Preventing Burnout

Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Coping Strategies

If constant stress has you feeling disillusioned, helpless, and completely worn out, you may be
suffering from burnout. When you’re burned out, problems seem insurmountable, everything
looks bleak, and it’s difficult to muster up the energy to care—let alone do something about your
situation.

The unhappiness and detachment burnout causes can threaten your job, your relationships, and
your health. But burnout can be healed. If you recognize the signs and symptoms of burnout in
its early stages, simple stress management strategies may be enough to solve the problem. In the
later stages of burnout, recovery may take more time and effort, but you can still regain your
balance by reassessing your priorities, making time for yourself, and seeking support.

In This Article:

 What is burnout?
 Difference between stress and burnout
 Causes of burnout
 Warning signs and symptoms
 Preventing burnout
 Recovering from burnout
 Coping with job burnout
 Related links

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What is burnout?
Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and
prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As
the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain
role in the first place.

Burnout reduces your productivity and saps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly
helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing more
to give.

Most of us have days when we feel bored, overloaded, or unappreciated; when the dozen balls
we keep in the air aren’t noticed, let alone rewarded; when dragging ourselves out of bed
requires the determination of Hercules. If you feel like this most of the time, however, you may
be flirting with burnout.

You may be on the road to burnout if:

 Every day is a bad day.

 Caring about your work or home life seems like a total waste of energy.
 You’re exhausted all the time.
 The majority of your day is spent on tasks you find either mind-numbingly dull or
overwhelming.
 You feel like nothing you do makes a difference or is appreciated.

The negative effects of burnout spill over into every area of life – including your home and
social life. Burnout can also cause long-term changes to your body that make you vulnerable to
illnesses like colds and flu. Because of its many consequences, it’s important to deal with
burnout right away.

Dealing with Burnout: The "Three R" Approach

 Recognize – Watch for the warning signs of burnout

 Reverse – Undo the damage by managing stress and seeking support
 Resilience – Build your resilience to stress by taking care of your physical and emotional
health

The difference between stress and burnout

Burnout may be the result of unrelenting stress, but it isn’t the same as too much stress. Stress,
by and large, involves too much: too many pressures that demand too much of you physically
and psychologically. Stressed people can still imagine, though, that if they can just get
everything under control, they’ll feel better.

Burnout, on the other hand, is about not enough. Being burned out means feeling empty, devoid
of motivation, and beyond caring. People experiencing burnout often don’t see any hope of
positive change in their situations. If excessive stress is like drowning in responsibilities, burnout
is being all dried up. One other difference between stress and burnout: While you’re usually
aware of being under a lot of stress, you don’t always notice burnout when it happens.

Stress vs. Burnout

Stress Burnout
Characterized by overengagement Characterized by disengagement
Emotions are overreactive Emotions are blunted
Produces urgency and hyperactivity Produces helplessness and hopelessness
Loss of energy Loss of motivation, ideals, and hope
Leads to anxiety disorders Leads to detachment and depression
Primary damage is physical Primary damage is emotional
May kill you prematurely May make life seem not worth living
Source: Stress and Burnout in Ministry

Causes of burnout
There are many causes of burnout. In many cases, burnout stems from the job. But anyone who
feels overworked and undervalued is at risk for burnout – from the hardworking office worker
who hasn’t had a vacation or a raise in two years to the frazzled stay-at-home mom struggling
with the heavy responsibility of taking care of three kids, the housework, and her aging father.

But burnout is not caused solely by stressful work or too many responsibilities. Other factors
contribute to burnout, including your lifestyle and certain personality traits. What you do in your
downtime and how you look at the world can play just as big of a role in causing burnout as
work or home demands.          

Work-related causes of burnout

 Feeling like you have little or no control over your work.  

 Lack of recognition or rewards for good work.
 Unclear or overly demanding job expectations.
 Doing work that’s monotonous or unchallenging.
 Working in a chaotic or high-pressure environment

Lifestyle causes of burnout

 Working too much, without enough time for relaxing and socializing
 Being expected to be too many things to too many people.
 Taking on too many responsibilities, without enough help from others
 Not getting enough sleep
 Lack of close, supportive relationships

Personality traits can contribute to burnout

 Perfectionistic tendencies; nothing is ever good enough

  Pessimistic view of yourself and the world
 The need to be in control; reluctance to delegate to others
 High-achieving, Type A personality

Caregiver Burnout

Caring for a sick family member or disabled child can cause burnout, especially if the situation is
chronic and you have little support. But there is help available!

