Do you just hate your work shift? Are you working only to make ends meet? Do you feel that you are constantly overwhelmed by your work demands and yet are unable to meet most of them? Yeah, you are not alone. But all these signs are not good and might mean you are heading to a burnout!
What Is Burnout?
According to Help Guide, Burnout is a type of exhaustion that is caused due to feeling overwhelmed with tasks without a break, leading to emotional and physical exhaustion (Help Guide, 2022). But is that really it? Exhaustion? Theoretically, yes.
But in reality, burnout can adversely affect nearly all areas of your life. This includes your work, home, and how you interact with others, including your friends and family. It can make you feel drained of energy and unable to cope with the responsibilities you carry on your shoulders. So much so that you feel you have no more to give and enter a never-ending spiral of negative thoughts.
With the fine lines between work and personal lives blurring up, especially after the pandemic, which taught many to work remotely, people are more at risk of burnout than ever. However, it is crucial to understand that the human body has its physical and mental strain limits. Trying to push your body too far beyond the limits can quickly lead to burnout.
By now, you would probably guess that burnouts happen due to overworking or trying to handle overly-large workloads. Yes, that is true. But working too much is not the only way to head to burnout.
Types of Burnouts
According to WebMD, there is more than one type of burnout, and each one comes with its root causes (WebMD, 2022).
Overload
The most common type of burnout is when you are running on overload. In this case, you try to work harder and consistently push yourself beyond your limits in an attempt to reach success. Knowingly or unknowingly, you risk your personal life and health and eventually end up exhausting yourself.
Under-Challenge
Another type of burnout occurs when you do not feel yourself being challenged enough. You go about doing the same routine job repeatedly with no appreciation and no learning or growth opportunities. Under-challenged people often distance themselves from the job. You will find absenteeism increasing and an overall disengagement from work.
Neglect
When things don’t go right, you may blame yourself and believe that you cannot handle your responsibilities. If you begin to feel incompetent or hopeless, you may be going through neglect burnout.
Are You Heading Towards Burnout?
Burnout is not easy to notice immediately. Instead, it is a process that gradually builds up due to job stressors. When you are running busy, you will barely even see that you are heading to a burnout. But if you ignore the signs for too long, you may end up with worse conditions.
There are several signs of burnout. Let us look at the most common ones.
Feeling Exhausted
The first and foremost sign of burnout is feeling mentally drained, physically exhausted, or both. You seem to lose your ability to solve or even face the problems around you. You will begin to feel like you are out of energy and want to just run away from life.
Isolation
You will begin to lose interest in all activities, even those you used to enjoy. You may not notice it initially, but cynicism will make its way into your life. You start to distance yourself emotionally and gradually begin to care less and less about what is happening around you.
Hampered Performance
Your performance will automatically begin to reflect when you are physically or mentally drained. You will notice that you cannot concentrate, hardly exhibit any creativity, or in severe cases, even unable to handle simple tasks.
Final Thoughts
When you constantly push yourself beyond your limits, you begin to deplete your body of physical and mental energy. If you are overburdened or overwhelmed with back-to-back tasks, you will soon reach a tipping point, commonly referred to as burnout.
Burnout can severely affect your mental health and your performance. Pay attention to your body and give yourself a break before reaching burnout.
References
Help Guide. (2022). Burnout Prevention and Treatment. Retrieved from HelpGuide.
WebMD. (2022). Burnout: Symptoms and Signs. Retrieved from WebMD: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/burnout-symptoms-signs