your displeasure at your current job. I feel ths examples of how real people in the book overcame their burnout and became happy and sucessful once again.