It’s a bit ironic (Alanis-style) that I’m writing about burnout recovery when I feel so tired myself.
You’ve probably heard of cliches like ‘burning the candle at both ends’ that allude to burnout as a form of extreme exhaustion. In reality, just like there is more to the cliche, there is more to burnout than just being tired.
No-one actually lights both ends of a free-standing candle because the purpose of lighting the candle in the first place would be thwarted. How will you rest the candle down to light your room? What will collect the wax? How will you prevent your house from burning down?
Friends, when you think about it, this cliche perfectly illustrates burnout. Burnout is a series of symptoms and feelings which, when put together, prevents you from living your true purpose.
Without further ado, let’s dive into it.
Recognizing Burnout
How will I know when we have arrived when I don’t know where we are going?
My 6 year-old self
The first step towards burnout recovery is recognition. Being aware of the problem is half of the solution friends. If you don’t know that you have a problem, you can’t search for a solution.
What is the problem that you’re experiencing?
Maybe you’re feeling tired all the time. Or maybe you feel deep and intense hatred towards your job. The question is: are you experiencing burnout? Or is it something else?
This post is intended to help you answer that question.
Caveat: I am not a doctor, psychologist or therapist. I use this space at Wukkin to share what I have gone through, and what has worked for me, in the event that it will work for you too. Because burnout and burnout recovery may involve mental health recovery, I would strongly recommend that you consult a mental health professional for your individual circumstances. Check out my Terms of Use for more information.
Burnout can be examined from three angles: your feelings, actions and your job/organization experience.
FYI, if you know you’re burnt-out, skip straight to the steps to burnout recovery here.
What you’re feeling
In my corporate career, I have experienced burnout myself. I remember feeling so exhausted and not caring about anything.
In my mind, I attributed my feelings of cynicism, detachment, inefficiency and a complete lack of accomplishment towards my job to extreme fatigue caused by my commute or even my period.
On the contrary, Aunt Flo did not cause me not to want to put any effort into my work. My commute didn’t dictate the complete lack of fulfillment and insignificance that I felt or the fact that I couldn’t wait for the end of the work day.
As it turns out, according to this study, I was a textbook case for burnout.
And there’s more.
What’s happening to you at work and at home
On a surface level, I had to rely more often on sick or casual days to get by at work. I honestly dreaded going to work and obsessed over getting a new job.
Under the surface, there was a lot more going on.
Firstly, I was extremely stressed and showing signs of depression. Other people may develop anxiety or other mental health issues.
Moreover, I also developed a psychosomatic disorder. Examples of common psychosomatic disorders include psoriasis, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome and phantom chest pains.
Although this didn’t happen to me, some people may find themselves drinking alcohol more often or using drugs when experiencing burnout.
Physically, you may not be sleeping well. You may even suffer from heart disease (especially if you are a man), hypertension, stroke or diabetes.
And there’s even more.
What your job/organization is like
The root cause of burnout is your reaction to your job or organization. Therefore, this section on recognizing burnout would not be complete without a description of the working environment that requires you to need burnout recovery in the first place.
These are the 7 danger signals in your organizational structure which provide the ideal climate for you to become burnt-out:
1. Your workload is excessive. For example, you’re always working late to keep up.
2. You’re forced to do work that doesn’t match your skill set.
4. There are no rewards for the work that you do. Zero. Just collecting your paycheck every month.
5. There is no sense of community at work. You don’t enjoy being around the people that you work with, sometimes because of continual and unresolved conflict. Quite simply put, you probably work in a toxic work environment.
6. You believe that your organization treats you unfairly.
7. The values of the organization do not match with your own values. However, sometimes it’s not that there is a mismatch of values, but rather, that you do not believe that the organization’s mission and vision are implemented.
Not all of these signals need to exist together at the same time. Just one (like a poisonous work environment), together with your feelings, can suggest that you are experiencing burnout.
