Do you feel exhausted both emotionally and physically in life?
If yes! Then this is can be of the symptoms of burnout that most of us feel.
But what actually is a burnout?
As said by Stacey King, “Burnout is the car crash you don’t see coming.”
As per Merriam-Webster dictionary, burnout, by definition, means “Exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.”
Burnout is a very normal thing that most of us go through, although it shows adverse effects if left unchecked. Initially, the symptoms of burnout are quite subtle, but as time passes, it can worsen.
By the end of this article, you will learn about the primary symptoms of burnout and how to recover from burnout.
Reasons for burnout
There are various reasons for burnout; it might be due to your workplace or personal relations. Although multiple factors might make you feel this way, we have listed the most common factors that lead to showing symptoms of burnout:
- feeling emotionally exhausted,
- stressing out over every little thing,
- feeling overwhelmed,
- trying to live up to everyone’s expectations,
- suffering from insomnia,
- leading an unhealthy lifestyle,
- being more pessimistic in life,
- stressing more over perfection,
- lacking a proper schedule, etc.
Signs of burnout
Burnout becomes a great hindrance in our life and can affect our day-to-day activities. The first step to solving any problem is to identify it, here we have listed a few common symptoms of burnout:
- Increase in procrastination
As per a research published in 2019, by Nathan C Hall and team, on “Self-efficacy, procrastination, and burnout in post-secondary faculty: An international longitudinal analysis,” over 3000 college faculty members showed that burnout was associated with an increase in procrastination.
Procrastination is one of the most basic and common indications of burnout. You might notice yourself procrastinating when you delay your deadline, keep piling work, avoid your to-do list, and others.
- Feeling overwhelmed
Even the small things can feel like a drag when you’re burned out. Some little work or situations can overwhelm you and increase your anxiety. Knowing how to calm down when feeling overwhelmed is essential because if this sign of burnout is not resolved, it might hamper your day-to-day tasks by increasing stress and anxiety.
- Low productivity
Stress-induced burnout makes concentrating on the existing task challenging, making more errors than others. Burnout increases negative emotions, lack of interest, apathy, and high levels of anxiety, which can clog up the workflow.
- Feeling not useful
Often we find ourselves unable to do anything, making us feel incompetent. This symptom of burnout can lead to a lack of self-confidence, lack of motivation, feeling overwhelmed, and reduced productivity.
- Issues with your sleep schedule
A very ignored yet vital symptom of burnout is issue with your sleep schedule. Proper sleep is mandatory for everyone to maintain good health; an appropriate sleep schedule could lead to various cardiovascular problems. Often while showing signs of burnout, we also hamper our sleep by overthinking things that are not important. This could lead to problems in your sleep schedule.
- Frequent headaches
A prevalent symptom of burnout is headache, and most of us feel it daily. It is usually accompanied by a stiff neck. Headaches sometimes get aggravated and become a major significant problem like migraine.
- Decreased satisfaction in life
A primary symptom of burnout which makes you feel less happy and satisfied with your life. You might feel stuck in the same cycle and get dissatisfied with everything, including your work, community, or home.
- Lack of concentration
Burnout might help increase lack of concentration. Burnout and stress may hamper your ability to pay attention or concentrate when you are stressed, and your attention span narrows. Due to constant burnout, we start losing the center of focus in our life.
One of the significant indications of burnout is the lack of motivation. If you are showing signs of being burned out, you will notice that you no longer have the internal motivation for work or any daily life activities.
- Exhaustion
A clear symptom of burnout is exhaustion. In case of high stress and tension, one can start showing an increased occurrence of burnout. Exhaustion is the feeling of tiredness all the time. A person can be emotionally, physically, or mentally exhausted. It represents the lack of energy for the work.
- Feeling depressed
Mental illnesses such as depression can have severe effects on one’s life. They cause long-lasting and intense feelings of frustration, sadness, and loss of interest in activities. It is a form of a psychological symptom of burnout.
- Low immunity
When stressed and burned out, our immune system loses its effectiveness against antigens. Thus, we become more prone to developing an infection. The lack of a good immune system is a boulder in our life, making it difficult to function properly.
How to overcome burnout
Now that you know how you can identify burnout as well as the primary causes of it, it is essential to learn how to recover from burnout and stop these signs of burnout from helping you in your daily life:
- Don’t strain yourself
Yes, it is necessary to finish your work, but remember to take frequent breaks, which boost your mental health and mood, and help you feel more motivated toward your work.
- Start setting limits
It is vital to make a schedule and limit the work you need to do. At first, it might seem possible to work straight for long hours but remember to schedule what you need to do and prioritize your job because the excess stress you put your brain under, the faster you burn out.
- Do things that make you happy.
First, we need to focus hard and remember the things that make us happy; it might be traveling, singing, or other hobbies. Once you remember the things that make you happy, go ahead and do them if you don’t have time for them. Make time! Mental health awareness is essential, and prioritizing things that are beneficial for your mental health by making you happier in life is crucial.
- Take back control
At some point in life, we start losing control over our lives, which can cause severe burnout. Start by making a schedule and work according to it; slowly, you will decide how the day will go instead of vice versa.
- Prioritize work-life balance
After all, life is all about balance! It is essential to work, but at the same time, your personal life is as important. You can make a schedule giving time to both work and yourself. It can help you decrease your symptoms of burnout and make you more focused in your life.
- Practice self-care
In this world full of chaos, sometimes we get burnt out because we are not taking care of ourselves. Practicing self-care helps you build self-esteem and self-love. It acts as the refresh button in your life. Start practicing self-care activities to help yourself on many levels.
CONCLUSION
Mental health awareness is very crucial for everyone. There are various mental health activities that can help you stop feeling burnout frequently. If we don’t check up on this, it might harm us in the long run. The first step to solving a problem is always to identify the problem, and the above-mentioned symptoms of burnout might help you identify the problem.
We often feel burnout because we ignore ourselves; in this case, learning to take care of yourselves and cultivate good habits is essential. Here we provide a list of self-help books that might help you with the process.
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