Burnout affects our thinking, behaviour, emotional experiences, productivity, work, business and relationships. Everything.

If you feel tried ALL the time and emotionally exhausted then it's highly likely you are in one of the 6 stages of burnout. Find out where you're at and what you can do to bounce back.

 

Stage 1: Working harder

 

It starts by being driven by a project, promotion or idea, then working like a maniac!

Although commitment to your job, a cause or your kids may seem selfless – there's an underlying motivation to prove yourself and your worth that predisposes you to burning out.

In this stage you work hard but get less done. You're unwilling to delegate ‘important work' so end up putting in extra hours.

Symptoms: Look and feel stressed, wired and always in a rush. Stress hormones are chronically high preventing proper rest and recovery at night.

If you come from the place of needing to achieve and prove yourself, and straining your adrenals, you'll cut off the flow of creativity and life force. Taking care of yourself is the most important part of taking care of business.

Question: Get clear on what motivates your work in the world

 

TIP:  Get more rest for recovery; Sleep before 10pm each night; No technology 30mins before bed

 

 

Stage 2: Sacrificing your needs 

 

At this stage you’re putting your own needs last, selling your soul to never ending deadlines and being the go-to person for everyone else's needs. Many women believe that things will get better after the deadline, after you cross something off your to-do list, and so on, but that opportunity never arises. 

This stage of burnout is where your physical and mental health can begin to quickly deteriorate because you’re too busy to tend to your well-being.

Symptoms: Exercise stops, weight increase esp around belly, exhaustion, feeling emotionally drained, negative, and overdriven. Spend less time doing activities that provide relaxation and the shift to right-brain thinking that favours creative breakthrough and connection with a larger source of intelligence.

 

TIP: Are you having fun and enjoying life? On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is miserable and 10 is bliss, what’s your joy-in-life score?

 

 

Stage 3:  No Interests or Fun

 

What was once vital to you no longer matters as much. Work has swallowed up your life whole.

Nothing seems to matter anymore, you don’t care about seeing family and friends, exercising, eating well, going shopping for food or anything, getting a massage, being outdoors, friendly banter or even having sex. 

You start yelling at your computer, criticising colleagues, and your attitude and thoughts become cynical and aggressive.

Symptoms: Anxiety, anger, panic attacks, insomnia, mood swings, waking tired, craving carbs and sugar, and digestive issues

 

TIP: Herbal Adaptogens (like Rhodioloa, Withania) are great to improve restore tired adrenal glands and your body from excessive stress – will give you more energy

 

 

Stage 4: Numbing Out! 

 

In this stage you have less and less energy and vitality – exhaustion takes over.

The natural urge at this stage is to isolate and withdraw from friends, family and other connections. Mental health days or sick days become more frequent.

Often with withdrawal and isolation, drugs – legal or illegal – compound the situation. Pain-relieving drugs, tobacco, sedatives, anxiety-reducing meds, or alcohol.

If you’re holed up every night slowly drinking yourself to death – reach out for support.

Symtpoms: Drinking most nights, anxiety, hopelessness, IBS, headaches, insomnia, irritability, exhaustion

 

TIP: Seek coaching or support to overcome the underlying habits that are keeping you stuck. Schedule a break. Meditate. 

 

Stage 5: Withdrawal

 

This is the ‘screw it’ stage, where you start to act hostile or lose interest in people you're meant to be helping (like staff, customers), and just want everyone to ‘go away'. 

There is a need for intense stimulation to generate any feeling at all – having an affair or unprotected sex, driving drunk, or participating in dangerous sports – these are examples of ways to cope with the feeling that there's nothing left inside you.

You may avoid leisure time because the sense of emptiness is so intense that it's just too painful to be in your own company.

Symptoms: Exhaustion, emotionally spent, memory impaired, high blood pressure, high glucose levels, mood swings, hair loss, anxiety and irritability

 

TIP: Use food to change your mood, make one healthy change to your diet – eating breakfast, eating 5 servings of veggies, snacks between meals etc

 

 

Stage 6: Physical & Mental collapse

 

The final stage is where you look and feel depressed, and hardly care about anything.

Depression and burnout can look similar and medicating people may not be the long-term solution, but helping to overcome the underlying traits that predispose you to burnout.

Whether depression is related to burnout, grief, and loss, overwhelming stress or biological factors – it needs attention as quickly as possible.

Symptoms: It’s not uncommon for people in burnout to develop a serious illness (nervous breakdown, auto-immune conditions, cardiovascular, chronic fatgiue syndrome, fibromyalgia, Hashimoto's, and so on). When you tell your body that you’re not particularly interested in living, and you let your life force run so low, it’s not surprising that your body just shuts down.

 

TIP: Get professional help now