Back to Routine. Back to Burnout?
Now that you’ve settle a little into the fall routine—kids are back in school, summer getaways have ended—you may find yourself refreshed and feeling ready to tackle whatever it is that’s coming up at work. That is a sign of a summer well spent!
Feeling so good might have you taking on more projects at work or overscheduling your time. In order to try and keep a balance (at least most of the time), it is important to notice any signs of burnout early on. While that term can feel scary and so serious that you think “nah, I’d notice if anything was off”, burnout can creep in in ways that you might think are normal. Unfortunately, many workplaces have made these symptoms acceptable and even encourage competition around the water cooler.
Here are five signs to watch out for:
- Poor performance. Usually, you find you can start and finish projects to your own set of standards, but lately you feel like you can’t keep up or give the level you want at work.
- Reduced creativity. This is a sneaky symptom since it can be difficult to differentiate between a creative block and being overworked as the culprit. If you’ve tried some usual ways to break out of a rut—focusing on a different project, going for a walk, working to some music—it might be because you are overworked and have nothing left in your creative tank.
- Exhaustion. This one can be tricky. Often as adults we just accept that we should feel tired all the time. In fact, some of us wear it like a badge of honour, bragging about how little sleep we can run on or how many coffees we’ve had during the day. But this will feel like exhaustion that is unmanageable no matter how much you rest or try and go to bed early. You may even have trouble keeping your eyes open during work hours.
- Physical symptoms. Our bodies often give us little signs we’re out of balance. When we don’t listen to them, those signs start to get louder and louder and can become debilitating. This might look like stomach or digestive issues that interrupt your daily life, headaches stronger than usual, or even heart palpitations.
- Cynicism. This is a way to detach from your work projects and colleagues. Generally, you feel jaded about expectations and pessimistic. You might even start to resent people you work with because you believe them getting an easy ride. This might look like gossiping about colleagues and negative conversations about your work with friends and family.
It can be tempting to push through these symptoms to “just get through it.” But the truth is: there will always be more work in your personal and professional life. Learning to recognize the signs of burnout means you can bring (or keep) more balance and pleasure to your every day.
💛 Your peace awaits.
