Burnout 101

It’s 2024 and most of the world seems to have experienced some degree of burnout by now. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t particularly enjoy it, so now I’m doing everything I can to prevent it from happening again/too often—starting with some of my own obsessive research and ending, naturally, with a fully-guided burnout bot that will enable us all to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after.

(For those of you who have tried Sleepbot, I can’t wait for you to meet our shiny new bot!)

Anyway, these blog posts will serve as a chronicle for everything we’ve learned during the product development phase. This is the first (of hopefully many) posts about the basics, like…

What even is burnout?

In 2019, the WHO officially recognized burnout as a disease, but also defined it as an “occupational phenomenon“. Thankfully, our post-pandemic, contemporary understanding of burnout has expanded past those parameters.

Generally speaking, burnout is understood as the exhaustion that comes from the chronic stress of your circumstances overwhelming your coping mechanisms.

There’s been interesting research suggesting four distinct phases of burnout, delineated by measurable increases of the stress hormone cortisol:

1. Engagement: a normal level of cortisol that instigates engagement, like how stress over final exams motivated us to pull all-nighters.
2. Strain: cortisol levels are officially high and fatigue is common.
3. Cynicism: cortisol levels peak and dedication crashes while the employee struggles to cope with declining mental health.
4. Burnout: exhaustion sets in, so even the smallest stressors feel insurmountable.

Sound familiar?

What causes burnout?

It’s not solely an “occupational phenomenon”—any part (or more likely, many parts) of your life can overwhelm or drain you with constant demands on your attention and time.

Societal factors

• Cultural norms that glorify overwork and sacrifice (“No pain, no gain”)
• Economic pressures and job insecurity
• Stigma around seeking help and mental health

Work-related causes of burnout

• High workload and job demands
• Poor work-life balance and lapsed boundaries
• Misalignment between job and personal values
• Sense of injustice or unfair treatment
• Lack of control over work tasks and decision making
• Inadequate support from supervisors and colleagues
• Lack of recognition or reward for good work

Personal causes of burnout

• Perfectionism and unrealistic expectations
• Difficulty setting boundaries and setting no
• Neglecting personal needs / prioritizing others’ needs over one’s own

Why did we all have it during the pandemic?

Think of all the additional stress that was dumped on us over the past four years: fear and anxiety over your own and your loved ones’ physical safety, extended social isolation, inability to escape your immediate situation (let alone go on vacation), uncertainty over when a vaccine would be developed, job insecurity and furloughs, remote work, remote work with children at home, global economic insecurity, mass layoffs, political instability…

All that, on top of the usual suffering inherent to human existence? We didn’t stand a chance.

How do I know if I have burnout?

There are 3 tell-tale signs of burnout (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001).:

1. Lack of energy and emotional exhaustion; feeling overextended and depleted of inner resources
2. Cynicism, negativity, and/or excessive detachment
3. Poor performance and a subsequent reduced sense of competence

More specific symptoms might include:

• Physical:
  • Chronic fatigue and sleep disturbances
  • Headaches, muscle tension, GI issues
  • Weakened immune system
• Emotional
  • Feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and irritability
  • Mood swings, anxiety, depression
  • Loss of enjoyment in previously pleasurable activities
  • Sense of failure, self-doubt, and feeling trapped
• Behavioral
  • Withdrawal from social interactions and increased isolation
  • Decreased productivity and difficulty concentrating
  • Escapist behaviors (excessive screen time or substance abuse)

Here’s the part where I responsibly encourage you to seek professional help

If you’re experiencing these symptoms, the first step is to identify what in your life is causing it—and there may be multiple sources. It may also be worth visiting a PCP to check for a thyroid condition or iron deficiency.

If you’re able, it would definitely be worth seeing a therapist to help you with your burnout, especially you think it’s caused by multiple life stressors.

In my personal experience, burnout can be a slippery slope to depression, which can be a slippery slope to insomnia and/or anxiety, so the professional support can be invaluable—just make sure to take the time to find the right therapist for you!

But if you’re like me and don’t have access to doctors…

Let’s move on to the 6 step guide for burnout recovery