summer vacation Paula cited in TIME article:

You start making mistakes

“Chronic stress is a well-known cause of workplace errors, and it’s a sign that you may need to take a step back,” says Davis-Laack. Studies show that when doctors and pharmacists are stressed or have a heavy workload, they could be prone to more mistakes—a serious problem in the medical community, since they can be potentially fatal to patients. If you’re in the middle of a project and have been slipping up, finish the project and then arrange for some time off, advises Davis-Laack. “You don’t have to tell everyone on your team what’s happening,” she says, “but you might want to let your supervisor or client know that you’ve fixed your mistake and are taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

You’re feeling pretty cynical

Everything bores you, nothing excites you, and you can’t muster up any positive thoughts about the company you work for. Once those cynical thoughts start percolating in your brain, it may be a sign that you could be headed for burnout. Try to counter it ASAP: Davis-Laack advises employees to keep at least a three-to-one ratio of positive to negative experiences. (And she also says that highly successful teams have a ratio of about six to one.) Shatte’s advice: “If you have an upsetting conversation with someone at the office, jump on the phone with another long-term colleague and ask to chat for a few minutes,” he says. “You want to balance out the bad experiences with even more good ones.” Read the full article in the July issue of TIME here.]]>