Burnout is struggling to motivate yourself to do your tasks due to emotional or physical exhaustion. In many instances, it’s caused by over-exerting yourself with work or school. However, you can still experience burnout even if you have done nothing. It exists on a spectrum and can be caused by accumulative factors rather than just a busy schedule.
Research found that three types characterise burnout syndrome:
- Frenetic: being overloaded by focusing too much on work at the expense of personal life and health 6 Tips On How To Save Time And Avoid Overwhelming Yourself
- Underchallenged: when you have no interest in your work because it’s monotonous, and not challenging, rewarding, or motivating
- Worn-out or neglect: this is when you disregard your responsibilities because of a lack of control, and acknowledgement.
People who are burnt out don’t stick to one criterion. When you’re burnt out, you may fluctuate among all three. The most commonly spoken about form is frenetic burnout which results from doing too many activities. Frenetic or overload burnout affects most people because it occurs when people take on too many responsibilities. It’s common among children, parents, employees, businesspeople, or athletes.
Working at an unsustainable pace with no rest will lead to burnout and other stress symptoms. But what about when you aren’t overworked? This is where under-challenged and worn-out burnout comes in.
Underchallenged burnout
Burnout can result from doing too little or feeling like you aren’t doing enough. It’s like the opposite of the overload burnout. This results from underappreciation at a role. For example, when you’re the parent of a teenager, they may be more self-sufficient and require less parental input. As a result, if you don’t have any younger children, parenting may suddenly feel more tiring in a way that doesn’t make sense because you’re not doing more labour. Parental Burnout And How To Cope
Underchallenged burnout can manifest because of work stagnation, no room for growth, no extra opportunities, no meaningful connections, and a lack of leadership. When your roles are unfulfilling and don’t trigger your passion, it can be easy to fall into cynicism or despair. It can also lead to fatigue. You end up dealing with this stress by avoidance, distraction, dissociation (disconnecting from feelings and reality), or thought suppression.
How to identify you have under challenged burnout
- You feel more motivated when you’re given more involving or challenging tasks
- Your role doesn’t offer you any opportunities to improve your abilities
- Your job is preventing you from advancing your career
How to deal with it
Be careful not to succumb to apathy. Your job may be unrewarding but it’s still necessary to help you make ends meet. In addition, if you’re experiencing this because of parenting, your children will still need you. To overcome under-challenged burnout, you can start by lowering the stakes.
Start by exploring your curiosities and figure out something you can do that can be rewarding outside of the role frustrating you. For example, you can decide to learn how to master a specific recipe within the next month or complete a marathon within the next year. You can dedicate a few hours each week to focus on this goal and get your motivation externally.
Sometimes the reason your job is unrewarding is because you’re still paying your dues. Exercising patience can help you find a way to make your role more rewarding. If your job has limited upward mobility, you can take steps to improve your credentials and switch roles. Career: Eight Ways To Successfully Make A Job Switch
In addition, you can examine your job and see how you can differentiate your tasks and see what is most rewarding. Is it when you solve problems, or when you connect with clients, or when you do research? Propose projects that increase these kinds of challenges.
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Worn-out or neglect burnout
This is a burnout that can result from neglect. When you feel like you have no structure, guidance, or direction you can struggle to meet work demands. This can lead to frustration and incompetence. Additionally, it isn’t restricted to work. You can feel this way about school or being in a new environment. For example, being thrust into the adult world where you have to deal with so many new responsibilities can feel overwhelming because there isn’t a guidebook.
People deal with neglect burnout through learned helplessness—which is when you experience stress repeatedly because you feel like you can’t control anything so you stop trying, even when solutions present themselves. Learned helplessness means you feel like you can’t make any positive changes no matter the circumstance. If things don’t work out, you stop trying.
How to identify you have worn-out burnout
- You become passive when things don’t succeed
- You give up when you face any setbacks
- Work or school makes you feel demoralised every morning
How to deal with it
This results from feeling like you have chronic incompetence. You can start by becoming more intentional about your life. Identify what you can’t do and delegate or outsource them where possible. Create stronger work boundaries to avoid situations that make you feel resentful. If you need more guidance at work, try talking with a coworker or supervisor to get more input on how you’re supposed to do certain duties. Ask for help when you need it. Things To Consider When Setting Up Boundaries At The Workplace
Come up with routines that help anchor you and ensure you don’t feel lost. If you are at a new school or new way of life, start by creating a morning routine that helps you start your day on the right step. You can also reflect every evening through journaling or meditating to help you find ways you are accomplishing small tasks and see where you need help. How To Create The Perfect Morning Routine And Stop Struggling To Get In The Groove
Neglect burnout results from not knowing how to make the next step and giving up because nothing seems to succeed. When you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, support systems are necessary to ensure you figure out how to make life more manageable. This can include professional mental health support or social groups. They can help you deal with varied tasks or show you how to do things you find difficult.
Check out
6 Ways To Avoid Burnout At Work
Signs Of Burnout In Children And How To Help Them Cope
Compassion Fatigue: Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
How Professional Burnout Affects Relationships
