Burnout

Preventing burnout in a burned out world!

If our ancestors were to jump into our shoes for a day I would imagine most of them would be completely exhausted and somewhat burned out after living in our modern lives for about an hour.  They may not be as physically exhausted as they were when they were alive, but emotionally drained, stressed out, mentally exhausted, and physically tired as well.  We live in such a fast paced, over-achieving society that we all too often experience burnout.  Even minor burnout can affect the quality of one’s life, relationships, work productivity, and physical health.  We would be wise to slow down a little and say “no” to the many demands placed on us a little more often.

You may wonder if your exhausting symptoms are merely stress or actual burnout.  The site https://www.helpguide.org/mental/burnout_signs_symptoms.htm#difference explains the difference well.  It indicates, that “burnout may be the result of unrelenting stress, but it isn’t the same as too much stress. Stress, by and large, involves too much: too many pressures that demand too much of you physically and psychologically. Stressed people can still imagine, though, that if they can just get everything under control, they’ll feel better.

Burnout, on the other hand, is about not enough. Being burned out means feeling empty, devoid of motivation, and beyond caring. People experiencing burnout often don’t see any hope of positive change in their situations. If excessive stress is like drowning in responsibilities, burnout is being all dried up. One other difference between stress and burnout: While you’re usually aware of being under a lot of stress, you don’t always notice burnout when it happens.

There are some great resources filled with information concerning burnout.  The first is about the 4 stages of burnout and coping and overcoming burnout.  See

https://www.stressdoc.com/four_stages_burnbout.htm for more info.

Also, if you aren’t sure if you truly are experiencing burnout, a great website containing a burnout self test to see if you are probably experiencing burnout is: https://www.mindtools.com/stress/Brn/BurnoutSelfTest.htm

Remember…. take a deep breath and relax.  There’s always more time tomorrow and there are lots of people who can help us if we’ll only reach out and ask. Force yourself to slow down or take a break. Cut back whatever commitments and activities you can. And to truly conquer burnout, give yourself time to rest, reflect, and heal.