- Burnout can happen for many reasons.
We can't downplay or minimize the trauma and stress
we've all been through over the last two and a half years.
Many of us have been or are still working from home
or doing school from home,
which makes this work-life balance nearly impossible.
And well, we're burnt out.
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I wanna take a minute to thank CoPilot
for sponsoring this video.
CoPilot is your guide for building healthy,
sustainable habits in movement,
nutrition, mindfulness, and recovery.
I like to think of it as my consistency companion,
helping keep me on track and feeling my best.
And I've been using the app to remind me
to move my body three times a week.
And with the help of my wonderful coach, Olivia,
I am held accountable.
And she mixes up the movements
to keep it fresh and exciting.
And it's because of sponsors like them
that I'm able to continue creating mental health content.
Okay, let's jump to today's topic,
the 11 signs that we are burning out online.
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Burnout itself occurs when the reward
for what we're doing isn't at least commensurate,
meaning equal, with the effort that we put in,
meaning we need to feel rewarded,
either through money, recognition,
or the ability to help others, just to name a few,
in order to keep doing it.
And if that reward goes down or goes away completely,
we slowly but surely start to feel burnt out.
And here are the 11 signs it's happening to you.
Number 1, irritability, moodiness, or cynicism.
I notice this personally
when I start to just feel irritated about everyday things
that I normally have to deal with and handle fine,
like someone calling me,
or me having a comment that I need to reply to.
Things that I usually find joy or fulfillment through
start to just really get on my nerves.
And I know that it has nothing to do with the people
in my life and everything to do with me and my burnout.
Number 2, difficulty sleeping.
Especially 'cause burnout, if it's left untreated,
can lead to things like depression and anxiety,
we can find our mind racing at the end of the night.
We can feel very restless,
like we're not taking full breaths
and we're not able to calm down.
If we feel like this list of to-dos
just keeps getting longer and there's no time for rest,
it's gonna be hard to get that rest.
Number 3, cognitive difficulty.
This means like we have an inability
to focus or remember things,
or we just feel like we can't make decisions.
I think of this personally as, like, brain fog.
Almost like I used to be able to recall things,
like when I'm doing a video,
I'm just riffing on the things that I've learned,
and usually I can just pull that out of my brain.
But when I'm feeling burnt out,
it's like I'm digging in there
and it's just, there's nothing.
There's nothing.
I can't focus. I can't recall.
And it's really, really disturbing.
Number 4 is increased
or excessive use of drugs or alcohol.
And we saw this a lot when COVID first hit.
Everybody was like, "Wine o'clock," it's like noon,
because we didn't really know what was happening.
We're stuck at home.
A lot of us were furloughed from our jobs
or kind of just taking a break,
and we can find this happening when we feel more
and more burnt out, we turn to drugs
or alcohol to help us manage
all of the things I've been talking about before,
like the irritability and that brain fog
and just not feeling like ourselves.
We can turn to these things as ways to cope
when we don't feel like we have other things
that we can use.
Number 5, loss of motivation.
When we're burnt out,
it can feel impossible to get out of bed sometimes.
And it can even make
starting new projects extremely difficult.
It's like, we sit down to get going, we just can't.
It's like, we try for five minutes
and we just feel exhausted by it.
It's like, everything that we have to do in life
just feels like it's gonna take too much effort.
And you can kind of see, even as I talk about this,
why burnout going untreated
can lead to things like anxiety or depression.
To me, this symptom sounds a lot like depression.
The sixth sign is we can feel like a failure.
Because remember, we're not feeling rewarded,
so we can find ourselves
not feeling satisfied or accomplished.
If we're having trouble motivating
and everything seems like it's taken too much energy
and we don't feel like what we're doing
is fulfilling anymore,
of course, we can start to feel like a failure.
Number 7, and I'm calling myself out on this right now,
is overspending on things we don't need.
Hello, Amazon order history or my eBay random purchases,
which I'm wearing one right now.
When things get stressful
and when we start to feel overwhelmed and burnt out,
we can turn to these, you know, quote, unquote,
unhealthy ways to cope.
I've talked about this in the past.
Unhealthy ways of coping are drugs and alcohol,
we can get into eating disorder behavior,
self-injury behavior, overspending,
porn addiction, sex addiction.
There's all sorts of ways
that we can try to almost distract ourselves
from actually acknowledging the upset we're experiencing.
Which rolls nicely into number 8,
which is overeating or undereating.
Changes in our appetite
are always going to be important to note,
like I just talked about.
A lot of us can struggle with eating
and not eating when it comes to feeling burnt out
because that's our way of coping, right?
