Burnout Happens Sooner than you Notice

Picture this:

You’re sitting at home yet again with the desire to do something creative, and nourishing for yourself. You want to work on that art piece that you’ve had in your mind’s eye, or writing that novel you’ve had in your heart. Maybe you want to finally elevate and take your photography to the next level, or at last you can learn to play that song on the piano that you’ve been meaning to get to.

And for another evening, like many before, you find yourself stuck doom-scrolling on your phone, or binge watching the same show for the hundredth time.

For yet another evening, you reflect and recognize you did everything you had to do, but never had the opportunity to do what you want to do.

And for the next day, week, or month you will likely repeat this pattern

Over

And over

And over again.

This is what burnout realy looks like.

At least, this is one aspect of burnout and one that is all too familiar. We could call this, the “final phase” of burning out. For many beings, they only really recognize that they are burnt out once they’ve reached this point.

Unfortunately at this point burnout is also habitual. It’s become a normal part of your every day, and so when you “restore” from burnout, you’re not going far enough.

Initially, German Psychologist Herben Freudenberger listed 12 Stages of Burnout. These 12 stages are a step, by step process (though the order may vary) that reveal a state of being that is constantly trapped in a state of reactivity.

Years later, these 12 stages were simplified to 5 Stages of Burnout that I will break down here for you:

Honeymoon Phase

When starting a new job, project, relationship, etc. there is the initial dopamine hit and endorphin rush of something new. You’re filled with a burst of energy and feel like you can do anything and everything necessary to succeed. Because of this, you take a lot on your plate, quite possibly more than you can handle but you are not aware of it.

Onset of Stress Phase

Of course jobs and life can have their challenges. But you may find your capacity to handle stress begin to shift. Your threshhold is starting to lower and you may lose focus more quickly. Perhaps you’ve noticed that you aren’t being as productive as you normally are and feel like you are falling behind. It is in this stage you may notice that you are having difficulty sleeping or enjoying hobbies or activities you engage with to relax.

Chronic Stress Phase

At this moment you may find yourself feeling more apathetic about your day to day. You are going through the motions but there’s a lack of excitement, drive, or motivation to do anything more than the bare minimum. Maybe you’re procrastinating more than you usually do or arrive late for events or obligations you have on your calendar. You may even find yourself pulling away from social interactions because it feels too demanding.

Burnout Phase

This phase is when your previous baseline begins to disappear. The problems in your professional and personal life have become all consuming and yet to the point that even when you are resting you are thinking about all of your obligations. During this period it’s normal to feel self-doubt and physiologically may start having some gastro-intestinal issues or chronic headaches.

Habitual Burnout Phase

This is typically where most people oscillate constantly between depressive shutdown or over productivity. Burnout has become a part of your daily life and you may find that you’ve developed symptoms of anxiety or depression. When you’ve reached this degree of burnout, your body may completely shutdown in the form of severe illness whether it is acute or chronic. This will ultimately reduce the possibility of recovery for you.

When BURNOUT is your Baseline

So you found out you have been habitually burnt out. Luckily you aren’t physically ill, but you finally decide to take the time to rest, and restore yourself. So maybe you take three months off work with an FMLA, or you go all in and take an entire year off, focusing solely on rest. Yet, when the time comes where you have to return to work you feel total apprehension, and the feelings of fatigue hit you once more.

The fact of the matter is, even though there is a Honeymoon phase that comes with starting something new (career path changes, new hobby, etc.) the Burnout Baseline is one that exists prior to the Honeymoon phase.

It ultimately comes down to really knowing and embodying your physical, emotional, and mental needs.

There is nothing wrong with excitement and the desire to engage with something that you are passionate about. In fact, it’s a big part of what makes life interesting!

However, if you are reactively going all in on something, and historically have done so many times, this is a significant sign of reactivity in your behavioral patterns.

When reactivity drives your passion, you’re functioning from a state that is essentially saying, “I’m burnt out from this, but I have energy for this!” This is fundamentally wrong. Burn out is burn out. Until you learn to radically shift your baseline to one that is more uplifting, nurturing, and supportive, you will keep burning out time, and time, and time again.

In order to truly escape from cycles of constant burnout and hyper productivity, you have to create a new baseline for yourself.

One that is rooted in responsiveness, restoration, and rest.

To that end, I invite you to join my

Master Class on Saturday, April 20th, at 12 PM EST.

Revive and Thrive: Rebuilding your Baseline After Burnout

This class will take a deep look into burnout, and how so many tools that exist today only bring you back to a less burntout version of depletion and exhaustion.

Together we’ll explore how you can build a new baseline for yourself, and build better habits to no longer burn out.

You’ll be able to better identify the signs that you are about to burn out, and recognize when you need to better pace yourself and prioritize your needs and desires.

The class is donate what you can like my preivous Master Classes to ensure I have accessible offerings for everyone.