An Introduction to Burnout
Burnout is increasingly common and I often have people ask how they can support themselves, their teams and their loved ones who are struggling with it.
This article summarises the key essentials of burnout to help you identify it.
What is Burnout?
Burnout is a feeling of intense exhaustion that can impact you mentally, emotionally and physically.
What Causes Burnout?
There are many causes of burnout. Below are some of the more common causes .
Stress
Burnout is usually caused by prolonged or repeated stress. Or there can be one big stressor that is too much for you to handle.
While most people immediately assume work is the main culprit (and often it is), burnout stressors can appear anywhere in our lives. I’ve spoken with people whose main stressors come from parenting, caretaking, romantic relationships, the economy and so on.
Life can be stressful in general, and all those stressors, big and small, add up.
Open Loops and Rumination
If something is bothering you and you keep mulling it over, that’s taking up mental energy. Maybe you almost make a decision then change your mind, only to reassess it again at a later date. When you have open loops or are repeatedly ruminating over the same issue, your baseline mental load is higher. Try to catch these and solve them. If they can’t be solved now, journal them or pop them on a TODO list to get them out of your head. Too many open loops are like having too many browser tabs open. They’ll deplete your resources even if you’re sure you’re not actively thinking about them.
Feeling Like You Can’t Switch Off
Whether it’s work emails and Slack; parenting; or even something like social media; we have countless things fighting for our attention. While we can’t control all of them, we can limit their impact. Social media is a big topic for another article, but if you’re struggling with burnout, it’s worth reassessing your relationship with your phone and apps. If Slack and emails are constantly pinging or you find yourself habitually checking them; ask whether you REALLY need to read that message at 10pm. Chances are you dont.
For leaders; this area is incredibly important. If you’re on your emails or Slack late at night and messaging your team; they’re going to feel like they need to be online too. They will mirror your behaviour. Don’t burn out your team; schedule that message to send later.
Chasing Constant Productivity and Optimisation
All around us people are maxing everything. Fibremaxxing. Proteinmaxxing. Tokenmaxxing (yes, that’s a thing the AI folks are increasingly doing). We’re in a world where it feels like everything has to be faster, better, repeatedly improving. Chasing perfection is a fruitless goal. You can’t always go at full speed; it’s not good for you. We’re not built to live this way. As technology evolves at an ever increasing rate, we as humans do not evolve as quickly. If you feel like you constantly have to be maximising everything, you’ll likely end up minimising your mental health. Remember we need to pause and recharge; we aren’t machines.
Not Fully Resting or Recharging
Rest is not a reward, it is part of the process. Your holiday allowance at work is something you’re legally entitled to. Take it. Book holidays spread throughout the year to keep your battery topped up before it gets to zero. If you’ve ever got to the Christmas break or your long awaited summer holiday only to immediately fall sick as soon as you stop working; you’ve gone too far and needed to rest sooner.
Founders and leaders are particularly bad for not taking their holidays. You feel like if you stop working, something might come crashing down. But the risks of things crashing are much worse if you end up burning out. Take care of yourself and your team. Take your holidays.
Neurodivergence and Burnout
Burnout is a well reported impact of neurodivergence, and worth an article in its own right. However I wanted to briefly mention it as someone who was late diagnosed with ADHD at 41 and who is currently awaiting an AuDHD diagnosis. I lived most of my life unaware I was neurodivergent, and it turns out that when you wear a mask every day and try to fit in with neurotypical ways of working and living, that becomes exhausting. I firmly believe my neurodivergence contributed to my three big burnouts and now champion for people to live and work in ways that work for their individual brains.
If you’re a founder or leader who is neurodivergent (or think you may be), there are many things you can do to make your day-to-day life easier and less stressful. We often wait for others to give us permission, but as leaders, we can often make those changes. Not only will they help you, but they’ll help the neurodivergent people in your team too.
People Pleasing & Lack of Boundaries
Regularly making yourself uncomfortable to keep others happy is a recipe for stress and burnout. Many of us, especially women, are raised to be quiet, polite, keep the peace. And unfortunately when we carry that into adulthood we can end up living a life we don’t enjoy. Over time, this can lead to resentment and stress while also feeling trapped and as though you can’t speak up for yourself. It takes courage and practice to set boundaries. It’s even harder to hold them. But you can do it.
Don’t set yourself on fire to keep others warm.
The Feelings of Burnout
Exhaustion is the common feeling, but there are many others that can occur at the same time. Every person’s experience with burnout is unique to them, and different people will have different combinations of feelings. The feelings can change as your burnout develops too.
