Google, the world’s most popular search engine, processes over a billion requests every single day. Recently in its Year in Search data, the reigning themes of 2021 emerged, and not too surprisingly, they were all about mental health, healing, and pulling together. The world seemed optimistic and it collectively googled terms like ‘how to heal’, ‘how to stay strong’, ‘how to remain hopeful’, and ‘how to make a comeback.’ Part of the reason for these searches had to be the collective burnout humankind is experiencing now.
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines burnout as the ‘physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance, and negative attitudes toward oneself and others.’ In other words, burnout is what you feel when you’re overwhelmed with your professional responsibilities and feel unable to keep up.
How is burnout different from stress?
Stress involves having too much to do, work and responsibility-wise. Burnout involves feeling like you don’t have enough, think in terms of time, energy and motivation. When you’re stressed, you’re still able to get things done whereas being burnt out can make you feel like you’re too tired to function.
Signs of burnout
Burnout in all our lives may manifest itself differently but early intervention can play a big role in managing it. Below are some common symptoms of being burnt out.
Lack of sleep
Not being able to sleep or reduced sleep quality are the earliest signs of burnout. In fact, getting less than six hours of sleep is a symptom that you are setting your body up to feel extreme fatigue and tiredness.
Feeling overwhelmed
As we continue to work from home, boundaries between office hours and personal time slowly start blurring. If it seems like you can never switch off from work, you have a problem.
Experiencing feelings of self-doubt
Doubting your experience and skill set is also a sign. Burnout doesn’t happen overnight, it creeps up on you and slowly chips away your self-esteem and confidence.
Isolating yourself
Pushing away loved ones because you don’t feel like you belong amongst them is a sign that you’re on the wrong path.
Little to no motivation to carry out activities
When we feel little or no motivation and have to deal with a lack of productivity, taking a step might help. When we’re dealing with burnout, even doing things that normally bring us joy doesn’t help.
5 tips to deal with burnout
Reach out to other people
Confiding your feelings in your near and dear ones can help you feel less alone. Try to break the cycle of thinking about what bothers you and instead, try to enjoy the time you’re spending with your friends and family.
Change your perspective about work
It is important to focus on the parts of your role that you enjoy because every job will have mundane things to do that you won’t always enjoy. Try to find a balance at work by interacting with your co-workers and work on building connections with people who help make work seem less monotonous.
Set boundaries
By far the most important thing to do at work is to set boundaries. Take time to think about your priorities, both long- as well as short-term, and see if your activities align with them. Saying yes to things you don’t want to do comes at the cost of you saying no to stuff that actually brings you joy.
Be mindful
Being fully present and aware of what feeling at every moment, without interpretation or judgment is important. At work, this might involve facing situations with extreme patience, and without judgment.
Limit distractions
When you’re working from home, it is easier to give in to the temptation to watch Netflix or doomscroll on social media every two minutes. But, giving in means you’ll end up procrastinating which leads to longer working hours. Try to avoid losing focus by staying away from distractions during work hours so you can wrap up on time.