5 stages of burnout

💪 Did you know that skipping the gym is a sign of burnout?

👪 So is hanging out less with friends & family.

😾 Even being more irritated with others is also a sign of burnout.

People think burnout is just exhaustion. It's not.

There are 5 stages to burnout:

It starts with you not being aware of anything wrong.

You have slight thoughts of discomfort or a small feeling in your gut that something's off but you ignore it & push hard.

This happens to ambitious people at new jobs, they start to disregard sleep, exercise & eating well.

Uncomfortable thoughts keep nagging you & pointing out that something's off-balance.

Since you continue to ignore it, your brain starts to actively offload the stress in other ways.

You start getting irritated with clients' mannerisms or you silently blame your team for not doing their job.

Now you can't ignore it as feelings of overwhelm and exhaustion force you to act.

You start numbing yourself with substances or entertainment to get through the day.

You also start withdrawing from family & friends as social events don't seem as fun anymore.

At this stage, you cycle between the highs of numbing yourself to the lowest lows.

You start experiencing extreme emotions & sensations in your body, for no reason

You also start feeling detached from your work and your life, bordering on depression.

If you've ignored all the glaring red flags so far, you could end up at this final stage.

Your mind devolves to a state of uncontrollable anxiety with constant panic attacks.

Your body literally shuts down as you fall sick with a real possibility of needing medical attention.

Check-in with yourself to see where on this scale you are & make changes before it's too late.