Most likely, you’ve experienced burnout at least once in your life (I know I have!). When the stress of work gets to be too much, you may begin to feel the effects. Now add on the stress of maintaining a family life, a social life, and a personal life. Chances are, it feels nearly impossible to juggle all of these different aspects of a “healthy life.” Now let’s add another wrench in the plan; COVID-19. So now we don’t have to only worry about work and home and social and personal problems, but we need to worry about the health of those around us as well. All this worrying and stress can lead to a huge problem: Burnout.
Burnout happens to the best of us. Maybe the stress of the new way of life is getting to you, or you’re putting in too many hours at work. So how do you know you’re reaching the point of being burnt out? And how can we stop it, before it affects us more than we can handle?
What Is Burnout?
Burnout is a state of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion caused by excessive or prolonged stress. When we feel overwhelmed and drained, it can be hard to pinpoint exactly what’s causing these feelings. We start to feel unable to meet the demands of our jobs, relationships, and personal needs. Eventually, as the stress continues, you can begin to lose motivation, and more importantly, the reason you started the role in the first place. It can affect our moods, and make us feel hopeless, helpless, and resentful. Soon, you may feel that you have nothing left to give. Burnout has physical effects on the body as well. For example, it can sap both your energy and your immune system, making you more open to illnesses like the cold and flu.
How Do I Recognize Burnout?
Everybody has bad days once in a while, it’s a part of human nature. Every day isn’t going to be a good day. However, when every day is a bad day, and you’re exhausted daily, to the point that work or home life seems like a waste of time and energy, you may be in the beginning of a burnout. If the majority of your day is spent on mind-numbing and dull tasks that you don’t feel are appreciated, or you don’t feel you’re making a difference, the burnout is here, full force.
Burnout doesn’t just come out and hit you like a tornado; Rather, it starts as a gentle rain. It starts subtly, but eventually is a complete thunderstorm, with the winds of headaches and exhaustion and self-hatred or self-doubt whipping around you. It starts small, with frequently feeling tired and unmotivated. You may begin to lose interest in what you’re doing, and feel like you have no direction, or purpose.
Imagine doing your job to the best of your ability, every single day, and getting praise by your coworkers and your boss. Then, gradually, they ask for more. “Can you stay an hour later and finish these reports?” “Can you cover my shift for me, just this once?” You agree, and you don’t get a thanks. Would you continue to pick up extra work for others? Chances are, the answer is no (or if you’re anything like me, you’ll agree, although do it quite angrily). Burnout is kind of like that, only instead of being asked to do extra, you’re asked to do the basics. The feeling of anger you get when you don’t get a thanks? That’s what burnout can turn into.
Stress vs. Burnout
Burnout is frequently caused by stress, but how can you tell the difference? Life is filled with stress, from family drama to workplace meetings. Stress involves feeling like there’s too much to handle, while burnout involves feeling like you can’t do enough. Imagine stress as drowning from responsibilities, and burnout is being so dried up from your responsibilities, that you don’t realize how truly dry you are until it’s too late.
How To Handle Burnout
Whether you’re recognizing the warning signs of burnout, or you’re at your breaking point, one thing you shouldn’t do is keep pushing through. Instead, try the “Three R” approach: Recognize, Reverse, and Resilience.
By recognizing that you’re becoming burnt out, you’re taking the first step to fixing your feelings of hopelessness, lowered immune system, and loss of motivation. When you reverse the burnout, or seek support and manage the stress, you are undoing the feelings mentioned above. Finally, by building resilience to stress, you can decrease the chances of burnout from happening again. In order to become more resilient, you need to take care of not only your emotional, but physical and mental health as well.
Although burnout seems like it will never get better, we promise you that it will. It won’t reverse overnight; It will take work. Try turning to coworkers, family, or friends when you begin to feel overwhelmed. Reaching out does not mean you’re a burden, it simply means you’re realizing that you can’t do this alone. Limit your contact with negative people, as they will only bring your mood down more. By finding balance in your life, you can also reduce the risk of burnout. Say you’re unhappy with your job, but you can’t make a career change. Instead of changing jobs, try volunteer work or a new hobby.
Burnout happens to the best of us, but it’s how we choose to deal with it that sets us apart from others.