Written by:
Leah Rockwell
LPC, LCPC
Written by:
Leah Rockwell
LPC, LCPC
Recovering from burnout is a practice that requires identity development in multiple areas of one’s life. Not only does recharging from burnout mean setting better boundaries and expectations for oneself, it also includes focusing attention on personal development that is multifaceted and comprehensive.
What Is Burnout?
Burnout is a pervasive sense of overwhelm that is rooted in physical and emotional exhaustion, can make you feel disconnected, and often leads to reduced efficacy in all activities, including personal and professional.1 People experiencing burnout will often dread multiple aspects of their lives and will feel stressed or chronically detached and irritable. Signs of burnout include lack of motivation, apathy, and depersonalization.2
Signs You’re Experiencing Burnout
Signs you’re experiencing burnout may present themselves both at home and at work, especially since many of us now work from home and have blurred lines between the personal and professional.3 Burnout can appear similar to depression in that one may appear to have low mood, irritability, and may seem generally disinterested in things that have inspired them previously.
Common signs of burnout include:
- Irritability and/or low mood
- Mental exhaustion
- Difficulty sleeping or resting even though tired
- Lack of interest in previously enjoyed activities
- Difficulty controlling one’s mood – being emotionally labile or quick to anger
- An apathetic attitude
- Decreased productivity
- Inability to control stress response
Reasons for Burnout
In today’s society, due to the multiple and compounded stressors faced at school or work and in one’s personal life, burnout is a phenomenon that seems to creep from one realm of being into the next. Identifying in which parts of one’s life that one is experiencing burnout can allow you to name and explore what is happening. This positions you to make overall lifestyle shifts to better manage chronic stress. Careers that require a lot of caregiving and emotional labor are also more likely to cause burnout, like nursing or social work.
Some common causes of burnout include:
- Unhealthy and toxic work environment
- Unresolved relationship issues
- Being in a high-stress profession such as teaching or mental health
- Caring for loved ones
- Grieving the loss of a loved one
- Demanding work environment
- Becoming a parent or managing mom stress
- Changing careers
- Divorce or relationship changes
- Caregiving for a loved one
- Changes in work leadership
- Changes in family dynamics
- Lack of caregiving support or childcare
How to Recover from Burnout: 11 Strategies to Help You Recharge
Recovering from burnout is not something for which there is an instant fix. Just like you didn’t burn out overnight, you also can’t recover from burnout quickly. Trust that by making small changes in various areas of your life, you will soon learn how to better manage stress and learn ways to deal with feeling overwhelmed. Here are a few strategies to help you start to recharge and increase mental energy after burnout.
11 strategies to help with burnout recovery include:
1. Examine “Locus of Control”
If you’re spending a lot of time ruminating over things over which you have little to no control, you may actually be causing yourself more stress, rather than alleviating it. For each worry or stressor, do a check-in to see if it is something that is actually within your control. If not, do your best to turn your focus to something else.
2. Do a Stress Inventory
Get real and specific about what is bringing stress into your life. Is it something you can outsource or make an incremental change to alleviate? Sometimes we allow perfection to interfere with good in terms of progress; even downgrading a stressor from high to medium counts as progress and stress management.
3. Move Your Body Each Day
Exercise is a direct stress killer, yet it is something that many of us fail to give the credence it deserves.4 By moving each day for even a brisk walk or a 20 minute yoga session, your body begins to regulate its stress response. If there is any “must do” takeaway, daily movement is it.
4. Employ Self-Compassion
By taking the role of being a mindful observer of your burnout and giving yourself love and compassion for going through a particularly difficult time, you will automatically remove some of the irritability and self-hostility that can be part of feeling burned out. Note that what you’re going through is uncomfortable, yet it is temporary, and you will not always feel as you do in this moment.
5. Connect With Your Support Network
We do not heal from burnout in isolation. Finding a social network, preferably in person, is critical to recovering from burnout. Share openly with trusted friends and family members about what you’re going through, and invite them to do the same.
6. Unplug From Social Media
Social media can make it all too easy to think that everyone else is doing just great, leaving too much room for dangerous comparisons that are based on what others are presenting and not necessarily really experiencing, which can contribute to job burnout.5 Taking a social media break can allow you to focus on yourself, not in comparison, and will likely give you back hours in your day that were spent scrolling.
7. Try Something New & Different
Sometimes burnout can happen when we are too focused on one area of our lives – our work, our parenting, our home, our relationships. Rather than trying to “fix” an area that may be burning you out, try focusing on an altogether different skill, talent, hobby, or area of identity development that brings you joy or a new way of seeing yourself and what you offer.
8. Publicize What You’re Doing
Sometimes the act of naming what you’re experiencing and telling others how you’re working through it can create an internal accountability measure that allows you room to focus and may encourage others to check in with you about it. Keeping your burnout a secret may also be contributing to feeling even worse about it; bring light to your situation by being honest with yourself and others about what you’re going through.
9. Become a Boundary Boss
Healthy boundaries are important for recovering from burnout. Whether it’s setting internal boundaries (“I will leave my computer at my desk after 6 PM or I will remove email from my phone”) or external boundaries (“I don’t schedule evening meetings because our family has dinner together”), these acts are often also freeing to others.
Whether you set boundaries to manage your own time and stress or assert communication boundaries with others, creating clear delineations regarding how you manage your life is a step in the right direction for combating burnout.
10. Allow Yourself to Feel Through an Emotion
Sometimes our burnout can come because of emotional avoidance or knowing that we are having feelings that we simply don’t want to address because we would rather not be feeling them at all. Give yourself the permission to feel through an unpleasant emotion – jealousy of a colleague, shame for shouting at your child – and see what it’s like. Adopting an observer role regarding your feelings and their temporary nature can help here too.
11. Boost Your Sleep Hygiene
If you’re feeling burned out or are on the verge, now is the time to get in touch with your own sleep habits and rhythms. Commit to going to bed and waking up at the same time for a week to see your sleep profile, assess, and adjust however you can to give yourself more and better rest. Our bodies need sleep in order to recharge, and an unrested body cannot function properly.
How Long Does It Take to Recover From Burnout?
While there isn’t adequate research on how long it takes to recover from burnout, employing stress management techniques, practicing self-care and seeking professional help can all help reduce symptoms of burnout, allowing for a quicker recovery. If you feel like you’re beginning to burn out, don’t wait to start making small changes. These changes can help to form new habits over time, and can ultimately help to prevent burnout.
How Therapy Can Help
Engaging in therapy for stress can help you start exploring your burnout and put in place better stress management strategies for your overall wellness. Additionally, therapy will also help you discern if you’re also experiencing anxiety or depression, which can often accompany feelings of burnout. An online therapist directory can assist you with finding a therapist.
Final Thoughts
Burnout can feel all consuming and hard to come back from, but by employing stress management techniques and focusing on self-care and self-compassion, you can begin to feel like yourself again.
