So, apparently, we are all facing end-of-year fatigue in April already. The exhaustion felt may be related to burnout, which is fatigue caused by being overwhelmed and drained and the inability to perform as expected. As a result, people are not motivated and may sometimes even stop showing up or putting in effort because they are just too tired.
Briefly, burnout is a constant and chronic state of exhaustion, mentally, physically, and emotionally. It can potentially occur in all spaces of your life, either in your personal life with relationships and family, in your work, or even in your academics and studies.
It shows up when the things you generally (used to) look forward to now feel like a chore, and in some intense cases, it may lead to panic attacks and mental breakdowns.
It is important to take care of burnout as soon as you identify it because it could make you feel resentful, either towards your work or the people around you, because you aren’t able to meet the expectations. No one really sees burnout creeping in. We only give it a name once the adverse effects are felt.
These signs are:
- You’re easily irritated. When you think of someone or something and your immediate thought is “ug,” you may need to take a step back and think. Minute tasks like checking your emails feel draining, and you are eerily short-tempered and snappy with people. This is different from compassion fatigue, which is when people become pessimistic because they are exposed to other people’s needs, trauma, and baggage. There will be an article soon going over this in more depth, so subscribe to the newsletter.
- You’re exhausted. All the time. Some people have a tough time falling asleep, others are out cold as soon as their head touches the pillow. And even after sleeping for 12 hours a night, you wake up with a heavy feeling that you have too much to deal with.
- You feel like your work goes unnoticed. This is not to say that you should be expecting applause for everything you do, but in the case of burnout, you feel as though no one sees your effort or input, and it makes you resent the tasks and have a tough time completing them.
- You’re quite literally in pain. You’re no stranger to headaches or muscle aches, which you should be careful about because excessive use of painkillers could lead to dependency and, in the worst-case scenario, addiction.
- Your lifestyle changes for the worse. You skip cleaning, exercising, or cooking meals. At first, it may just be because you don’t have the time to do that today, but when you don’t recall when last you went for a walk or swept your room, then it’s time for remediation. This may also manifest in the opposite way, i.e., by overeating or indulging in things that seem productive, but you aren’t getting the important things done. For more on this, consider reading this article on escapism and why you may be actively procrastinating.
- You’re pessimistic. You can’t be happy for anyone or think of good things for others. You then run the risk of being called uncommitted, disinterested, or not motivated.
- Increased substance intake. It goes without saying that oftentimes people resort to alcohol and drugs to cope with the weight of burnout. This could very well lead to a dependency on substances and cause a domino effect of unhealthy habits and illnesses.
More signs and symptoms include feeling trapped, defeated, detached, isolated, and unsatisfied. It is important to speak to a licensed therapist or mental health practitioner in order to diagnose you accurately. With a professional, you can both identify causes and be provided with a way to manage them.
According to counselor Cinde-Lee Koopman, early signs of burnout are feeling fatigued, especially emotionally, and feeling drained to the point where even a small task takes a lot from a person.
“There are also signs of poor focus and concentration, so productivity drops. And you can also add that one loses interest in things that you once enjoyed,” Koopman said.
Causes:
- Lack of support from family members, partners, or colleagues. If you are always the one picking up after everyone’s slack, and have a lot of people waiting on or relying on you,
- Unrealistic expectations, be it in school, work, or relationships. If there are certain fairytale standards you have to meet, either set by yourself or somebody else, you’ll overwork and kill yourself trying to achieve them.
- Perfectionism, in the sense that you criticize everything and everyone, and sometimes even yourself and your work or how you show up, can lead to feeling burnout because you are overcompensating in order to seem ‘perfect’.
- Conflict-avoidant. In some cases, never speaking your mind or addressing pressing issues and instead bottling these emotions leads to burnout.
- High-pressure environments. Some people who work in critical conditions, i.e., doctors, EMTs, paramedics, firefighters, therapists, police officers, and social workers, are most likely to experience burnout due to the pressures and demands that come with the job.
Koopman stated that constantly being exposed to chronic stress and having poor management can contribute to burnout, adding that this is made worse when we are in a constant state of getting things done without taking the necessary breaks or having boundaries.
Effects on others:
- Withdrawing from spouses, friends, and family. This looks like cancelling plans or rescheduling small things like eating out, watching a movie together, or going out to a spa.
- Constantly picking fights with everyone or having a sharp tongue with everyone and causing people to walk on eggshells around you.
- No longer being affectionate with the people you are around, such as your partner, parents, siblings, and friends.
These behaviours will make the people around you tense and feel helpless because their efforts to diffuse the situation are unsuccessful. Ultimately, they will wonder if this is the new normal, and they will make the decision to either stay and support you or leave for their own peace of mind.
According to Koopman, strained relationships are also a cause of burnout as one is too tired to invest in spending time together, or otherwise, because there is tension, people become snappy and difficult to be around. Ultimately, this makes teamwork and productivity drop, as negativity can spill over to others.
How to deal with it:
- Consider decreasing items on your to-do list. The aim is not to outperform yourself, but to be consistent. So if you can no longer produce results or attend to your studies for 5 hours straight, rather set aside 1 hour where you go all in and then relax and focus on other tasks. One uninterrupted hour a day is much better than 5 hours where you’re barely there and feeling awful about yourself.
- Consider getting enough exercise. You could go hiking, for example. It’ll get your blood flowing, relax your muscles, and provide you with new scenery. Plus, it is a good habit to practice this winter.
- Set more boundaries. You don’t need to socialize with everyone all the time. You don’t need to pick up your colleague’s slack. You don’t need to take that group assignment home and complete it alone – again.
- Look at what you’re prioritising. You may always be available to pick up a friend who has a habit of making bad decisions, and that could result in you feeling burnt out in terms of how needy they are and how you constantly have to be there for them. Being less available frees up your time and creates boundaries with them about how and when you will be available to them. In the same vein, make time for the relationships that matter and make you feel good.
- Delegate tasks. If you are running a business, for example, consider adding more people to your team to help you. This speaks to both reprioritizing and removing things from your to-do list. When you are the one taking care of everything, then you’ll burn your fuse very quickly and end up feeling overwhelmed.
- Set aside time for self-care. Book yourself a massage or take yourself out for dinner. Put effort into making yourself feel good, and watch how you show up. Making time (key phrase: making time) for yourself allows you to recharge, reflect, and do some introspection on which areas you are excelling in, and which ones you need more help in, either by talking to a counsellor or friend, or bringing in someone to quite literally take the burden off of you and do that on your behalf.
Burnout is a state of mental and emotional well-being that should be taken seriously. If you experience multiple symptoms, consider talking to a trusted friend or seeking help from a counselor. With the right support and guidance, you will quickly climb out of this rut and bounce back.
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