Most of the time, burnout is confused with laziness. You feel like you’ve suddenly gotten too lazy to work or maybe you feel so tired that you don’t want to work. In reality, you’re just really burnt out. 

Most of the time, people start experiencing burnouts because of their level of satisfaction with their work life balance. 

Here are the most common symptoms of burnout:

1. Tiredness that isn’t really going way even after a good rest

The first and most obvious symptom of burnout is physical exhaustion. You feel tired all the time even after having good night rest. This is because it is more of a mental-emotional fatigue rather than not getting enough sleep.

2. You too busy to fulfil self-care needs

Whether it is intentional or unintentional, you keep postponing your basic self-care needs. Sometimes, you even skip your lunch break, or you sacrifice your much needed weekend breaks and even a few hours of sleep just to get your work done. You’re always doing too much until relaxing isn’t even part of your vocabulary. 

3. You’re extra moody and easily irritated

When you’re in a stressful environment, it is not strange for you to be extra moody and easily irritated. Sometimes you just snap at people or lash out at them for no reason. Your unexplained grumpiness is a sign that you are struggling with work burnout. 

4. Lack of Focus or Concentration

When you’re facing mental-emotional fatigue, it is harder for you to pay attention to the tasks at hand. This is because you’re feeling overwhelmed with the fatigue and also non-existent self-care. In order to focus on a task, you would need more energy and its hard when your energy levels are already running pretty low. 

5. Escapism through self-medication 

When work gets too much, people aften try to find a way to escape from how they are feeling rather than handle their emotions. Some people turn to food or alcohol or even drugs just to get some feel-good chemicals in their brain. These are just unhealthy quick fixes that help you feel better for a while but the initial discomfort or stress or unhappiness is actually still there. 

6. Lack of motivation or satisfaction in activities or tasks you used to enjoy

When you’re experiencing burnout, you’ll start to feel too exhausted, stressed out or preoccupied with worries to actually be present in the activities you enjoy. You’re too distracted so you can’t really enjoy them anymore. 

Here’s how you can overcome burnout:

1. Work-life balance

Make sure you have spaces in your schedule for work but also for personal activities. Incorporate activities you enjoy helping you balance out the stress from work and also to ensure that you have some time for yourself, where your needs and wants come first. 

2. Take breaks throughout the day

Make it a priority for you to take relaxation breaks throughout the days when your stand up and stretch, rest your eyes, or maybe even take a quick walk outside. These simple and quick activities will help you alleviate tension, refresh your energy, and boost your mood. 

3. Focus on the “musts” first. 

Instead of trying to do everything at one time, try focusing on completing the tasks that must be completed first. This applies for both tasks at work and home. After completing the urgent tasks then only you start doing the lower priority tasks and then only do you add on unexpected tasks to the empty spaces in your schedule. Don’t take on too much at one time.