When you look up the word “burnout,” you will see several definitions: The reduction of a fuel or substance to nothing through use of combustion. The failure of an electrical component or device through overheating.
Some of the words in those definitions—reduction to nothing, failure, overheating—can help understand the emotional burnout you are experiencing.
The term “burnout” was first used in 1975 by psychologist Herbert J. Freudenberger in referring to workers in clinics with heavy caseloads. Burnout is usually associated with work. It is common to feel some job-related stress. For most people, they want to do their job well because their job matters to them. The get a sense of accomplishment and meaning from it. You feel the stress because you care.
Burnout is different from normal job stress. Most work stress is episodic. You have a busy time working on a project, and things return to a normal pace. If you are experiencing burnout, it is hard to feel like the stress has subsided. It is difficult to stay balanced and regulate yourself.
Burnout is usually associated with work. However, you can feel the signs of burnout in any stressful environment: school, parenting, romantic relationships.
Burnout is important to identify and address. Because chronic stress is a part of burnout, it is easy to assume that this is “just the way it is.” But burnout can lead to significant emotional and physical problems. Depending on your job, it can lead to safety issues or poor job performance. So, it is important to know what burnout looks like and how it feels.
1. Emotional exhaustion
It is common for you to get to the end of the day, and instead of feeling, a sense of accomplishment or a ‘good tired,’ you feel all used up. You wake up after a good night’s sleep and still feel tired. The first thought when you wake up is that really don’t want to go to work. Or perhaps you are not able to go to sleep or stay asleep because you are thinking about a situation at work.
2. Problems with coworkers
You find yourself being short with people at work. The camaraderie and concern that you felt for your coworkers is no longer there; they are just people. You don’t feel like you are part of the team; you are just a person doing the job. Maybe some of your coworkers have asked you several times if everything is okay.
3. A reduced sense of accomplishment
You have this constant thought that you are not really good at your job, even though no one is saying that to you. Even when you complete a task, you have this nagging feeling that you have left something undone or haven’t done the job well.
4. Working too many hours
Ironically, while you are losing the pleasure and meaning you have in your job, you are spending a lot of time at work. It is important to know why this happens.
You may be a person who has trouble saying “no.” When you are asked to do a task, it’s like your sense of self is tied up in being able to do it.
You need to be in control. Even when the opportunity is there to share the tasks of a project with a coworker, you tell yourself that they aren’t really up to the job. This is about the anxiety that comes from needing to control. You may be struggling with trusting others or expecting the worst to happen. You picture all the mistakes that could occur. You are a perfectionist.
Again, everyone experiences stress at work and in other areas of our lives. But with burnout, it feels like the stress never goes away or lessens.
In my next post, I will offer some suggestions for dealing with burnout. If you would like to learn more about Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), please visit my stress reduction specialty page.