Silent Burnout: Why You Feel Tired Doing Everything Right
A deep dive into modern exhaustion, hidden stress, and how to reclaim your energy in a fast-paced world.
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- What really is Burnout?
- The Stages of Burnout
- Solution?
- Conclusion
Introduction:
Burnout. I am burnt out. A statement commonly heard and universally felt. But do we truly know what the terms mean? I mean, beyond the empty feeling in your chest and slugging through the day when all you feel like doing is curling up into a burrito in that very comfy blanket and doom scrolling away the day. Maybe you give in to the notion, only for a moment, and you look up next- it’s sunset. Guilt crushes your conscience, and you give in to fitful sleep, only to wake up the next day and repeat the cycle of self-sabotage. And you can’t shake it off. It sticks to you like an unwanted pest. Let’s talk through it.
What really is Burnout?
Burnout
/be:naut/
As defined by the Oxford Dictionary, it is a state of constant mental, physical, and/or emotional exhaustion.
The term was coined by a German psychologist(Don’t worry, I will spare you the details your eyes surely would have glazed over.) But beyond that, and self-diagnosing ourselves with burnout based on the empty, shriveled up space in your heart where your passion and love used to live, what do we know about it?
The Stages of silent Burnout:
- The Beginning of the End:
Burnout, or more specifically occupational or academic burnout occurs when you keep bottling up that monumental amount of stress you are under. The promotion you have been working for by committing massacre of your social life, passed straight by you, into the lap of the guy whose substandard work makes your brain itch. But really, you are probably overreacting, just work harder next time.(It’s just around the time you start looking up laws surrounding murder charges, coincidentally.) Or your parents are berating your grades in school(no matter how many hours you slaved for) while the images of gliding through the air like a ballerina or perhaps shooting the ball through the hoop withers away in your mind. And along with it, your satisfaction with life.
- Detached:
After a while, the world is in shades of grey and really, you are under water, otherwise, why are the voices so distant. Have you stopped caring? Why does it feel so empty? The work is piling up and the dishes forming a mountain, but why does it matter anyway? You can’t seem to remember.
- Denial and Anger:
The coffee machine is not working. You fiddle with it, maybe smack it a few times, but it doesn’t start. You procure the coffee elsewhere(because we still have to function enough to avoid the asylum…or the accusations of turning into a zombie) but someone is breathing too loudly, just waiting for the opportunity to waltz on your last nerve. Snarling is heard, protests are made and rising voices bounce off the walls. Defensiveness makes a short(but sizzling) appearance in the face of concerns.
“Are you okay?”
“Of course I am fine.”
Your friend shoots you a disappointed look that later starts in your self flagellation.
- Withdrawal:
You are indeed fine. The best you’ve ever been in fact. But the phone screen lights up and it’s a friend. You turn the phone upside down or viciously silence the notifications before continuing to swipe through tiktok. More messages start pilling up and you stop checking them, because isn’t it too late already? Invitations are met with refusals(you are not alone.) and it doesn’t matter, because this way, no one is disappointed.
- Numbness:
What is happening? You stare at the line of words starting to blur together and feel…empty instead of the nostalgia tinged fondness your favourite crime thriller(or romance, I suppose) usually invokes. And the emptiness sticks to you like a leech no matter what you try. Even sitting back to catch your favourite movie, curled into a tight burrito leaves you empty.
- Collapse:
You are so tired. Unproductivity has become synonymous to your days, yet bone deep wariness clings to you as you move through the tasks. Sleep beckons you, and yet it escapes you. Even when sleep finally embraces you, waking up leaves you with aching tiredness.
Solution of silent burnout?
This is how we slowly sink into burnout. And how do we recover? In an ideal world(one not plagued by
capitalism) we would take a long time off, perhaps go on a sabbatical or simply rest. Maybe quit that dementor like job(I dearly hope you know what a dementor is) or cast aside the books droning on about the importance of one thing or the other you will most likely not think about ever again after the class. But that’s not the world we live in now, do we? No, so here’s what we can do
- Routine:
Create small, simple routines to stick to. This will slowly start to anchor you to the days. It tells your brain that it’s time to start the day or it’s time to sleep. You will find that it’s soothing to do these small tasks as a constant in your passage of time.
- Sleep:
I know I said sleep is hard to find, but that phone stuck to your hand flashing you with small doses of dopamine isn’t exactly inviting it to you either. It might even be shoving away sleep from you with a frying pan. Try to wind down before going to bed. It may come in the form of attempts at meditation or reading through a dreary textbook(we’ve all been knocked out by those at some point in our lives. Cheers to you if you can say otherwise.) under warm light will be of help. Moreover, avoid binge snacking, it really is chasing away the sleep with a beaters bat.
- Slots of Vacation:
While going on a vacation is impossible in our current economic reality, it doesn’t mean you can’t assign yourself parts of the day where responsibility and guilt cease to exist? Maybe 45 minutes or an hour you give into your heart’s desire. It might be picking up that old, bristled brush and holding it to a canvas, going for a run or simply curling up with your cat with a mug of steaming tea(not coffee). Whatever it is, for the love of everything good in the world, don’t let it be doom scrolling.(or drugs, in hindsight).
- Movement:
Depression hates a moving target. This doesn’t mean I am telling you to fling yourself into the gym and never look back. The word movement is associated often with pushups and weightlifting or running till sweat trickles down your back. You are a couch potato, not used to it and it makes you miserable. But it doesn’t have to be. A simple walk outside(without the phone or music please) will do. Or maybe you want to take up dancing. Anything that you enjoy and involves moving your limbs will do.
Conclusion:
This isn’t to say that these are concrete solutions. These aren’t. Each healing journey is different, but difficult. Somedays, even getting out of bed will be too hard, so show yourself some grace. What matters the most is that you show up consistently and try to the best of your ability. Hold on to your desire to heal as you will need it with you during the journey. All said, I thank you for reading till the end and wish you the best of luck on your path.
