Stress levels seem to be reaching an all-time high. People are feeling overwhelmingly stressed and exhausted in their professions, raising their families, maintaining their homes, and everything in between.
Multitasking and overextending oneself is often seen as an accomplishment and rewarded with a ‘badge of honor.’ We often pride ourselves on our ability to juggle all various aspects of our lives with no time for breaks in between. However, everyone needs time to rest and recuperate.
Too much prolonged stress is not good for anyone and can lead to serious burnout.
What is Burnout?
Burnout occurs when you feel stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed to the point where you lose the ability to meet the demands of your life. Burnout can cause you to lose motivation and interest in areas of your life that were at one point important to you. For example, you could lose interest in your career, hobbies, or even your social life altogether. Burnout will suck the energy out of you and could leave you feeling hopeless or depressed.
Common Signs and Symptoms of Burnout
You may be headed towards or currently experiencing burnout if:
- You have more “bad” days than good.
- You feel overwhelmed with your day-to-day tasks.
- You feel like the tasks you do are unappreciated and pointless.
- You are constantly exhausted.
- Maintaining your work life, home life, or appearance feels like a waste of time.
We all feel some of the signs of burnout from time to time. It’s normal to feel exhausted after a busy day or even to let the chores slide on occasion to give yourself time to rest. If you feel like you have to drag yourself out of bed nearly every single day just to carry on with your life, you are likely experiencing burnout.
Other symptoms of burnout include:
- Low energy levels
- Frequent illness
- Frequent headaches or muscle aches and pain
- Change in appetite
- Change in sleep habits
- Chronic feelings of self-doubt, dissatisfaction, or loneliness
- Substance abuse (Food, Alcohol, or Drugs)
- High irritability with others
- Self-isolation
- Procrastinating often
- Withdrawal from responsibilities
What Causes Burnout?
Anyone can experience burnout and there are so many contributing factors that can cause burnout. Some of the most common causes of burnout are taking on more work than one can handle, inadequate support systems, and lack of self-care.
To get a better picture of the situations in our lives that could lead to burnout, consider the following scenarios:
- You work 40 hours a week, and every day is the same where you punch out on the time clock, drive home, and now you start your ‘second shift’ at home. Your second shift consists of cooking dinner, washing dishes, walking the dog, and catering to the needs of your children and spouse. All of these tasks are important and you consistently fill your schedule with no time for self-care or breaks in between. You are caught up in the motions and rely on 3 cups of coffee to get yourself out of bed to repeat your busy schedule each day.
- You are a full-time mom with 2 beautiful children that you get to stay home with every day. You wake up every morning to your alarm, make breakfast for everyone, bathe the kids, play with the kids, clean up after the kids, and the cycle pretty much repeats all day until it is time for bed. The kids finally get to sleep and you have to decide whether you should go to bed and give yourself enough rest or you can take advantage of what little “free time” you have to finally fold the laundry that’s been neglected all week. Your life is a constant juggling act and you never seem to have time to put yourself as a priority.
To some people, these scenarios above may seem like pretty extreme overcommitments and to others, these are their everyday lives. You don’t have to be on a rigid round-the-clock schedule to experience burnout. You could have a part-time job, hobby, or aspect of your social life that is consistent and leaves you feeling over-stressed and burned out too.
Other examples of circumstances that could cause burnout are:
- Feeling like you have little or no control over your work/ life.
- Lack of recognition for the work you do.
- Over demanding job expectations.
- Doing work that is monotonous and unstimulating.
- Not having enough time for socialization or relaxation.
- Lack of supportive relationships.
- Lack of sufficient sleep.
- Being a perfectionist/constantly striving for perfection.
- Being a pessimist, having negative views towards yourself or life.
- The need to be in constant control.
Prevention of Burnout Through Self Care:
Since burnout often goes hand in hand with a lack of self-care, it makes sense that we can prevent and minimize the impacts of burnout by engaging in regular self care practices.
When you take the time to address your own needs, you can reclaim your energy and minimize burnout in your life.
5 Self Care Practices to Help Prevent Burnout
- Learn to Press Pause: Take a break from what you are doing and give yourself time to breathe and regain clarity and energy. When pressing pause, it’s important to give yourself ‘alone time’ to process your emotions and reconnect with your authentic self. Your authentic self is the version of you that exists outside of all the stress and chaos. Taking time to pause will help increase your self connection and bring your vision to life. It will give you the space necessary to stay on track with your own goals, rather than living for everyone else. The next time you start to feel overwhelmed you can press pause and take a 10 minute break to be yourself again.
- Prioritize Sleep: The average adult needs about 8 hours of sleep per night to stay in top health. Sleep is necessary for our bodies’ cells, muscles, and organs to function. Without it, you are more likely to get sick, irritable, forgetful, and age faster. You can reprioritize sleep by having consistent bedtimes, turning off electronics an hour before bed, eating healthy in the evening hours, and creating a soothing and comfortable sleep environment. Getting a good night’s sleep is like pressing reset and erasing all of the stressors from the previous day.
- An Attitude of Gratitude: Burnout is often caused by feeling like there is a lack of something in our lives: a lack of time, energy, support, control, etc. If we take a break from our misery and take time to intentionally practice having gratitude we can think about all of the areas of our life that are not lacking. A simple way of practicing showing gratitude is by keeping a gratitude journal. You can write down everything, big or small, that you are grateful for in your life. Then on the days when you are drained and can’t see the light, you can pull out the journal and remind yourself of all of the good parts of your life.
- Detoxify your Thoughts: Burnout is on the top of the World Health Organization’s lists of most prevalent diseases. The repetition of negative thoughts and feelings are a big cause of burnout. We can cut out some of the negativity by watching the media we consume. If you find certain news outlets or social media accounts are causing a lot of negativity in your life then unsubscribe immediately so that you can focus on positivity. Another way to help cut out negative thoughts is by controlling the atmosphere you are in. If your workplace is cluttered and makes you feel stressed, try to tidy it up, bring in a plant, photos of your family, or any other changes that can help you feel happy.
- Set Boundaries: Boundaries are the limits and rules we make for ourselves. Not having boundaries can lead to overcommitment, feelings of resentment, stress, anger, career dissatisfaction, and poor relationships. You can set boundaries by knowing what your core values are and using them to guide you. Other tips for managing boundaries are communicating your boundaries to others, establishing which boundaries are negotiable, practicing saying no to things outside of your boundaries, and deciding how to deal with the consequences of overstepping your boundaries. For example, if you value your physical health then create boundaries around healthy eating, sleeping, and exercising. If you are constantly overfilling your schedule by trying to please others, then set boundaries around what your schedule can include and when to say no.
For more ideas for self care, check out our blog post: 7 Stress-Reducing Activities You Can Try Today
Seeking Help to Manage Burnout
If you are feeling signs of burnout, it is important to remember that you are not alone and there are resources to help you. In a survey done by Indeed in 2021, 52% of workers have experienced burnout. Burnout is a serious and diagnosable syndrome.
Left unmanaged burnout could lead to negative impacts in your life, including the following:
- Outbursts of anger
- Relationship problems/ Built up resentment
- Illness
- Depression
- Psychosis
If you are experiencing burnout, do not hesitate to seek help. Talk to your loved ones and lean on your support systems. It is always a good idea to consult with a health professional for additional help and resources to manage it as well. If you would like to speak with a medical professional you can reach out to Alvarado Parkway Institute today at 619-333-7050.