When we feel like our life is out of control,
we try to control the one thing that we can,
and that's our bodies.
So notice if you find yourself binging or restricting,
and maybe consider whether that could be associated
with your burnout.
Number 9, difficulty in our relationships.
There could be more fighting.
Obviously, if we're feeling irritable,
we could see why that would happen,
or feeling lack of satisfaction
in our relationships, or even trouble maintaining them,
like making time to see them,
checking in, returning texts or calls.
Again, if you can think
about the other signs that we talked about,
you can see how it would link to this, right?
If my motivation is difficult to come by,
if I'm feeling really irritable, if I'm not sleeping well,
all of this can make it really hard
for us to healthfully and lovingly engage with people.
Number 10 is physical illness.
If we're getting sick a lot
or always just feeling like we're fighting a cold, right,
it never really turns into something,
but we always feel a little achy, a little run down,
just like a little under the weather, we have to remember,
our mental health is directly linked to our physical health.
So one will inevitably affect the other.
And like I said before, all those other symptoms,
not sleeping well, if for not eating well,
you can see how that's going to affect us physically.
And finally, sign number 11 is suicidal thoughts.
Being burned out for a long time
can leave us feeling hopeless about our future
and can make us more vulnerable to these sort of dark
and unhelpful thoughts and urges.
If you're having any thoughts of ending your life,
please reach out for help.
You can call the suicide hotline in your area,
and there's that new 911 for mental health.
So if you're in the States, you can call 988.
And if you're in the UK,
you can call the Samaritans' hotline,
or click the link in the description.
And know that with support, it can and will get better.
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So what have we found ourselves saying?
"Oh my God, that's me," to, like, each
and every one of those signs?
Well, what can we do?
Don't worry. There's a lot we can do to help ourselves.
And the first and most important is connection with others.
I know, I know that sounds like more work, but trust me,
connection is needed to build resilience,
which is what we're trying to do.
Getting connection with others
actually soothes our nervous system
and helps increase that reward
for all the effort we're putting in,
so it will lower our symptoms of burnout.
Number 2, prioritize our basic needs.
I talk all the time about H.A.L.T.,
which stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.
You have to make those things non-negotiable.
So I said, prioritize basic needs,
which is why I love the CoPilot app
because it holds me accountable
without any shaming or blaming.
Having a real person as my health and fitness coach,
instead of just a notification in the app,
means that I can discuss things holding me back
or possibly altering our plan,
so it meets me where I'm at.
Sometimes fitness apps
and coaching tools can just feel like a one-size-fits-all.
And CoPilot really personalizes your plan
so that you can stay consistent
and make real lasting change.
We all know that black and white
or all or nothing thinking isn't healthy.
Well, having that sort of thought process
around moving our bodies isn't healthy either.
We have to find something that works with us and for us.
And this may mean that we stretch twice a week,
or maybe we wanna try lifting some weights.
Whatever is okay with our body and where we are now,
you can put together with your coach.
CoPilot really is a consistency building app
that can help us change our lives for the better.
Prioritize yourself today
by clicking the link at the top of the description
and get 14 days free with your own health coach.
Moving on to my next option for how to help yourself
if you're feeling burnt out is to take real breaks,
like plan a get away, no email, no phone.
I know, it's a dream, right?
Really get away from whatever it is that's burning you out.
And even if you have to plan this, like,
way out into the future, do it.
Sometimes just knowing that we have a break coming
can be enough of a reward to get us through.
Number 4, be kind to others around you,
online, in person, whatever.
Doing something nice for someone else,
even just opening the door or letting someone go first,
can really improve our moods and our days.
Number 5, find joy in the small things.
I know, I just threw up a little bit
in my mouth too when I said that.
But seriously, we have so much to be grateful for,
or small things that feel good each day, right?
If we look out into our environment
and try to notice the positives
instead of looking for the negatives,
it's a small shift, but it's truly life changing.
You know, like, for example, is your bed really comfortable?
Can we take the time to, like, recognize that
and be excited about it?
Feel good about it?
Or did you get a Starbucks
or other fancy coffee this morning?
Was it good?
Can we be grateful for that?
Do we have someone in our life who loves us?
Maybe we have an adorable pet.
Whatever it is, take time to at least notice these things
and take joy in the comfort and the goodness of it.
I know this is hard. Trust me.
I'm going through it myself.
So let's hold each other accountable
and work to get ourselves
out of this COVID exacerbated burnout.
And feel free to share any other tips
or thoughts that you have about this
in the comments down below.
You never know who it's gonna help.
Have a wonderful week.
And remember, you are important, valued,
and I'm so glad you're here.
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