“What does burnout feel like?”
Last night, just 90 minutes after I approved the final version of my book, Running Into the Petri Dish of Burnout: A How Not-To Guide, I spoke on a panel at the Women’s Environmental Network in Minneapolis.
I’d brought the proof copy of the book with me because it is still really novel and fun to be able to hold it in my hand instead of just in my heart and mind.
The moderator asked the panel a question about burnout as it relates to working on climate.
I shared a bit about it, not wanting to steal all the time left on the panel, and exercised some world class restraint.
An audience member asked the question:
What does burnout feel like?
The short answer is that it feels like a lot of things.
Here’s the long answer
Many people feel one or several of these symptoms
exhaustion
overwhelm
a sense that there are too many open tasks and not enough time
a drop in motivation or enthusiasm
an inability to disconnect from work
challenging sleep
An it doesn’t feel the same way for everyone.
The four characters
I wrote Running Into the Petri Dish of Burnout: A How Not-To Guide because I work with so many people who are on their way or have entered burnout.
Burnout looks different depending on how you are motivated to achieve.
The book covers four characters:
Olivia, the Perfectionist has a sense that there are too many open tabs, too much to track, she isn’t doing anything well enough, and sleep is really challenging. Her inner voice, Evilo, really takes her to task as she falls asleep to show her everything that went wrong during the day.
Trip, the Hero feels like there isn’t enough time to do everything he has to do and that he can’t muster the energy to do everything the way he used to be able to. He has heard from his loved ones that he is spending too much time at work and feels the pressure to attend to home but can’t seem to pull away from work.
Fiona, the Researcher feels ever more hurt that people just don’t understand her. No matter how many books and sources and data sets she pulls into her explanation, she feels like she is shouting into a void. She finds it hard to move into action eventually and gets ever more trapped in her research projects.
Eisen, the Motivator feels that he’s pushed it too far when the people who he is closest to withdraw or resign. He has always had the energy to step up to any challenge and he begins to feel that energy becoming ever more scarce. He may feel that his temper rages out of control more and he snaps. He has a feeling that no one will ever be able to keep up with him.
