A couple of weeks ago, a friend told me she was exhausted and completely burnt out. I wasn't surprised – between a busy job and everything else on top, she's juggling a huge amount. But I was a bit worried. Burnout in its most serious form can stop you in your tracks – and it feels as if lots of highly capable people are falling prey to burnout these days.
So, I thought I'd devote this week's post to burnout, what it is, why it's a big deal, burnout symptoms to look for and how to respond. And if you’ve been feeling like this recently, this post is very much for you. Suspected burnout is definitely not something to push under the carpet or add to the 'Sometime' task list. More something to sit up straight and take good notice of – for current and future-you. I had a ‘near miss’ with burnout a few years ago, and even being on the burnout brink left some marks.
Right up front: if you think you are burnt out, you might like to speak with your GP about it. They can rule out other physical conditions which share symptoms with burnout, and advise on the best path forward. Every individual, their exact constellation of symptoms and life circumstances are different!
What actually is burnout? A definition
Burnout is a term that is used a lot – sometimes used in error, and sometimes it’s not used when it really should be.
The academics behind the well-respected Burnout Assessment Tool out of the Netherlands (Wilmar Schaufeli and team) define burnout as a work-related state of exhaustion that is persistent, manifesting in extreme tiredness, a reduced ability to regulate your thinking and emotional processes, and feeling mentally distanced. They also make a distinction between more mild burnout and more severe ‘clinical’ burnout.
If you search online, you may find sites using the World Health Organisation's 2019 definition, which reads slightly differently. It was based on older research into burnout which researchers have since questioned, and new research and assessment tools for burnout have emerged.
Could I be burnt out? What are the symptoms?
Yup, you sure could, keeping in mind that Schaufeli’s team considers 'clinical burnout' to be quite rare. On the other hand, more mild burnout seems to be widespread.
In New Zealand, Professor Jarrod Haar from the Massey University School of Business has been tracking levels of burnout risk among New Zealand workers with the 'wellbeing@work' study. In April 2024, Haar found that 60% of employees surveyed – 60%! – were at high risk of burnout, with 52% of managers having a high burnout risk. (I wonder why we don’t talk about it more?)
Professor Haar also said that what underpinned the significant percentage of workers with high burnout risk was job insecurity – and there's a lot of that about these days. On the other hand, there wasn't a difference in risk of burnout for different genders, but the risk level did differ across industries and regions.
Even if job insecurity is an issue in your line of work, you may be at risk of burnout – or already experiencing it – if you've noticed these burnout symptoms: extreme tiredness or exhaustion that everyday sleep doesn't shift, feeling like you can't face going into work, no longer caring about your work, feeling overwhelmed by everyday tasks that used to feel manageable, feeling emotional and teary or even bursting into tears (I’ve been there), and panic attacks.
Why is burnout a big deal?
Beyond the immediate symptoms, burnout can also lead to downstream health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, heart issues or musculoskeletal pain. These can erode your confidence and feeling of self-worth, then have their own knock-on effects for your work and career, your relationships, and other roles you play in your life.
It's important to know too that while you can recover from burnout, if your exhaustion goes unchecked and builds to that point, it could take longer than you think to get back to 'normal'. Dr Martin Brunet, in his very-readable book Your Worry Makes Sense, says while some people can take just a short break from work, others may need 2-3 months - or even six months. (I don't know about you, but I find that genuinely alarming.)
So, what can I do? Burnout recovery
I'm going to defer to Dr Brunet’s expertise on this one. In a nutshell, he says that recovering from burnout includes the following steps.
Rest – the 'hide away' sort, as if you've just come out of hospital after major surgery, with almost every removed from your daily schedule except what is enjoyable and helpful to your recovery.
Decompression – removing or getting away from the pressures that caused the problem, and the 'weight of worry' they caused you (so you may need to lean on others to take over from you on certain things for a bit).
Taking things slowly and pacing yourself – you want to gradually recover in a sustainable way, rather than getting excited at a burst of energy, overdoing it, and relapsing into exhaustion. Brunet likes 'The Rule of 75 Percent', which means aiming to use up no more than 75% of your energy each day, so you're leaving something in the tank for the unexpected.
Building a new routine as you recover – putting some manageable activities in your schedule once you start to have more energy, whether it's light exercise, time with friends, or some kind of creative right-brain activity (baking, knitting, gardening – the list is endless). These help to replace the structure of your work day, and ensure you're able to sleep properly at nighttime.
I know that for many of us, a full step back from work isn’t possible – financially and otherwise – which means it’s even more important to recognise when burnout might be around the corner, so you can nip it in the bud. I'll mention one more time too, if you think you may be burnt out, talking with your doctor is a good idea.
So, if you think you recognise the symptoms of burnout described above, that's a great first step. Step 2 is to consider what burnout recovery action to take. It can take a while to get back to your usual self, but you've navigated difficult things before. This one is navigable too, especially if caught early.