These are common feelings encountered by myself, my clients, and people I’ve spoken with at events:
Anxious
Cynical
Detached
Depleted
Embarassed
Envious
Exhausted (mentally, emotionally, physically)
Frustrated
Guilty
Helpless
Hopeless
Isolated
Lazy
Like a failure
Lonely
Lost
Misaligned
Numb
On edge
Overwhelmed
Resentful
Restless
The house of cards (if you stop, everything will come crashing down)
Trapped
Underwhelmed
Wired-but-tired…
As you can see, it’s a long list that goes far beyond feeling “a bit tired”.
It’s important to note that the feelings of burnout overlap with many other medical conditions. If you’re struggling with any of these symptoms it is always best to speak to your doctor, a medical practitioner or a qualified therapist before engaging with a coach.
Early Warning Signs of Burnout
It can take a while to recognise your early warning signs. Aside from the feelings, someone with burnout might also:
Be more quiet or subdued than usual. This could be during meetings at work or at home.
Have an increased rate of sickness. My personal experience is that I often get colds when I’m exhausted and if I don’t stop to rest, they will develop into recurring chest infections which eventually force me to stop. This has happened for all three of my burnouts and so now I take notice whenever I get sick and let myself stop to recover.
Looking tired, sad or a bit “off”
Lower patience or being snappy
Work quality slipping or making silly mistakes that usually wouldn’t happen
More cynical or checked out at work
Losing passion for work or hobbies
Withdrawing from social interactions
Increased procrastination or trouble starting
The performative “I’m fine”.
Feeling like no matter how much you sleep or rest, it isn’t enough.
Sometimes these can be hard to spot, especially in a remote-work situation. They also happen for reasons that aren’t burnout. Sometimes a cold is just a cold. We all have bad days. But if these things are reoccurring or getting worse for someone, it’s worth checking in with how they’re feeling.
The Risks of Untreated Burnout
The longer burnout goes undiagnosed and untreated, the worse the implications. Not only will the exhaustion and symptoms get worse, but it could take you much longer to recover. I speak from experience that when you don’t stop, eventually your body may force you to.
For those who lead teams or businesses, if someone in your team is burning out and they don’t have the support they need, you risk losing them from your team due to sick leave or resignation. Too many people bounce out of careers they once loved and businesses they used to enjoy working it, because they feel like there’s no sustainable way to work. The better you protect your teams’ health (including your own), the better your business will run.
Treating Burnout
Treating burnout takes time. It’s not something that can be rushed, unfortunately.
Speaking from experience, the longer you leave the symptoms unchecked, the longer the recovery will take. If your gut instinct is telling you you’re burning out, please speak to a doctor, therapist or a burnout coach to help you with it.
Some of the key ways you can help yourself initially are:
Determine what your key stressors are. The list of common causes above will help you get started. Some might take a while to fix, so chip away at the small recurring things if you can’t quite tackle the big ones yet.
Switch off as often as you can. Book a holiday, or take a full evening/weekend off from notifications on your devices.
Get outside in nature without music or a podcast, even if it’s just for 5-10 minutes. Listen to the birds or the wind rustling in the trees. Literally touch grass. Nature is incredibly healing and you’ll feel your nervous system slowly start to reset the more you slow down and give yourself breathing space.
Turn off your phone at night and charge it outside your bedroom to help you sleep better
Talk to someone; a friend, a colleague, a coach. Feeling seen can immediately take some of the weight off your shoulders.
There is Hope
If you, or someone you care about, are struggling with burnout please know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. While it might not feel possible to claw your way out of it when you’re in the depths of it, I speak from experience that it is possible.
If you can make small changes, tiny steps, to improve your stress levels each day, over time they will compound into a noticeable positive change to your life.
Start small, be kind to yourself, and take it one day at a time.
I Can Help
If this article resonated with you and you’d like support with burnout, I’d love to help. You can find details on my coaching services here or feel free to send me a message.
Further Reading
Burnout article on Psychology Today
About Cat
Cat Burton is an executive coach specialising in burnout prevention and recovery. With a career that spans almost 2 decades in the game industry, creative tech and startups, Cat rose to the ranks of founder, CEO, CTO and CPO. While on paper, that all looks great, she spent much of that time repeatedly burning out and struggling behind the scenes. Cat now uses her hard won lessons on burnout, stress management and sustainable success to help other ambitious people who are struggling.
