Now more than ever the pressure is on. Constant consumption of hustle harder and no days off is creating the burnout culture. We often use the term burnout loosely but, in reality burnout is harmful to your well being and can lead to serious health conditions. Burnout is the result of chronic stress due to physical, mental and emotional overload. It’s usually accompanied by lack of drive, productivity and a whole slew of physical symptoms that vary from person to person. How do you know if you’re approaching burnout? Here are the 5 phases of burnout:
While burnout can affect anyone, high achieving personalities are more prone to burnout. More often the need to achieve, setting unrealistic goals, underestimating the workload of projects, willing to work tirelessly and “do whatever it takes,” sets the stage for burnout.
As the stress on our body begins to slow us down, we begin to overcompensate by working harder and sleeping less. What used to feel like solvable problems now feel insurmountable. Fear creeps in and we ignore it, passing the blame to others. We become more critical of the people we work with, feel increasingly irritable, lose interest in our work and begin to doubt our own abilities.
If preventative measures aren’t taken in phase 2, you’ll begin to notice physical and or mental evidence of stress, which include but aren’t limited to:
Anxiety
Loss of Sleep
Teeth Grinding
Heart Palpitations
Inability to concentrate
Headaches
Once you’re in stage four, the stress has taken a toll on your body, mind and spirit. In an effort to protect yourself, you may begin to conserve energy at a subconscious level. You may have an increased need for extra days off, miss deadlines, show up late for work, feel restless or withdraw from your social life. It’s imperative you begin listening to the warning signs and change your lifestyle or your body will begin to shut down like mine did (more on that later.)
Here we are, the point where you’re burned out bad! Chances are you ignored the warning signs and kept pushing yourself to the point of absolute exhaustion. Most people who get to this stage feel validated by achievement and don’t know who they’d be if they slowed down. The fear of losing their identity makes them sick. This is the stage where your body forces you to slow down by stopping you physically. In this stage you may even feel so sick you go to the ER. Physical manifestations of full blown burnout may look like this:
Depression
Extreme Exhaustion
Stomach Problems
Physical, mental or emotional fatigue
Migraines
Vertigo
Numbing of the face or hands
The desire to move away from friends, work and even family.
While I always recommend taking preventive measures, please seek help from a medical professional if you feel your health is being compromised. How am I qualified to write about this you ask? Well, four years ago chronic stress and burnout nearly killed me by way of cardiac arrest! Yes, my heart stopped while on a jog from pushing through burnout time and time again. I am lucky to be alive today! I allowed myself to get to the point where I forgot what normal felt like. I was fueled by caffeine and always in some form of pain yet pushed and pushed and pushed until my body said no more.
Today, it has become my mission to help women beat the burnout so they can feel energized and fulfilled.The biggest lesson I’ve learned is, you have to slow down to speed up! The world is moving faster than ever and making selfcare a priority is a must so you can stay grounded, find clarity and be focused. My favorite way to beat the burnout is my non-negotiable morning routine. It allows me to live more intentionally and sets the tone for the day. It’s a game changer and has transformed my life in so many positive ways.
If you’d like to implement a morning routine and don’t know where to start, I’ve created a free 15 minute morning routine cheat sheet. It’s a great way to ease into intentional living and feel relief from stress right away. If you’re feeling stressed, anxious or burnt out, I urge you to find one thing that will make you feel good and do it! Be easy on yourself and know you are worthy, you matter and you are loved.