Burnout is a common problem that affects many working adults. It’s a slow burn that can sneak up on you, and before you know it, it can wallop you and ruin your life. I know this from personal experience. In 2016, I had a big work-related meltdown that left me feeling frightened and demoralized. I didn’t see it coming, and I didn’t know what was going on. But looking back, I can see that I was ignoring the signs of exhaustion and burnout for a long time.
In this article, I’ll share with you what I’ve learned about burnout and how to avoid it. I’ll tell you about the signs of burnout, the toll it takes on your health and happiness, and how to take the burnout risk test. I’ll also give you some strategies to prevent burnout and improve your well-being.
Signs of Burnout and the Toll it Takes
Burnout is a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, detachment, and feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment. It’s usually caused by prolonged stress and frustration at work, but it can also affect other areas of your life. Here are some signs that you might be experiencing burnout:
- Mental exhaustion at work. You feel drained and depleted of energy, even after sleeping or taking a break. You might dread going to work or feel overwhelmed by your tasks.
- Struggle to feel enthusiastic about your job. You lose interest and motivation for your work, which used to give you satisfaction and meaning. You might feel bored, apathetic, or resentful about your job.
- Trouble concentrating when working. You have difficulty focusing and being productive, even on simple tasks. You might make more mistakes, miss deadlines, or forget things.
- Overreaction at work without meaning to. You become more irritable, sensitive, or emotional than usual, especially when dealing with challenges or feedback. You might snap at colleagues, cry easily, or lose your temper.
These are some of the common signs of burnout, but there are also other symptoms that can affect your physical and mental health, such as:
- Insomnia or poor sleep quality
- Chronic fatigue or irritability
- Detachment from others, isolation
- Feelings of ineffectiveness, hopelessness or apathy
- Pessimism or cynicism
Burnout is not just an emotional or mental problem, but also a physical one. It can elevate your heart rate and blood pressure chronically, putting your body in a constant fight-or-flight state that’s meant to be deployed only in the face of real danger. The neverending flood of “be afraid” chemicals makes it hard to think straight, damages long-term health, and even shrinks the brain over time. Risk rises for dementia, diabetes, heart attack and numerous other illnesses. Meanwhile, the symptoms of exhaustion and burnout fuel further stress and anxiety, in a vicious cycle of decline.
Take the Burnout Risk Test
If you’re concerned that you might be experiencing burnout, you can take a simple online test — the Burnout Assessment Tool — that anyone can use to gauge their risk of implosion. The tool was developed by researchers who analyzed the factors that contribute to burnout and created a questionnaire that assesses your level of risk.
The questionnaire consists of around two dozen questions, which you’ll rank from “never” to “always,” such as “Everything I do at work requires a great deal of effort” and “After a day at work, I find it hard to recover my energy.” The tool only gives an indication of risk and does not provide any type of formal diagnosis or medical advice. If you are concerned about your levels of work-related stress, you should visit a healthcare provider to discuss the matter.
To get your score, go to this page then click “calculate your score” to fill in the questionnaire. However, before you click: The tool is intended for use by Scandinavians and people in a handful of other countries. But for the most part, stress is stress and burnout is burnout, me thinks. If you live in the US or other countries not on the tool’s list, you just have to lie and say you’re from Belgium or whatever, then you’ll still get a set of burnout scores that rank you on emotional impairment, exhaustion and other indicators.
Now What? You Need a Strategy
If you score high for burnout, don’t despair. There are several successful science-backed tactics you can draw from to create your own personal Burnout Prevention Strategy. You don’t have to do everything at once, but select one or two of the tactics that seem the most compelling or doable, or where you stand to gain the most, and lean into them.
Don’t burden yourself with expectations of perfection or overnight results — the last thing you need right now is more pressure. Even modest gains derived from a single behavioral change can lead to a better state of mind, a clearer head and some fresh perspective from which you can stack a second tactic atop the first, and so on until you’ve put your life back in your own hands.
Here are some strategies that you can consider:
Disengage at Work
One of the main causes of burnout is working too much without taking enough time to rest and recharge. You might think that working harder and longer will help you get ahead, but in reality, it can lead to diminishing returns and mistakes. That’s why you need to disengage from work regularly and intentionally.
There are several ways to do this. You might simply slack off on Fridays, since productivity plummets on Fridays anyway, and mistakes rise, so you’ll be doing your company a favor by twiddling your thumbs and tending to your mental health. Perhaps you can check out fully, or leave early (on whatever day works for you) or take that long-delayed vacation or sick day. Do whatever you can get away with (and feel good about it!).
Do Nothing
Another way to prevent burnout is to do nothing. No, I’m not kidding. Doing nothing is not a waste of time, but a way to let your mind wander, daydream, and process emotions. Doing nothing can also help you appreciate the simple pleasures in life, such as watching the sunset, listening to the birds, or feeling the breeze.
