16 Signs of Burnout and what to do about it
It is common to have stressful times at work, and for many of us, even to feel disillusioned at times. However, burnout runs deeper.
What is Burnout exactly?
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest and motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.
Burnout reduces productivity and drains your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing more to give.
The negative effects of burnout spill over into every area of life—including your home, work, and social life. Burnout can also cause long-term changes to your body that make you vulnerable to illnesses like colds and flu. Because of its many consequences, the sooner you deal with burnout, the better
16 Symptoms of Burnout
Burnout is a gradual process. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it can creep up on you. The signs and symptoms are subtle at first, but become worse as time goes on. Think of the early symptoms as red flags that something is wrong that needs to be addressed. If you pay attention and care for yourself, you can prevent a major breakdown. If you ignore them, you’ll eventually burn out.
Here are 16 common symptoms of burnout:
Physical Signs & Symptoms
Feeling tired and drained most of the time.
Lowered immunity, frequent illnesses.
Frequent headaches or muscle pain.
Change in appetite or sleep habits.
Emotional Signs & Symptoms
Sense of failure and self-doubt.
Feeling helpless, trapped, and defeated.
Detachment, feeling alone in the world.
Loss of motivation.
Increasingly cynical and negative outlook.
Decreased satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.
Behavioural Signs & Symptoms
Withdrawing from responsibilities.
Isolating yourself from others.
Procrastinating, taking longer to get things done.
Using food, drugs or alcohol to cope.
Taking out your frustrations on others.
Skipping work or coming in late and leaving early.
Burnout quiz
Unsure if you are suffering from burnout? Answer the following questions:
Are you having more bad days than good days at work?
Do you find yourself unusually low or irritable at the end of the weekend?
Do you have stomach aches, digestive upset, or pains in your back or neck?
Are you having headaches more frequently than usual?
Have your sleep habits changed? (either much more or much less sleep than usual)?
Have you been having trouble focusing on work or understanding what is expected of you?
Are you finding yourself only able to work efficiently at the last minute or against a deadline?
Are you avoiding work, conversations with colleagues, or check-ins with your manager?
Do you fantasize about quitting or losing your job almost constantly?
Are you too exhausted to do anything fun or interesting when you’re not at work?
If you answered yes to most of these questions, you’re likely experiencing job burnout.
5 Ways to recover from burnout
Recognizing you have burnout is one thing. But now, knowing your experiencing burnout, what do you do? Here are 5 ways to work on recovery:
1. Seek Support
Know that you don’t have to do this alone. Particularly if you are experiencing significant anxiety and depressive symptoms, it is important to seek out professional help. But therapy can benefit anyone. Therapy can help you work on cognitive awareness, stress reduction, assertiveness and problem solving skills. It can also help you identify opportunities for self-exploration in times of change and conflict. Regardless of whether you choose therapy, reach out. Help can look a lot of ways…support from family, friends and/or colleagues, spiritual support, or other helpers. Many people feel more comfortable working with other kinds of helpers, such as coaches. Caveat - none of these are a substitute for clinical mental health treatment.
2. Set Boundaries
A yes to something is a no to something else, and can come at a cost of yourself. Be self-aware - assess what’s on your plate and recognize your limit. Then start being more assertive with management and colleagues. Your priority should be what is in the best interest of your physical and mental health in the long run. Which will ultimately affect your productivity anyhow. If you end up having to take time off of work, you will accomplish nothing ultimately.
Also consider other ways you can make your workload more manageable. Particularly if you feel like you are constantly in a state of overwhelm. Can you delegate? Break down tasks into smaller steps? I personally prefer to use the Pomodoro method for organizing each workday.
3. prioritize youR well-being
If you don’t have your health - whether mental or physical - you have nothing. If you are sick, or dead, what can you do anyhow? Besides what is more important than you?
Start by giving your physical body and opportunity to recuperate. Prioritize rest and relaxation. Instead at looking at those things like doing nothing, recognize them as recovery and recharging.
4. Incorporate Self-compassion and Mindfulness Practices into your daily routines
One of the roots of self-compassion is recognizing that you are human. Being human means you can only do so much. Being human also means you are worthy of the same care and concern that you give others and you need not be so hard on yourself. Compassion is both teachable and dose-dependent. Meaning you can learn it and that the more your practice it, the more it grows.
Mindfulness can look many different ways. Think beyond meditation, which many people mistakenly think they cannot do. Everyone can meditate. Regardless, even sitting in silence for a few minutes a day can help. Research has show that as little as 12 minutes per day, practiced five times per week can change your brain in beneficial ways. The results are many fold.
5. Take a step back and assess what is really important
Burnout can happen when we are not living in accordance with what we deeply value. Do you live to work, or work to live. Get clear on what your core values are and then assess if in the life you are living, those values are your priority every day, or at least regularly.
Is your health and well-being a priority for you? Yes. Are you exercising regularly? Eating well? Or hunched over a desk most days, mindlessly stuffing food into your face at your computer. When you remember to eat that is.
Is connection important? How much time are you spending with your family and friends? How much of that is quality time?
Is happiness your priority? How much time are you spending doing things you love? Spending time in nature? Creative pursuits such as art or crafting? Whatever your thing is, when is the last time you’ve done it? Or do you need to re-discover what brings you joy.
Well folx, there you have it. Some ways to recognize if you have burnout, or are well on your way. And some solutions. I hope this was helpful. As always with anything I write about, if you’d like to take this to a more personal, deeper, tailored level - reach out to me to discuss how we can work together.
xo Shari Lee
