Navigating Burnout
What is burnout?
Burnout is chronic physical and emotional exhaustion from prolonged stress. It’s not just tiredness or laziness; it’s a gradual erosion of energy, motivation, and purpose. Rather than the root problem, burnout is a signal that the body and mind have been neglected.
Psychologist Christina Maslach, in her multidisciplinary theory, identifies three key dimensions of burnout:
Emotional Exhaustion – Feeling drained and unable to cope
Depersonalization – Emotional distancing from life, self, and responsibilities
Reduced Personal Accomplishment – A sense of failure or lack of meaning in the work we complete
Navigating Misconceptions
Burnout is a response to external conditions, shaped by work environments, social identities, cultural narratives, and systemic pressures.
💡 Consider: The effects of capitalist productivity culture, systemic oppression, the mental health aftermath of COVID-19, and social media comparison culture.
Though common across contexts, burnout is often misunderstood. Let’s explore and debunk these misconceptions below.
Burnout is just stress
Yes, stress is a component — while burnout is different in that it is a chronic and cumulative process. Stress involves over-engagement while burnout leads to disengagement and depletion.
This is a personal failure
Burnout is not about individual weakness — it is a systemic concern. It often (not always) results from unsustainable work environments, lack of support, emotional labor, and value misalignment.
A break is all I need
While rest is necessary, burnout requires deeper intervention. Without structural or psychological changes, symptoms often return after a break or vacation.
If I just try harder, I can push through
Burnout often stems from doing too much for too long. More effort with deepen this cycle. Creating space for healing requires slowing down, reassessing values, and making changes — that are often uncomfortable, yet manageable, to implement.
Burnout and You — Noticing the Signs
No list is complete when discussing the individualized experiences of burnout, but here are a few signs to keep an eye out for as you navigate your life.
🔥 Emotional: You feel exhaustion that rest cannot fix, irritability, and loss of motivation
🔥 Cognitive: Difficulty with concentration, challenges with memory and recurrent negative self talk
🔥 Physical: Chronic fatigue, headaches, sleep difficulties, changes in appetite and increased vulnerability to illness (as prolonged stress weakens the immune system)
🔥 Behavioral: Social withdrawal, procrastination, and the usage of coping strategies that numb sensations (e.g. increased substance use, doom scrolling)
🔥 Systemic: Constant conflict and challenge arise as you are stuck in a system that expects more than you can give. You recognize shame for struggling, even when your plate is overloaded
Off The Page: Actioning The Insights
What do I do now? — Responding to burnout in adaptive ways
No change is facilitated overnight, yet, these strategies below can be incorporated into your daily life to experience a shift when practiced. These strategies are dose dependent — meaning that true transformation is cultivated when strategies are incorporated into your day to day.
Set Boundaries
Practice with protecting your energy and time by saying no, limiting overcommitment, and carving out space for restorative self care
Reconnect with Meaning
Take space to reflectively consider your values. What are you working towards? What destination are you running to? What truly matters to you and do your behaviors actually support you in getting there?
Seek Support
Dedicate space for vulnerable processing with trusted loved ones. Burnout thrives in isolation and connection can be a salve that grows in impact over time.
Assess and Adjust
Evaluate what is truthfully unsustainable from your perspective. See where you are able to make small consistent changes to reduce the sensation of chronic strain.
💡 Remember: These strategies aren’t a fix-all—and they may feel hard to apply at first. That’s not failure, it’s part of the process. Burnout recovery is non-linear. My ask is simple: begin again, as often as needed. Let your experience guide you, and adjust as you go. Healing lies in the trying, not in doing it perfectly.
Thank You
Thank you for joining me this week! I’m excited to keep sharing insights from my work, research, and personal journey with you.
Did something resonate with you? Curious about applying these strategies in your life? Or know someone who might benefit?
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