The woman seated across from me was done.
I could see it before she even said a word.
The way she walked into the coffee shop…
The way she sat down…
The quiet resignation in her posture.
Her handshake and greeting were polite enough, but her eyes told the real story.
Tired eyes…that have been carrying a heavy load for a long time.
She described a familiar situation:
Making pretty good money with no time to spend it…
Plenty of responsibility…
But little chance that anything would change soon.
“I’m just tired of being tired,” she said.
She wasn’t sure what the answer was.
She just knew she needed hope.
Ever been there?
Maybe you’re there right now.
Here’s a quick five-question check to see how close you might be to burnout.
Burnout Check
Ask yourself:
- Do you regularly feel like you are behind and rarely catching up?
- Do you ever arrive home and don’t remember the commute?
- When someone asks how things are going, do you struggle to give an honest answer?
- Can you name something that genuinely excited you about work in the last month?
- Do you ever catch yourself wondering, “Is this all there is?”
If you answered yes to two or more, you may be getting close to burning out…or already there.
Burnout Doesn’t Arrive Overnight
Burnout rarely shows up suddenly.
It builds slowly.
Most people assume the real problem is stress.
“If I could just eliminate the stress,” they think, “things would be manageable.”
But stress isn’t the enemy.
Stress is often a signal that you care.
Stress calls you to perform at your best.
Actually, stress is why a kite flies.
Without it, the kite simply drifts back down.
The real problem is when stress becomes distress.
Distress is the warning signal that something is wrong.
And when distress goes unmanaged long enough, it turns into burnout.
What Burnout Really Is
Burnout is what happens when fear and pressure slowly erode hope.
Your energy fades.
Your desire starts to disappear.
As Andrew Hartman describes it:
“Burnout is when the body subtracts motivation. Like financial bankruptcy, it requires a reorganization of how you approach what you’re responsible for and how you manage your time.”
Burnout isn’t just about working too much.
It’s about working in a way that is not sustainable.
Burnout Is More Controllable Than You Think
Many people blame burnout on their job, their boss or the market.
But burnout is largely determined by how you respond to stress.
Which raises some important questions.
Have you:
- developed the ability to shut it down at the end of the workday?
- created a clear plan for handling stress and distress when they show up?
- figured out your highest sustainable pace without burning out?
Grinding yourself into the ground should never be a badge of honor.
When you burn out, you put everyone at risk:
- you
- your family
- your company
- your clients
So let me ask you again.
Do you have a plan to avoid burnout?