Burnout Recovery Steps
Of course you can get back up. You can do anything that you set your mind to.
My mother, speaking to me
Now that we know what burnout looks like, we can dive into what burnout recovery looks like.
No matter how deep you are into it, you can get back up friends.
When I was in the throes of my burnout, I was desperate for a magic pill to just make everything go away so I could start feeling good again.
There is no magic pill.
Note to self: If you can make something disappear instantly like ‘magic’, something is very wrong.
Notwithstanding the absence of a magical little pill, you can have a ‘happily ever after’, just like Jack did. However, you need to show up for yourself. That’s really the true ‘magic’: what you already have inside you.
Let’s get into it.
STEP 1 – Reset your mind
Burnout is a classic example of feelings and thoughts dictating negative physical reactions, like chest pains or skin rashes. While you can treat the symptom (which you should!), total resolution depends on you treating the cause.
For effective burnout recovery, you need to treat with the root cause i.e. your mind (feelings, thoughts, emotions).
If you’re dealing with mental health concerns, I would strongly recommend consulting with a mental health care professional. It can also be useful to work with a coach, especially if your symptoms do not require clinical intervention (anti-depressants etc.).
STEP 2 – Rest
Fatigue is your body’s signal that you need to rest. And rest you must if you are going to be a successful burnout recovery case.
Clear your schedule for 1 day and spend the day resting and recharging. You don’t need to go anywhere. You might need a good babysitter and a trip to the local pharmacy to pick up a few supplies though.
On this day, sleep until your body wakes you up, not an alarm. Instead of rushing to work, take your time to stretch your body, eat a healthy breakfast and meditate.
Later on, indulge in a luxurious shower or bath. Scrub and pamper your skin. Give yourself a pedicure. Wash your hair. Take a nap. Order dinner in.
You get the drift.
Do this at least once per month until you can take some time from work (so that you can truly unplug and plan for the future).
STEP 3 – Plan for the future
The fact that you are experiencing burnout is your intuition telling you something.
You just need to figure out what that is.
Maybe it’s time to switch jobs, or even careers. On the other hand, it could be that you would benefit from a different approach to your current job.
Whether you fall back in love with your job or start hunting to find a job/career that you love, here are 3 simple steps to prevent burnout in the future.
Priorities
What are your priorities?
Does your life reflect the importance that you have placed on certain values and people?
In my view, your priorities should start with you and your Creator, in whatever form (or not) that you believe He exists.
My suggestion: take care of your soul by prayerful meditation and your body by exercising and spending time in nature.
After you have put on your own oxygen mask, you will be in the best position to decide the order of your other priorities or values such as your family, friends, hobbies and giving back to your community.
Boundaries
How will you implement your priorities?
This is where boundaries at work come into play. For example, it may be better to avoid working late as a habit or lifestyle.
Another important boundary to preserve your health is taking time from work when you are sick so that you can recover.
For your mental health, actually use your vacation leave and totally unplug. For the workaholics out there, take a hard pass on those office emails or phone calls. Instead, rest. Remember who you are before you started doing.
Keeping your word
How are you going to stick to your boundaries and priorities?
What is going to keep you accountable?
If you’re like me and you almost never come up with a great response to a difficult situation in the moment, it’s helpful to plan in advance. For example, making plans for someone else to cover your work while you’re on vacation guides expectations for your unavailability.
Another way to keep your word to yourself is to get an accountability partner, such as a trusted family member or friend to keep you on track.
Friends, I hope that you are not the candle burning at both ends. However, even if you are, burnout recovery is 1000% within your reach. If you take the time to reset your mind, rest and plan for your future, it is likely that you will be able to overcome this bump (or valley) in the road.
Do you feel burnt-out? How are you dealing with it? Have you been burnt-out in the past? What are you doing to prevent it from happening in the future?
You know the drill: I’d love to hear from you in the comments below or at iwukkin@gmail.com.
Until next week, go forth and be awesome.