I’ve experienced burnout a number of times. 

There are subtle signs which warn me that I’m heading in its direction. I didn’t used to recognise these signs but now that I do, I am able take steps to reduce my stress levels to prevent myself reaching “burnout”. 

I think it’s really important for others to recognise these signs to help themselves too.

WARNING: There’s a problem with these signs. They aren’t exclusive to burnout (they can overlap with other health conditions) & experiencing them doesn’t by definition mean you are burnt out. We will all arguably experience some of these signs at times but the problem is when they persist for long periods... Please seek advice from your doctor if you think this applies to yourself.

There will always be days when we reach our emotional threshold but it usually takes a pretty major incident for us to find ourselves frustrated, irritated or upset... This changes when you’re reaching burnout. The smallest of comments or actions can result in your skin creeping, your blood boiling or tears flowing. It’s as if someone has cut your fuse in half and it now only takes a few seconds before you find yourself hitting your emotional threshold. This results in arguments, tears & negativity which is out of character for you or more frequent than usual. It might be that you manage to hold these emotions in during your working hours (where professionalism is key) yet as soon as you are on your own or in a different environment, the smallest thing can trigger you from a song playing on the radio to the way your spouse walks through the door.

We will all face things during our lives which test & challenge us from work-tasks to social settings... Usually, we can cope with these challenges & tolerate them to a certain degree but this can change when you’re reaching burnout. You might find yourself feeling anxious in social settings which usually wouldn’t concern you. You might find yourself feeling overburdened by simple tasks which you would normally do with ease. There’s an underlying feeling that you just can’t cope with all the plates you have spinning & it doesn’t take much for you to feel like you’re about to drop them. At it’s worse, this feeling of overwhelm can leave you detaching yourself from all your responsibilities, social situations & those around you in an attempt to avoid these feelings.

You might not even realise you’re doing this but you choose to spend more & more time on your own. You start to disconnect & isolate yourself from those around you... You might think this is you “needing to get more work done” or feeling like “you need to rest” but it is you choosing (subconsciously or consciously) to isolate yourself such that you spend less & less time surrounded by others. You might go as far as questioning whether you are an introvert, ignoring how you would previously enjoy the company of others (even if that was just time spent with family members or company of a close friend).

This can present in various shapes & sizes from not wanting to wash your hair to neglecting to brush your teeth to choosing different meals to cook (or order as a takeaway) because you feel like you don’t have the energy at the end of a working day. These changes in our self-care routines & lifestyle choices can be another sign of burnout approaching... It is natural for us to want to have some days where we don’t get properly dressed (it’s always a novelty to work with our laptop on the sofa) but repeated patterns of behaviour like this could be a sign of your self-care deteriorating with burnout around the corner.

There will always be days when we find it harder to get started than others but these can happen more frequently as you approach burnout... You can find yourself easily distracted; picking up your phone or doing other things to avoid starting your work (even when you have a clear jobs list in front of you). Alternatively, it might be that you can’t formulate a clear jobs list... Your ability to problem solve simple things such as choosing what you should be doing next leaves you feeling overwhelmed & as an easy option, you resort to avoiding it all together. Anyone want a cup of tea?

This is always the biggest warning sign for me.... You feel exhausted but you can’t bring yourself to stop & slow down. Your brain continues to move at 100 miles per hour such that even when you’re lying in bed with your eyes half closing you catch yourself scrolling from app to app checking for notifications or reading random news articles. You fill your brain with thoughts & tasks to keep yourself busy when you usually would be able to switch off... This business isn’t always work related. 

I think it’s really important that we each become more self-aware when it comes to burnout (especially for those of us working in professions which are more susceptible to it such as healthcare).

It’s impossible for us to avoid it if we don’t even recognise the signs that it is around the corner….

I hope you have found this post helpful. Let me know if you’ve found this blog post helpful just send me an email (elle@gabrielletodd.com). Alternatively, click here to be kept updated with new blog posts!