Whenever you can carve out an hour or a half-day or a weekend for yourself, don’t automatically fill it with to-do lists and strategizing and doomscrolling. Statistics reveal most us have more free time than we realize, but we fill it with stupid shit (aka your phone). Instead, just do absolutely nothing now and then. However you manage, let go of the American Way (or whatever outsized expectations of your culture) and stop striving so hard and just sit and watch the sun go down, or the trees blow in the wind, or put some music on like you used to do. Remember albums?
Settle for Less
If you are a perfectionist, learning how to settle for good enough should be tops on your to-do list. See, perfectionists actually accomplish less than other people, on average, and when they do finally finish something, they’re often dissatisfied with a job others would consider well done, which just leads to heaps of stress and anxiety.
Settling for less doesn’t mean giving up or lowering your standards. It means being realistic and reasonable about what you can achieve with the resources and time you have. It means focusing on progress, not perfection. It means celebrating your accomplishments, not dwelling on your flaws. It means learning from your mistakes, not beating yourself up over them.
Find Your Purpose
Finding your purpose is another way to prevent burnout. Purpose is the sense that your life has meaning, value, and direction. Purpose is what motivates you to get up in the morning and face the challenges of the day. Purpose is what gives you joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment.
If your work brings you great satisfaction and does not burn you out, that’s healthy. We all need purpose in life—science is clear on the benefits to emotional well-being and your brain’s ability to function well and process memories coherently. But purpose does not have come from your paid job. “It is possible to find purpose in everyday activities, not just lofty pursuits,” says Angelina Sutin, PhD, a professor of behavioral sciences and social medicine at the Florida State University College of Medicine.
Fix Your Sleep
Fixing your sleep is another way to prevent burnout. Sleep is essential for your physical and mental health. Sleep helps you recover from the stress and strain of the day, repair your body, consolidate your memories, regulate your emotions, and boost your immunity.
You might be tired of hearing this one, but have you really tried to implement the proven tactics? I wrote a whole book on sleep, and I’ve heard numerous testimonials from readers who are amazed at the effect of tweaking just one or two habits to eliminate sleep kryptonite and enhance sleep duration and quality. You can, too. Start by selecting just one or two natural sleep remedies from this Medium article. Better sleep on any single night means lower levels of stress and anxiety the next day, higher productivity and greater emotional control. String a few good nights together and life changes dramatically.
Get Moving
Getting moving is another way to prevent burnout. Physical activity helps clear your head and curb the stress and anxiety that lead to burnout, not to mention improving overall health in order to make you more efficient at everything you do. Exercise is also among the best ways to improve sleep. Yes, it’s all connected.
It doesn’t matter what you do — walk more, jog, hit the gym, go dancing, flex your butt muscles and get up to turn off the damn TV. If you struggle to start, just know that every step counts, so you can add your steps to the grocery store from a distant parking spot to the time spent walking the dog. Need ideas? See my No-Excuses Guide to Physical Activity for suggestions.
Get Inside Your Own Head
The practice of mindfulness meditation has been found to reduce stress and anxiety, improve sleep, promote clear-headed thinking and otherwise enhance well-being. It can be practiced in group settings or alone with an app to guide you. It works by helping you focus on what’s really happening in your head, to be mindful of thoughts as they arise and, rather than dismissing them, examining the ideas and feelings objectively. Then letting them pass. Aah.
If you are skeptical like I was, I encourage you to give it a really quick try with my simple introduction: Feel Better in 3 Minutes. You might be surprised at how much better you feel after just a few minutes of mindfulness meditation.
Conclusion
Burnout is a serious problem that can ruin your life if you don’t spot it and avoid it. Burnout is not a sign of weakness or laziness, but a sign that you are human and have limits. Burnout is not something to be ashamed of or ignored, but something to be acknowledged and addressed.
I hope this article has helped you understand what burnout is, how to recognize it, and how to prevent it. I hope you have learned some strategies that you can use to improve your well-being and happiness. I hope you have realized that you are not alone in this struggle, and that there is hope and help available.
My wife got her score from the Burnout Assessment Tool while I was writing this article. In our current life stage of semi-retirement, in which we are fortunate to be able to choose to earn less money and spend more time living, she scored a delightful “average” on all measures. Back in the day, she would’ve been off the charts, she said.
For the record, I scored very low for burnout risk, presumably because I love what I do, I don’t take it too too seriously, and even though I put way more than 40 hours a week into my writing and editing, I also carve out ample time for outdoor fun and physical activity, good sleep and a whole lotta nothin’. My burned-out, hardworking 2016 self would have broken the tool.
While the Burnout Assessment Tool won’t diagnose you, it could serve as a disaster-averting red flag, suggesting you might want to imagine your future self looking back on everything you’re missing out right now as you work your fingers to the bone and drive your mind to pointless, unproductive madness.
Remember, life is too short to burn out. Take care of yourself, and enjoy the ride.