Read: Preventing Caregiver Burnout: Tips and Resources for Caregivers

Warning signs and symptoms of burnout

Burnout is a gradual process that occurs over an extended period of time. It doesn’t happen
overnight, but it can creep up on you if you’re not paying attention to the warning signals. The
signs and symptoms of burnout are subtle at first, but they get worse and worse as time goes on.

Think of the early symptoms of burnout as warning signs or red flags that something is wrong
that needs to be addressed. If you pay attention to these early warning signs, you can prevent a
major breakdown. If you ignore them, you’ll eventually burn out.

Physical signs and symptoms of burnout

 Feeling tired and drained most of the  Frequent headaches, back pain, muscle
time aches
 Lowered immunity, feeling sick a lot  Change in appetite or sleep habits

Emotional signs and symptoms of burnout

 Sense of failure and self-doubt  Loss of motivation

 Feeling helpless, trapped, and defeated  Increasingly cynical and negative
 Detachment, feeling alone in the world outlook
 Decreased satisfaction and sense of
accomplishment

Behavioral signs and symptoms of burnout

 Withdrawing from responsibilities  Using food, drugs, or alcohol to cope

 Isolating yourself from others  Taking out your frustrations on others
 Procrastinating, taking longer to get  Skipping work or coming in late and
things done leaving early
Preventing burnout
If you recognize the warning signs of impending burnout in yourself, remember that it will only
get worse if you leave it alone. But if you take steps to get your life back into balance, you can
prevent burnout from becoming a full-blown breakdown.

Burnout prevention tips

 Start the day with a relaxing ritual. Rather jumping out of bed as soon as you wake up,
spend at least fifteen minutes meditating, writing in your journal, doing gentle stretches,
or reading something that inspires you.
 Adopt healthy eating, exercising, and sleeping habits. When you eat right, engage in
regular physical activity, and get plenty of rest, you have the energy and resilience to deal
with life’s hassles and demands. 
 Set boundaries. Don’t overextend yourself. Learn how to say “no” to requests on your
time. If you find this difficult, remind yourself that saying “no” allows you to say “yes”
to the things that you truly want to do.
 Take a daily break from technology. Set a time each day when you completely
disconnect. Put away your laptop, turn off your phone, and stop checking email.
 Nourish your creative side. Creativity is a powerful antidote to burnout. Try something
new, start a fun project, or resume a favorite hobby. Choose activities that have nothing
to do with work.
 Learn how to manage stress. When you’re on the road to burnout, you may feel
helpless. But you have a lot more control over stress than you may think. Learning how
to manage stress can help you regain your balance.

To learn more, see Stress Management: How to Reduce, Prevent, and Cope with Stress

Recovering from burnout

Sometimes it’s too late to prevent burnout – you’re already past the breaking point. If that’s the
case, it’s important to take your burnout very seriously. Trying to push through the exhaustion
and continue as you have been will only cause further emotional and physical damage.

While the tips for preventing burnout are still helpful at this stage, recovery requires additional
steps.

Burnout recovery strategy #1: Slow down

When you’ve reached the end stage of burnout, adjusting your attitude or looking after your
health isn’t going to solve the problem. You need to force yourself to slow down or take a break.
Cut back whatever commitments and activities you can. Give yourself time to rest, reflect, and
heal.

Burnout recovery strategy #2: Get support

When you’re burned out, the natural tendency is to protect what little energy you have left by
isolating yourself. But your friends and family are more important than ever during difficult
times. Turn to your loved ones for support. Simply sharing your feelings with another person can
relieve some of the burden.

Burnout recovery strategy #3: Reevaluate your goals and priorities

Burnout is an undeniable sign that something important in your life is not working. Take time to
think about your hopes, goals, and dreams. Are you neglecting something that is truly important
to you? Burnout can be an opportunity to rediscover what really makes you happy and to change
course accordingly. 

