When trying to be all the things to all the people doesn’t work anymore.
Do you feel apathetic, exhausted, and depressed at your work? Do you no longer feel joy or enthusiasm for your successes? Are you irritable seemingly without reason? If so, you might be one of the millions of Americans living with burnout. While burnout can hugely affect your quality of life and your overall satisfaction, it can also be an important indicator that your work-life balance is wrong or that you are overfaced with responsibility.
What exactly is Burnout?
Burnout is a condition that affects millions of Americans and is brought on by an overload or a lack of challenge or clarity in one’s life. It is typically characterized by a lack of motivation, feelings of exhaustion, and negativity and cynicism towards one’s job and other people. This can affect our work life, but also other areas such as parenting or study.
Who Does Burnout Affect?
Burnout typically affects people of working age and is more likely to affect women than men. People who work helping others, such as healthcare workers, are also more likely to burn out. Working moms that have to take care of the house are also particularly prone to burnout, as they typically have the double responsibility of taking care of the house, the kids, and a career.
Lastly, A-Type perfectionists are also at a higher risk due to their tendency to drive themselves to perform in all areas of their lives, often at the expense of their own health and happiness. That being said, burnout can affect people of all ages and walks of life.
Symptoms
The symptoms of burnout can be confused with stress, which is why it often takes people so long to realize the problem. They might include chronic fatigue, decreased motivation, a lack of interest in one’s job, cynicism, and negativity. Though many of these symptoms may seem almost normal, they can build and have serious health consequences if left unchecked. Therefore, the earlier we can identify our symptoms and take measures against burnout, the better.
Long-Term Consequences
Burnout can have long-term effects that can lead to health complications, disease, and even death. It is a significant predictor of migraines, respiratory problems, autoimmune disease, coronary heart disease, and type-2 diabetes. If you feel like you might be suffering from burnout you should seek help and solve the root cause to ensure that these problems don’t get out of hand.
Treatment
Once we are in the exhaustion phase of burnout, the most immediate course of action to help feel better and reduce symptoms, is rest. We must make sure we are sleeping enough, and not pushing ourselves as hard so that our bodies can start to recover. Checking in with our diets to make sure we are getting the nutrients we need is also an important step.
Next, if burnout is workplace-related, it’s a good idea to talk to coworkers, bosses or employees about the situation and make sure that we are getting the support we need. Perhaps some of your workload could be delegated. Or if you are feeling bored and unchallenged, maybe you could take over a new task to mix it up and learn something new.
Practicing activities such as yoga, mindfulness, and meditation can also work wonders in helping to decrease the stress load, put things into perspective, and focus on yourself.
However, the most important step in the battle against burnout is to figure out the root cause, and to get rid of it. If you can’t stand your job, maybe it’s time to look for a new one. If your relationships are all about giving, boundaries need to be enforced. Rest is vital, to help you see things with perspective, but in the end, changes need to be made from the ground up to ensure that we don’t end up right back where we started.
If you think you might be suffering from burnout, you’re not alone.
In fact, 34% of women in the US reported suffering from burnout in 2021, it really is an epidemic. For that reason, we developed the Your Daily™ Health Coaching app. Your Daily™ is a personal health coach who looks at the areas of life that you would like to improve such as relationships, spirituality, career, and movement. It helps you create new habits and leave unhelpful ones behind. Don’t suffer in silence. Reach out, get help and start feeling better.
If you could use some help in bouncing back from burnout make sure to check out Your Daily™ Health Coaching app, a wellness coaching app, tailored to your personality traits.
Read next: Create Your “Bounce Back From Burnout” Roadmap
