What is Burnout? 3 Steps to Overcome Exhaustion

By: Tajiya Holland

Have you been trying to pour from an empty cup lately? Are you completing tasks without concentration and barely getting any sleep? Or maybe you have been in a bad mood, although you are achieving what you embarked on. If so, you’re probably experiencing burnout. 

What is burnout?

Burnout is a form of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion. It is caused by excessive and prolonged stress when you are too drained to meet constant demands.

There are three different types of burnout:

1. Overload: Continuously working at an unsustainable pace in pursuit of success, security, or recognition.
2. Under-challenged: Lack of satisfaction and boredom with what is being accomplished, yet stuck on how to change the scenario.
3. Neglect: Not reaching a goal and feeling helpless or without purpose.

Burnout can develop in all areas: career, friendships, family, finances, fitness, personal growth, and so on. 

Symptoms of Burnout

Although your cause of burnout can differ from another person’s, the effects can be the same:

• isolation
• irritability
• exhaustion
• lack of sleep
• difficulty to focus
• anxiety
• loss of appetite
• weakened immune system

How to Fix Burnout

1. Locate the source (area(s) of life) and why (which type) it’s happening.
2. Review your expectations of yourself and acknowledge your feelings.
3. Prioritize what’s important. Some things can wait. You don’t want to reflect on the past wishing you were or weren’t doing something in replacement.

Example Scenario

A few months back, you intentionally began working on yourself to become a better version. You thought blocking out time each day would help you to achieve everything on your to-do list. Your list included activities such as going to the gym, meditating, and turning a creative hobby into a side hustle. 

The issue is you overdid it. You dislike the gym and prefer a walk outside, but you’ve overexerted yourself on the machines. Meditating has never been a choice due to your lack of focus, and you’d rather lie listening to the ocean waves to relax and clear your mind. After coming home from a nine-to-five job, you were consistent with your side hustle for only three weeks and now feel like a failure.

All three types of burnout are displayed in this situation because, in life, one thing can affect the next. You didn’t plan according to your capabilities, true interests, or boundaries. So to fix it, you decide the gym is for cardio when the weather outside isn’t suitable. Meditation is out, and listening to the ocean for an hour happens each weekend to reset. For now, you decide a side hustle can take a back burner.

How to Avoid Burnout Altogether

Your top priority should be your health—check in on your emotional, mental, and physical needs. Your body will send signals when it needs a break to rest. While resting can entail a nap or sleeping, doing anything that refills your empty cup is essential. Other ways to avoid burnout are:

• Practicing self-love
• Seeking support
• Setting boundaries
• Managing your time well
• Saying no

Make the necessary cuts from certain parts of your life. You don’t always need to prove something to yourself or others. Enjoy life in the present, and trust the timing of your journey.