How to Recognize Signs of Burnout and What to Do About It

Burnout is one of the most frequent complaints of individuals in this day and age, especially so among professionals. It can start off slow, with the first signs being a general feeling of tiredness, which gets worse over time. Self-awareness about feeling burnt out is vital as immediate action can be taken to avoid getting affected permanently mentally or physically. In this paper, we attempt to define what burnout is, its signs and how to deal with it.

Self Assessment: Evaluation of the Symptoms
There is a popular misunderstanding that burnout is simply being tired; it is a complete exhaustion of the emotions, the brain and the muscles caused by intense stress sustained over time. Some common signs include:

Constant exhaustion: You feel that you are dead even after sleeping fully for over 8 hours.
Disengagement: You may withdraw and cease liking your job or personal life altogether.
Annoyance and fluctuations of emotions: Small tasks become challenging and your ability to wait becomes very limited.
Low output: People under chronic stress cannot concentrate or work which leads to errors and missed deadlines on obligations.

Distinguishing Stress and Burnout
Micro stressors and burnout are often confused and used interchangeably but they are not the same. Stress is usually time limited, triggered by particular circumstances or aspects of one’s environment, while burnout is sustained over a period of time. Stress can make one feel energised in order to accomplish various sparked tasks, while burnout on the other hand, takes energy out of a person and makes them less effective on different levels.

Methods of Recovering
Put Some Days Off: If it is within your capability, try to refrain from doing the necessities of life’s activities. Breaks away from stressors; be it a weekend or a whole holiday can be beneficial in restoring a person’s well-being.

Experience Some Therapy: The therapist can surely provide resources and also ways in assisting someone who is going through phases of burnout. Cognitive-behavioural therapy in particular has been proven effective in that individuals suffering from burnout tend to have a distinct disdain towards some negative cycles in their thoughts.

Change the Amount of Work You Do: These do not necessarily have to be drastic changes, but one should at least let their employer know that they should reduce the number of responsibilities they take on themselves or delegate some. Such measures could relieve some of the heaviness that lies inside and allow more rational workloads to be used.

Practice Some De-stressing Activities: The use of deep breathing exercises, meditation and progressive muscle relaxation are all methods that if practised regularly can prove to be helpful in decreasing tension in the body, and promoting relaxation.

What Can You Control: Focus on what is within your jurisdiction. In our opinion, the major cause of burnout is in general problems. Small improvements in all areas, whether it’s how you communicate with others, plan your day, or even arrange your workplace, can also help.