Recovering from burnout: Acknowledge your losses

Burnout brings with it many losses, which can often go unrecognized. Unrecognized losses trap a
lot of your energy. It takes a tremendous amount of emotional control to keep yourself from
feeling the pain of these losses. When you recognize these losses and allow yourself to grieve
them, you release that trapped energy and open yourself to healing.

 Loss of the idealism or dream with which you entered your career
 Loss of the role or identity that originally came with your job
 Loss of physical and emotional energy
 Loss of friends, fun, and sense of community
 Loss of esteem, self-worth, and sense of control and mastery
 Loss of joy, meaning and purpose that make work – and life – worthwhile

Source: Keeping the Fire by Ruth Luban

Coping with job burnout

The most effective way to combat job burnout is to quit doing what you’re doing and do
something else, whether that means changing jobs or changing careers. But if that isn’t an option
for you, there are still things you can do to improve your situation, or at least your state of mind.

Dealing with Job Stress

In order to avoid job burnout, it’s important to reduce and manage stress at work. Start by
identifying what factors are stressful. Then you can take steps to deal with the problem, either by
changing your work environment or changing the way you deal with the stressor.

Read: Stress at Work: How to Reduce and Manage Job and Workplace Stress

 Actively address problems. Take a proactive approach – rather than a passive one – to
issues in your workplace. You’ll feel less helpless if you assert yourself and express your
 needs. If you don’t have the authority or resources to solve the problem, talk to a
superior.
 Clarify your job description. Ask your boss for an updated description of your job
duties and responsibilities. Point out things you’re expected to do that are not part of your
job description and gain a little leverage by showing that you’ve been putting in work
over and above the parameters of your job.
 Ask for new duties. If you’ve been doing the exact same work for a long time, ask to try
something new: a different grade level, a different sales territory, a different machine.
 Take time off. If burnout seems inevitable, take a complete break from work. Go on
vacation, use up your sick days, ask for a temporary leave-of-absence—anything to
remove yourself from the situation. Use the time away to recharge your batteries and take
perspective.

To Learn More: Related Helpguide Articles

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Related links for burnout

Burnout signs, symptoms, and causes

The Four Stages of Burnout – Description of the four stages of burnout, including telltale signs
and symptoms. (The Stress Doc)

Stress and Burnout – Learn about the signs, symptoms, and causes of burnout, along with
strategies for reducing burnout. (University of Melbourne Counselling Service)

Preventing Burnout – Covers the common signs, symptoms, and causes of burnout. Also
includes tips on preventing burnout. (Coping.org)

Preventing and recovering from burnout

Burn-Out – Helpful coping tips for preventing and recovering from burnout. (Texas A&M
University Student Counseling Service)

Recovering From Burnout – Advice on how to learn from your mistakes and recover from
burnout by finding a new direction. (Mind Tools) 

How to Prevent Burnout From Stress – Advice on preventing burnout by living like a sprinter,
not a long-distance runner. Includes coping strategies and tips. (Life Evolver)

The Road to Resilience (PDF) – Prevent burnout by building your resilience to stress and
adversity. This article offers a wealth of helpful tips and strategies. (American Psychological
Association)

Job and workplace burnout

Job Burnout: Know the Signs and Symptoms – Find out if you’re at risk of job or workplace
burnout and what to do if you are. (Mayo Clinic)

Take This Job and Love It! – Research shows that burnout is not a problem of people but mostly
of the places in which they work. Find out what to do about it. (Psychology Today)

Cant' Get No Satisfaction – Feature story on the growing problem of burnout in the workplace
and recent research on the phenomenon. (New York Magazine)

Burnout: Is it a Burning Issue in Your Company? – Helps managers identify, prevent, and
alleviate burnout among their employees and for themselves. (workplaceissues.com)

Burnout in helping careers

Stress and Burnout in Ministry – Learn how the demands of congregational life lead to stress and
burnout and how members of the clergy can help themselves. (Churchlink.com)

Ideas for Managing Stress and Extinguishing Burnout – Written for physicians by a pastoral
counselor, this article contains eight tips for preventing burnout. (American Association of
Family Practitioners)

Melinda Smith, M.A., Ellen Jaffe-Gill, M.A., Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., and Robert Segal, M.A.,
contributed to this article. Last modified: December 2008