Break Out of Burnout

By: Camden Baucke MS LLP

Almost everyone knows what burnout is, but what does it feel like?

On Sunday nights, it can feel like you’re frozen, jittery, and dreading Monday morning.

When you come back from a vacation, it can feel like a numbness – where all the freedom, peace, and excitement you just felt disappear.

You might be tempted to just call it typical stress, but when it begins to degrade your mental and physical health, it’s burnout.

Burnout isn’t a light switch, you don’t start feeling miserable in an instant; it’s a slow burn.

Burnout creeps into your life, and most people don’t know that it’s arrived until they hit rock bottom.

To break out of burning out, you need to first learn (1) recognize it and then (2) act on it.

What Exactly is Burnout?

Burnout is the accumulation of stress, but it’s not something managed like simple tiredness or fatigue.

Everyday events can be stressful, but they are usually from sporadic stressors, where burnout is from a very specific stressor – work.

Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized burnout as a real occupational phenomenon – where individuals accumulate work-related stress.

Burnout has three major components (1) exhaustion, (2) detachment, and (3) empty achievement.

1 – Exhaustion

When stress accumulates, everyday tasks become more and more demanding.

You might start to show up to work tired, feel fatigued all throughout the workday, and return home exhausted.

When you’re more fatigued by stress than the demands of your tasks, then you might be experiencing burnout exhaustion.

2 – Detachment

Detachment is when you don’t have any emotional or mental investment in your occupation.

Work might feel like it means nothing, or even becomes a source of cynicism and negativity.

If your schedule feels meaningless, and you feel increasingly negative towards your tasks, company, coworkers, or clients, that might be burnout detachment.

3 – Empty Achievement

A key sign of burnout is when success isn’t rewarding – a job well done is just an empty accomplishment.

It doesn’t mean anything and it’s not exciting or pleasant; achievement is just another day at the office.

If your best work feels as meaningful as your worst day, then you might be experiencing the emptiness of achievement from burnout.

When Burnout Becomes Noticeable

Not everyone recognizes they’re feeling burnt out – it can be a slow enough process that you don’t recognize the process.

1 – Physical Signs

• Sleep isn’t rejuvenating and it’s difficult to fall asleep.
• Difficulty waking up or sleeping for too long (hypersomnia).
• Frequent headaches or muscle tension, especially in your neck and back.
• Falling ill more frequently (i.e. a few times a month).

2 – Emotional or Mental Signs

• Emotional numbness.
• The feeling as if you’re just going through the motions.
• Irritability and snapping at people you care about.
• Difficulty focusing or making daily decisions.
• Dread about work or specific daily tasks.

3 – Behavioral Signs

• Withdrawing from friends and family, and not trying to make anymore friends.
• Withdrawing from hobbies, pleasurable activities, and communities.
• Procrastination or missing deadlines.
• Start using food, alcohol, or screens for distraction and relief.
• Loss of motivation for work and for daily life.

Burnout Doesn’t Fix Itself

Burnout is important to address as soon as you recognize it – it’s like hearing a twig crackle while bending before it breaks.

Don’t wait for rock bottom to start addressing burnout.

Simply “pushing through” or “toughing it out” ignores the concept of burnout – it is not your average stress, and willpower won’t be the solution to your problems.

Most of the time, even a relaxed weekend isn’t enough to address the nature of burnout.

Burnout is accumulative – it took time to build up to where it is, and it will need equal time to address it.

Steps to Break Out of Burnout

1 – Call it Out

Acknowledge that you’re burned out or close to – write it down somewhere and start asking yourself questions.

“What burden is the heaviest to bear and how long have I been carrying it?”

You have to acknowledge the feeling of burnout for what it is – you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge, you can’t hit a target you’re not aiming towards.

2 – Document it

A 5 minute daily work practice could work wonders for investigating your burnout.

You don’t need a fancy journal – use any sort of paper, notes app, or record yourself speaking your entry.

Give yourself prompts that directly target what you’re feeling.

• “What drained me the most today?“
• “What gave me even the smallest amount of energy today?“
• “What do I need that I’m obviously not getting?“

With those prompts, you can ask yourself further questions based on your answers.

3 – Audit your Lifestyle

Zoom out from your life and look at your biggest stressors for:

(1) work, (2) relationships, (3) finances, & (4) Health.

For each section identify what (A) feels the most out of control and what (B) feels the most stressful.

You don’t have to do them all at the same time – I would recommend picking just one to start auditing your lifestyle.

4 – Get Comfortable with Rest

Rest is not the same as distraction-based relief like video games, scrolling, television, or minor productive tasks such as cleaning or organizing.

Rest is connecting with what actually fills you with energy, by truly being peaceful or pleasurable.

This means (1) spending more time in silence, (2) getting outside and connecting with nature, and (3) engaging in stimulating hobbies.

These don’t come about by accident, nor do they belong in the margins of your day – schedule them and make it happen.

Additionally, I’d encourage you to start using micro-rests of 10-15 minutes, specifically between changes in your day.

5 – Share

A trusted friend, family member, or therapist are perfect people to talk to about burnout.

Allowing your situation to become verbal validates it – it’s not just something debatable inside your head.

Burnout is tough on its own, so don’t allow yourself to go through it alone.

6 – Scale Upwards

Burnout is rooted in giving too much and receiving too little.

You don’t have to flip your life upside-down in an instant, but you can start with two questions:

(1) What do I need to give less of?

(2) What do I need to receive more of?

Find one answer for each, and put it into action – even if it’s as small as putting away work after 7:00pm.

Your momentum can build – set one boundary with yourself, and scale up from there.

Final Thoughts

Burnout is a signal from your body and mind, not a flaw or fault.

If you’re already overwhelmed with burnout, don’t overwhelm yourself more by trying to change it all at once.

Daily steps to improve your condition are cumulative – pick one step from this list and give it a try.

You can break out of burnout, so take the first step today.