In the trenches of everyday adult life, it can be easy to mistake the signs of work burnout as just “the way things are” when you’ve been working in your role for a while. It is often a slow buildup of frustrations and responsibility that leads to the type of mental and physical exhaustion colloquially known as burnout. However, this utter depletion of passion for your work is a sentiment echoed by many who feel the weight of stress, anxiety, and the lesser-known symptoms of burnout in the workplace.
At Thrive for the People, we recognize that burnout is more than a fleeting mental state; it's a complex interplay of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion resulting from prolonged workplace stress and anxiety. It permeates various facets of professional life, from task uneasiness and workload concerns to overall work/life balance.
Are you feeling burnout at work?
While burnout itself is not classified as a mental disorder, its impact is undeniably real. It is a pervasive sense of unease about your professional tasks, workload, job performance, workplace climate, business interactions, and work/life balance. Responsibilities, deadlines, and performance evaluations can be daunting, even for high-achieving professionals. Unfair office politics and discrimination can be demoralizing and taxing, too.
Our compassionate professionals at Thrive for the People are here to help identify and effectively manage the nuanced signs of burnout. Read through the following list and make a note of the symptoms of work burnout that resonate to talk about with your Seattle therapist at your first appointment.
Physical Burnout Symptoms: When the Body Speaks
1. Chronic fatigue
Do you wake up each morning feeling more exhausted than the night before? The tasks that once energized you now feel like insurmountable mountains. You find yourself taking more sick leave, hoping for a break, but the relentless fatigue persists.
Feeling drained by your work and struggling to get out of bed are red flags for burnout. Behavioral signs that often accompany burnout symptoms include:
Excessive tardiness, frequent vacations, and increased sick leave
Tiredness and high blood pressure
Headaches, teeth grinding, and jaw clenching
2. Sleep disturbances
As the workload intensifies, your nights become restless. Even during those rare moments of rest, your mind remains tethered to work, preventing the deep, rejuvenating sleep you desperately need.
3. Appetite changes
Your relationship with food undergoes a subtle transformation. The stress at work leaves you reaching for comfort in the form of snacks, or conversely, robs you of the desire to eat. The joy once found in meals becomes a casualty of relentless burnout.
Emotional Burnout Symptoms: The Strain of Exhaustion
4. Detachment
You may find yourself emotionally distanced, indifferent, or apathetic towards tasks and responsibilities you once found meaningful. This detachment can manifest as decreased enthusiasm, reduced motivation, and diminished sense of purpose in the workplace, often leading to lower job satisfaction and performance.
5. Cynicism toward work
Cynicism toward work is a common burnout symptom involving a negative and skeptical attitude towards your job, colleagues, or the organization. Feeling burnout at work can lead to:
Heightened irritability
Decreased engagement in team activities
General disdain for and reluctance to invest emotional energy in work-related matters and relationships
6. Hopelessness
Feeling burnout at work can produce hopelessness that involves despair and a loss of optimism about work and life. You may feel uninspired, disconnected from your passions and goals, and need help finding purpose. You may question the meaningfulness of your efforts, doubt your abilities to bring about positive change, and struggle with imposter syndrome, questioning your right to be in certain positions and workspaces.
These emotional burnout symptoms often come with signs your loved ones may observe outside your workplace, such as:
Not being present with friends and family or constantly talking to them about work
Withdrawing from social events
Needing more alone time
An inability to enjoy previously pleasurable activities
Increased irritability and conflicts in personal relationships
Significant changes in mood and emotional availability
Decreased libido
Mental Burnout Symptoms: Cognitive Red Flags
7. Impaired concentration
Feeling burnout at work is a full-body experience. The physical and emotional burnout symptoms you experience go hand-in-hand with mental ones. A sense of detachment, for instance, mentally manifests as difficulties following through on assigned tasks and projects, resulting in low productivity and achievement.
8. Memory deficits
The chaos at work seeps into your daily life. You forget important dates, struggle to recall conversations and find yourself disorganized. The mental toll of burnout leaves you grappling with forgetfulness, further complicating your professional and personal responsibilities.
Behavioral signs of cognitive burnout symptoms may include:
Forgetting your keys or office supplies
Forgetting important dates, commitments, and events
Not remembering why you walked into a room
Double-booking appointments
Begin Counseling for Work Stress in Seattle
Clients participating in Seattle counseling for work stress at Thrive for The People receive expert guidance and support that helps them take action and navigate the complexities of burnout.
Learn to set boundaries
Counseling for work stress can teach you to establish boundaries that honor your well-being and communicate them to colleagues and loved ones. You’ll be challenged to be honest and gentle with yourself and clear with others about words, behaviors, and expectations that bother you in the workplace and those that boost your morale. As you set firm lines between your professional and personal life, you’ll have more room to rediscover your values, non-professional goals, interests, hobbies, and relationships outside of work.
Practice mindfulness
Even amid looming deadlines, counseling for workplace stress can teach you to break down tasks into manageable parts. You’ll be tasked with intentionally noticing your physical, emotional, and mental states throughout your workday, and taking breaks for a chance to rest and reset. Small steps such as a mindful effort to leave your workspace during lunchtime and focus on your meal without working can help you reclaim your balance.
Receive support from a Seattle therapist at Thrive for the People
Suffering from burnout symptoms that impair your productivity and performance does not have to be your daily reality. We provide offline and online help here at Thrive for the People when you are ready to stop dreading the work week and start feeling more joy, peace, and balance in and out of the workplace. Learn more about therapy for burnout with a free 15-minute phone consultation. Our skillful therapists can help you start thriving professionally and personally. We look forward to connecting with you.
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