Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. Being burnt out causes you to feel detached, unproductive, and pessimistic. This state is caused by extreme amounts of stress from feeling overwhelmed, not feeling appreciated, work conflicting with your values, lack of control, toxic performance environment, unfairness, feeling like you are unable to meet demands, feeling isolated, or trying to power through. The longer the stress is there the more it will cause you to lose interest and motivation in what you are doing. You may also begin to feel more pessimistic, hopeless, and frustrated as well. Ignoring burnout is dangerous because the more you ignore it the worse it can get. Burnout doesn’t go away on its own.
Burnout can be hard to notice, so many people dismiss it because it’s not like a broken arm. Burnout is gradual, so it’s important to be aware of symptoms early on so you can take action before it reaches full force. Carolyn Lorente, Ph.D., professor of psychology suggests that we learn to recognize the early symptoms of burnout. “Oftentimes the first indicator of work burnout and stress may be felt in our bodies. We may find ourselves getting more frequent headaches, having stomach issues, or catching colds more often.”
Some Ways To Tell If You Are On The Path To Burnout:
▪️You dread going to your performance every day
▪️There is no good day at your performance
▪️You’re apathetic about your performance and it feels like it takes a lot of energy to care
▪️You’re exhausted all the time
▪️The tasks you are doing for you performance feel boring or overwhelming
▪️You do not feel appreciated or you feel like no one cares
▪️You feel like anything you try to do doesn’t make a difference
▪️You feel cynical about your performance
▪️You feel helpless
▪️You get irritated by the people around you easily
If you want more specifics on where you are at on the path to burnout and what you can do to get off that path take my free burnout quiz on my website: www.mindlete.com.
Ways To Overcome Burnout:
▪️Take a Break
▪️Set Boundaries
▪️Redefine Your Values and Goals
▪️Seek Support
▪️Find Your Why
▪️Take Care of the Basics
▪️Improve Your Self-Care
▪️Control the Controllable
▪️Reframe the Way You Look at Your Performance
▪️Talk to Your Supervisor/Partner/Boss/Coach/etc.
▪️Do Something Fun or Interesting
If none of these work and you still feel fatigued, overwhelmed, stuck, or hopeless it may be time to consider switching career paths, changing jobs, switching up responsibilities, getting a different position, etc.
If you want an explanation for each of these and directions for what specifically you should do then sign up to get the free burnout download.
The 3 R's To Overcoming Burnout:
- Recognize - Be aware and pay attention to the warning signs of burnout
- Reverse - Reverse the damage by building support and learning skills to manage stress
- Resilience - Increase your to stress by improving your physical and mental fitness