The Epidemic Of Rusting Out: How Do We Deal With It?

Rust out is quickly becoming a big concern for any manager because it is rapidly turning into a workplace epidemic. It starts when a professional becomes dissatisfied with their job, which harms their performance. This happens because they become disengaged and stop caring about their job.

Knowing how detrimental it can be, it is better to get ahead of this epidemic’s peak and start dealing with it right now. But before that, we need to understand what causes rusting out.

What causes rust out?

Lack of challenge

Taking on challenging tasks is what keeps things interesting. Without it, work turns into routine. Having the same tasks every day can become a reason for a professional’s boredom. And bored teams are ineffective teams.

Task overload

As much as the lack of challenge can influence teams’ attitudes, being overloaded with tasks can also harm their mental health. The more tasks a team sees in its backlog, the more likely they are to experience fatigue and then rust or burnout.

Meeting fatigue

We first started hearing about Zoom fatigue during the pandemic. Today, professionals spend about a third of their work time in meetings, which can be especially tough on introverts. The result of this abundance of communication? Rusted out teams that get more annoyed when they see another call invitation in their inbox.

No connection with teammates

The remote mode was the reason not only behind the Zoom fatigue, but also behind teammates not being able to connect. Without frequently attending an office and talking face to face, turning a colleague into a workplace buddy is tough. This lack of connection can easily turn into irritation — another sign of rusting out.

There are steps that both teams and their managers can take to either deal with rust out or even prevent it altogether.

What are the best steps to deal with rusting out?

Reassessing current goals

If one of the main reasons for rusting out is task overload, then the task board needs to be reassembled and re-prioritized. There are three important questions a professional needs to ask when reassessing their goals:

1. What are the company’s goals?

2. What are my own professional goals?

3. What is the least important task at the moment?

4. Is it urgent?

5. Is it important?

   
   

Is this an easy task in itself? No.

Will this be an immense help for professionals in the long run? Certainly.

Mastering the art of reassessing my goals and tasks taught me how to delegate properly and expand my team with the right professionals. Now, I know I can rely on people around me to make sure I do not rust or burn out.

Being honest

Honesty is among the SupportYourApp values. My team and I added it to the list because we knew — without it as the foundation of our communication, we wouldn’t be able to build anything else.

Being able to honestly talk to one’s manager and colleagues, tell them about job-related or even personal worries, and communicate one’s concerns to them is an indispensable thing when it comes to preventing rusting out. It is also a cornerstone of building team communication.

Taking on challenging tasks

Even though not everyone will agree with me, I’ll say it anyway — taking on challenges is good. Whenever I have a difficult or massive task ahead of me, I feel anxiety and excitement at the same time. Mostly because it means I will be able to face new challenges, learn something new, and resolve some issues I would never have the opportunity to tackle otherwise.

A brain that constantly learns something new, like a mechanism, doesn’t even have the opportunity to start rusting out.

Connecting with the team

Annoyance with one’s team is a direct result of not being able to personally communicate and connect with it. It also plays into the feeling of isolation and detachment that has a big role in the level of professional engagement and job satisfaction.

Taking part in team-building activities, joining regular syncs, and networking will help form personal connections. There is no special secret here. If a professional lacks communication, they should communicate. It is as easy as that.

Recharging whenever possible

Taking breaks has been proven to boost productivity and reduce the level of work-related stress. It can also play a big role in preventing rust out because it allows our brain to switch between various activities and remain flexible enough to take on challenging tasks and complete them.

Can rust out become the number one enemy of the modern workplace? Not if we learn to deal with it here and now.