How Does Mental Health Affect Work Performance?
Most people are finally acknowledging that mental health is inextricably linked to every facet of our lives, and work is certainly no exception. The quality and state of one’s mental health can have a direct effect on work performance, both in positive and negative ways. Below, I will go over some of the ways in which mental health can affect work performance, including a whole section on stress and burnout, as well as suggestions for how to improve work performance and find support when necessary.
What Are Some Ways Mental Health Can Affect Work Performance?
Let’s start with the positive, which is that good mental health can enhance work performance. Those who are attending to their mental health needs tend to be more engaged, satisfied with their jobs, creative thinkers and problem solvers, collaborative, better communicators, and more resilient. Conversely, poor mental health can have detrimental effects on work performance, especially in the following areas:
Attendance and punctuality: One area that is often the first to be noticed by others at work is attendance and punctuality. People with poor mental health are more likely to be absent from work, whether it’s from taking sick days or missing meetings. It is also common for people to show up late for work or to meetings, leave early, or struggle to meet deadlines and deliverables.
Decision making and problem solving: Another area that can be negatively impacted is one’s decision making and problem solving abilities. When people are struggling with their mental health, most or all of their cognitive resources and energy is going towards this, making it much harder to think clearly and decisively or impairing judgment.
Attention and concentration: Many people will also find their attention and concentration is worse, making it difficult to focus or leaving them more prone to distractibility. This increases the likelihood of mistakes or oversights, and can therefore affect the quality of their work.
Productivity and efficiency: Similarly, productivity and efficiency tends to diminish, which is in part due to poor time management, goal-setting, organization, or other difficulties resulting from executive function impairment. Low motivation and energy can prevent people from starting or completing tasks, and fatigue can lead to slower work and more errors.
Relationships and communication: People tend to struggle interpersonally, often causing communication breakdown or social withdrawal. For those who have trouble regulating their emotions, irritability or impatience may increase the risk of misunderstandings, conflict, or reduced collaboration with others.
Stress and Burnout at Work
While all of the challenges above can cause stress and burnout, stress and burnout can also exacerbate problems in these areas, creating a bidirectional, or cause-and-effect relationship. Since these tend to be “red flags,” or indicators that someone is stressed or burned out, they can be used to gauge someone’s mental health status and prompt intervention, if necessary.
Recognizing signs of stress or burnout in yourself is often the most effective way to address them, and while there can be overlap between these two conditions, there are some important distinctions. Stress is generally considered a temporary response to a problem, pressure, or perceived threat, whereas burnout is a prolonged state of physical and emotional exhaustion that is usually caused by excessive stress. In other words, letting stress worsen or go unresolved over time highly increases the chances it will lead to burnout.
Work stress and burnout can be triggered by a variety of factors, including long hours, unreasonable work demands, inflexible deadlines, lack of support or inadequate resources for the job, poor relationships with coworkers, job instability or organizational changes, lack of control or agency over one’s work, insufficient training or clarity on responsibilities, and bullying, harassment, or workplace conflict. Outside the workplace, personal life stressors such as financial worries, bereavement, or health concerns, can also amplify work-related stress.
When the exhaustion from burnout or demands of a person’s job exceed their ability to cope or recover, health may deteriorate and work performance declines. While a manager or Human Resources professional may be able to address the workplace issues, they are often not equipped to support employees undergoing mental health challenges. In these instances, working with a mental health professional such as a therapist is recommended.
What Are Some Ways to Improve Work Performance?
Let’s start with the obvious: your work performance is unlikely to improve unless you address the underlying mental health challenges. However this might not be possible for everyone, especially initially, as mental health is complex and finding appropriate support can take time. Here are some smaller, more manageable steps you can take at least temporarily to try to improve work performance.
Set aside time daily for self-care; even 5 or 10 minutes a day can have a positive impact on your mental health. This does not need to be time consuming or expensive, for example spending a few minutes outside to feel the sun on your face or eating a nourishing meal both count.
Ask for support from your manager or coworkers. You don’t necessarily need to tell them you are struggling with your mental health if you don’t feel comfortable. For example, you can explain that you do not feel you have the resources you need to succeed in your role and you’d like to brainstorm ways to get more support so that you can do your job more effectively.
Improve your time management. There are various tools and technologies that can assist with this, such as Notion, schedules and planners, and alarms or reminders on your phone. Take an inventory of how you are currently spending your time and make adjustments to save time where you can, such as eliminating unnecessary meetings or bundling similar tasks together so you do not need to task-switch as often.
Set boundaries around your work. If you are currently expected to work excessive hours or be available 24/7, you may need to have a conversation with your manager about what is reasonable and communicate what changes you plan to make in order to protect your time going forward. For example, you might decide that you will not open your computer after 6pm every night or will not check work email over the weekend.
Have a life outside of work. It can be counterintuitive, but spending all our time and focus on work can actually hinder productivity, as it is more likely to lead to burnout. When you spend time engaged in other activities you enjoy and that make you feel good, this generates more balance and energy that enables you to perform your best in the workplace.
What is the Best Therapy for Work Stress and Burnout?
If you do decide to seek professional help, there are a few types of therapy that are better suited for work stress and burnout:
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT can be very effective by increasing awareness of distorted thought patterns or unhelpful behaviors and providing concrete strategies to change these. Some techniques used for this are behavioral activation, cognitive restructuring, and thought/behavioral experiments or exposures.
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): ACT works by helping you accept your feelings and experiences and change your relationship to them through increased cognitive flexibility. It can also help you clarify your life values and begin to take meaningful actions toward those values.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR): MBSR teaches you how to stay present by observing difficult thoughts or emotions nonjudgmentally. MBSR also promotes nervous system regulation and relaxation through deep breathing, meditation, and bodily awareness.
Interpersonal therapy (IPT): IPT is especially helpful for those experiencing interpersonal issues at work. It can teach you skills to improve communication and resolve conflict between yourself and another employee, as well as mediate disagreements between other employees.
Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT): SFBT is best for shorter term, less complex issues that need immediate problem solving. Rather than exploring the past, SFBT focuses on helping you find solutions to present concerns and set goals for the future.
No matter what type of therapy you get, try to ensure it is evidence-based as these approaches are shown by research to be effective. Asking for support with your mental health is a sign of strength and a big step toward improving your work performance. In addition to helping you develop coping strategies, navigate conflict or interpersonal issues, regulate your emotions, and restore work/life balance, therapy can also help you determine if this job or role is a good fit for you, what else might be better suited for you long-term, and use problem solving or goal-setting to develop a plan for moving forward in whatever direction you decide.