Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. Your Body, mind, emotions and soul are telling you something is off. It’s time to listen.

Knowing when to push through, when to relax, when to lean into the stress, enjoy the boredom-escape from the boredom and when to step out of everything and take some time completely for you, is developed through the art of discernment and something which I highly value as an Elite Life Architect with a background in Humanistic Therapy.

Emotional Symptoms

1. Feeling Overwhelmed: A constant feeling of being swamped or unable to cope with daily demands. Even having too much time on your hands can elicit the sense of being overwhelmed.
2. Detachment: Feeling disconnected from work or personal activities, or a sense of cynicism. It’s a red flag when you begin to look at your work, life, relationships through the lens of pessimism.
3. Loss of Motivation: Reduced enthusiasm for work, even for tasks you once enjoyed. Sometimes life just sideswipes you and takes away any sense of enjoyment you might have been having. Motivation doesn’t have to be there for you to do things but if you do things you enjoy, little by little it can help you build the motivation to keep going.
4. Irritability: Increased frustration or irritability, often over minor issues. Have you noticed within relationship that when the person you love is under a lot of stress and reaching the point of burnout that they find everything you say or do annoying. Even if you’re no different than normal. Their tolerance has tailed off.
5. Sense of Failure: Feeling ineffective, unaccomplished, or lacking in confidence. This is an interesting one – getting to the root. Do you feel a failure personally or have you failed to accomplish something you set out to do. The nuances in that sense are what enables you to change mindset and develop a new perspective, yet sometimes this needs work and help.

Physical Symptoms

1. Fatigue: Persistent tiredness and a lack of energy, even after rest.
2. Sleep Issues: Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up unrefreshed.
3. Frequent Illnesses: Increased susceptibility to colds, infections, or other health problems.
4. Headaches or Muscle Pain: Unexplained aches and pains, or exacerbation of chronic conditions. ‘When you’re stressed, your muscles automatically tense up to guard the body against pain and injury.’

Behavioural Symptoms

1. Withdrawal: Avoiding social interactions or isolating oneself from colleagues, friends, or family.
2. Procrastination: Putting off tasks and experiencing a drop in productivity.
3. Substance Use: Increased reliance on alcohol, drugs, or other substances to cope. I’ve practiced within the field of addiction and many times Clients have stated to me, that part of the reason they like rehab is because they are finally visiting a country they’ve wanted to visit but not gone because work has filled up all their time!
4. Neglecting Self-Care: Ignoring personal hygiene, nutrition, or exercise routines. A little thing I do when I’m beginning to become overwhelmed by what is happening in my work/life is that I don’t put the clothes away I’ve washed. They go from the washing basket – to the bed – back to the washing basket. This is actually a helpful indicator to me now for how I am feeling. I put it to good use and have flipped its meaning on its head and recognise it now as a useful tool and respond with gratitude when I recognise it happening.

Cognitive Symptoms

1. Concentration Problems: Difficulty focusing, forgetfulness, or impaired decision-making. Ever felt you’re going round and round in circles?
2. Negativity: Pervasive pessimism or negative thinking patterns.

Steps to Address Burnout

1. Recognise the Signs: Acknowledge the symptoms and accept that you might be experiencing burnout.
2. Seek Support: Talk to friends, family, or if you recognise the symptoms can simply be addressed but you’re not show how. Reach out to an Elite Life Architect and begin to redesign your life to address the symptoms appearing. If there is deeper work needed, ask them to recommend a Counsellor.
3. Set Boundaries: Learn to say no and set limits on work or other demands. This can sometimes be easy but I always think that when you grow within yourself then those enlightened boundaries will begin to kick in naturally so its working through the change needed within yourself to create difference.
4. Take Breaks: Ever met someone who simply pushes through from start to finish no matter what they are doing? Although there are places and times when this needs to be done. Ensure regular breaks and time off to recharge in normal situations.
5. Prioritise Self-Care: Engage in activities that promote physical and emotional well-being, such as exercise, hobbies, and relaxation techniques. Do you know what you like at this age and stage of life. I’ve discovered pole dancing is right for me in my late fifties. Nothing I was interested in, during my twenties. Sometimes you need to figure out different things. Like knowing strengthening your core is very important as you grow older to enable you even to simply stand up from the toilet easily.
6. Evaluate Workload: Assess and adjust your workload or seek changes in your job role if necessary. You need to look at what is happening and going on. When the balance of work overtakes life for extended stressful periods of time then something at some point has got to give. Don’t let it be your physical health, mental wellness or personal wellbeing.

Addressing burnout early can prevent more severe mental and physical health issues. So if you need to create change and redesign your life. Is it not better to take on such a positive task early on and put in place strategies to guide, support and help you feel stronger personally. Sometimes a lot of work is needed and at others just a few tweaks.

What do you think you need?