52. Are you tired or burned out?

The Fine Line Between Being Tired and Being Burned Out
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This October all articles are dedicated to Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing.

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​You are tired. Like everyone else. 
You just need a weekend at home and a few more hours of sleep. 
The weekend comes but it is not enough. 
On Monday you look at the calendar and feel a sense of dread. 

So...
How is burnout different from being tired?

The World Health Organisation defines burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. But the thing about chronic stress is that it changes how our brain regulates energy and focus.
So yes, tiredness and burnout have many similarities.
 But there are two rather straightforward ways of making that difference.

1. Rest alone is not enough.

Unlike tiredness, which fades with rest, burnout lingers even after a long weekend or even a vacation away. Burnout is not just about lack of sleep or too many tasks to do.

There are many myths around burn out and one of them is that 
it is just because there is the workload is too high.
  It is about a feeling.
 It is about lost sense of meaning, personal agency, and balance.


2. There is an emotional element to it.

Burnout shows up as emotional exhaustion and cynicism, it has this dulled sense of accomplishment. It is as if whatever we do or achieve does not matter, compared to the emptiness we feel inside. 
We lose not just energy, but also a sense of direction.

And for most people going through burnout, that is hardest part of it. 
Not the lack of sleep or managing the calendar, 
but the emptiness underneath it.


Lastly, burnout often has a message we need to hear.

Now - if you have been or going through a time like that, this is important to hear.
It is not about your ability to manage your time.
It is not about your performance or failing to achieve.

For most of us, the burnout is also a wake up call.
To pivot and find new direction, new spaces to grow.
­
It is rarely a breakdown.
But an invitation to rebuild.

...so if you are finding yourself in the darkness of that search.
Please remember.
 
There is a life after a burnout, I promise.
It is beautiful.
And it is waiting for you.
 
Much love,
Elina