中年职场困扰：动力减退

在公司待了几年以后，对工作的热情没有前几年那么高，有新的想法也不愿意去实践，公司的活动也不怎么参加。那么，你可能是正在经历职场“动力减退”。

The idea of burnout at work has been with us for decades. But recently, executive coaches and business psychologists have started talking about “brownout”, which is a sort of junior sibling. Staff affected by brownout become disengaged, demotivated and lose interest in their jobs.

职业倦怠这个概念已经伴随我们几十年了。不过最近，主管培训师和商务心理学家们开始讨论“动力减退”，这似乎是职业倦怠的初级阶段。受“动力减退”影响的员工会变得工作不投入，没有动力，对工作失去兴趣。

As the name suggests, brownout is not as serious as burnout, but it is much more prevalent. Brownout can be fairly mild and is usually reversible, but in the long term can cause serious problems.

从名字可以看出来，“动力减退”没有“倦怠”那么严重，但是，在员工中更加普遍。“动力减退”的症状表现相对温和，而且通常是可逆的，但是从长期来看，可能会导致严重问题。

The more usual symptoms of brownout tend to be disengagement, discontent, and lethargy. You’ll turn up for work (and may even put in very long hours) but your heart isn’t in it. You’re not interested in new ideas, you’re not proactive and you’re less communicative and sociable. You’ll use any excuse to not show up. A cold becomes flu.

“动力减退”常见的症状有：工作不投入、不满意，没有精神。你会照常在单位出现(而且可能下班了也不走)但你的心已经不在那里了。你对新的想法没有兴趣，你不会积极主动，不愿意交流和社交。你会找任何借口请假。普通的感冒变成了流感。

The causes of brownout are very much linked with the new world of work and changes that have taken place. One of the main factors behind it is very large amounts of rather dull work. Technology has played a role too, by allowing work to eat into our home lives. With smartphones, we are often never truly not at work. Our evenings, weekends and holidays are no longer our own and so we never switch off and recharge.

引发“动力减退”的原因可能跟工作环境的变化有关。其中一个主要因素是大量枯燥的工作。另一个因素是科技的发展，使得工作蚕食了我们的家庭生活。有了智能手机，我们似乎永远在工作。我们的夜晚、周末和假期都不再属于我们自己，我们永远都不会关机，所以也不会有时间充电。