How Do I Know If I'm Burned Out?
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes...including you.
- Anne Lamott
Have you noticed that talking about stress and burnout is a little like talking about the weather these days?
The shared experiences of a pandemic, cultural and social upheaval and a presidential election kind of guarantee stress issues will be common ground.
But, we don’t often go very deep or personal on the topic.
And I don’t know about you, but I think we throw around the words “burnout” and “stress” kind of casually…when there are significant and important differences between occasional stress and burnout.
So let’s just review.
Is burnout really a thing?
How do I know if I’ve veered from stressed into burnout?
The World Health Organization thinks burnout is real.
They classify burnout as a work-related “phenomenon” that can lead to real health effects.
Burnout – as distinct from occasional work stress - generally looks like this:
1 – Exhaustion. Feeling completely spent, feeling tired all the time.
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2 – Increased feelings of negativity and cynicism related to work. More generally pessimistic than you used to be. Less able to see the positives. Disillusioned about your role, your company, your industry.
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3 – Slipping job performance. Putting in same (or often more) effort and getting lower results. Making mistakes you wouldn’t normally make.
I’ll tell you from personal experience in my own life, with clients, friends, and in my work studying the neuroscience of stress … here are a few more red flags to think about:
Relying heavily on quick fix strategies to alleviate stress: caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, sleeping pills, eating more sweets or comfort foods, seeking out adrenaline rushes.
Lack of motivation. No internal motivation for work. Not enthusiastic about much of anything anymore.
Inability to focus your attention.
Reduced problem-solving abilities – you’re seeing lots of problems but fewer solutions
Harder time remembering things or more forgetful in general.
More arguments with people close to you or
Withdrawing from people close to you more than usual.
Preoccupied with work, excessively thinking about work when you’re not at work
Generally dissatisfied with how things are going in other areas of your life – not just work.
A sense that you can’t quite imagine what stress recovery feels like – no amount of rest, vacation, etc… feels like enough. The strategies you typically use to manage stress aren’t working.
Burnout is real. (I've been there. And you can recover.)
It’s different from occasional stress.
Knowing what you are dealing with is really critical to getting back into a zone of equilibrium and optimum functioning.
If you are feeling stressed these days, are you in a zone of occasional stress or are you in burnout territory? What about the people around you?
How have you recovered from burnout in the past? How did you do it?
I'd love to hear from you.
Working with a coach can really help you get out of burnout and implement rhythms that help you manage the ups and downs. If you want to learn more about how coaching works and see if it can help - schedule an Explore Coaching session with me. It’s totally free.