We commonly use this term to describe a response to extended stress, mostly at work. Burnout shows in a variety of dimensions: weariness, increased cynicism regarding the job, and impaired professional abilities. The metaphor is well placed. When the flame is gone, our identity as a professional in a given field is largely lost.

To put it differently, if you start feeling less capable at work, cease identifying yourself with the job, and experience overall weariness, then it is likely that you are burned out.

While our employment situation may be the primary source of the stress that leads to burnout, other factors may also contribute to it. Often, tension results from the lifestyle. Sometimes, it is exacerbated by carrying professional stress into other areas, such as family life.

The inability to live up to a perfectionist ideal at work begins to color various aspects of life in dark hues. Since the experience of burnout is a prolonged process, it is possible that you will not notice any signs right away.

However, once it has taken root, it has the potential to interfere with your capacity to operate in many facets of life.

Technically, burnout is not considered a mental condition, but the occurrence is sufficiently frequent to reflect on remedies.

Work takes most of our active (awake) time. Humans lived like this as nomads, in agricultural societies, and from the beginning of industrialization. It is no different in our post-industrial reality.

Much of our social status is derived from professional achievement. If you despise your job, dread coming to work, and don’t derive any joy from what you’re doing, it may have a significant negative impact on your life, your self-image, and your social connectivity.

Listed below are some of the most prevalent symptoms of burnout:

People who are suffering from burnout feel as though their occupations are becoming increasingly demanding and irritating. They might become jaded about the individuals they work with and the surroundings in which they do their jobs. They might also emotionally withdraw and develop a numbness toward their employment.

You may recall cases of past colleagues who, long before quitting their job, became deeply critical of the company’s mission, direction, strategy, management, leadership, policies, or all of the above. They were still physically there, but they were not really present.

Sometimes people who suffer from burnout tend to daydream about a different lifestyle, rhythm, job conditions, location, and so on. Most of these reveries are completely unattainable as goals but offer a mental refuge.

This tendency may further exacerbate the person’s state, as the gulf between the actual situation and the dreamed-up world is painfully wide. Catastrophizing and fatalism may arise as common cognitive distortions, sometimes precipitating premature decisions deeply affecting future career prospects.

The effects of burnout are most noticeable in day-to-day activities at work or at home when a person’s primary occupation is caring for family members.

People who suffer from burnout tend to have bad feelings about the jobs they perform. They struggle to concentrate and, as a result, frequently lack creative ability. Although less serious than clinical depression, the symptoms are nonetheless quite similar in occurrence, if not necessarily in their intensity.

The first step in overcoming burnout consists in acknowledging that this is what you are experiencing.

Naturally, the next step would call for looking into ways to reduce the pressures that caused it.

Alas, the factors that contribute to burnout are rarely entirely under our control.

There are cultural and systemic problems that contribute to burnout, and it’s possible that we won’t be able to address them “at the root”. However, we are not completely helpless.

Let us start with simple mental hygiene.

Take a thorough look at your schedule and make sure that you schedule time for self-care in the same way that you would other commitments and be consistent with it.

Self-care can encompass a broad variety of activities, such as going to the doctor regularly or working out often. It might include engaging in enjoyable activities, pursuing hobbies, spending time alone, meditating, journaling, or slowing down to eat a meal rather than eating on the fly.

Once you have identified the time to slow down, it is time to deepen your self-awareness, both at the level of Being and at the level of Doing. Awareness brings us back to the present moment –the only moment in which our actions immediately affect our life.

There are several zones of self-awareness:

The detection of your own emotions, bodily sensations and dominant thoughts brought you a step further. Some of these sensations or emotions will not be “pleasant”, but this is not the reason to flee them.

Quite the contrary, try to stay with these emotions, even if the facts cause aversive reactions. If that is the case, breathe. If your natural tendency is to run away from the problem, ground yourself in one spot, feeling the connection between your feet and the ground.

Conversely, if discomfort makes you freeze, shake your body, starting with your arms and your legs. Breathe through this exercise and take your time.

Now it’s time to practice new behaviors. Should the reflection lead you to the conclusion that the problem lies in insufficient time or other resources to attend to the tasks at hand, find out if it is possible to tap into other resources. Delegating, automating, re-organizing schedules, batching similar tasks, investing in online assistance – the range of choices is seemingly boundless.

Remember, however, that this work cannot be done without the prior step to increase your self-awareness. You cannot solve the issues at the level of Doing without first delving into the aspects of Being that hold you back from advancing.

Sometimes, this analysis may fall short. If time remains the key constraint, it will be necessary to learn to say “no”.

This can be done in a variety of ways, for example: