There’s a silent epidemic among modern day high-performing women in the 21st century. We’re expected to be self-made successes, to be driven and generous and juggle multiple roles with a smile on our face while appearing well-rested and put together all at once. The societal expectation to constantly chase and climb, pushing individualism while also stressing community and family roles—all roads lead to exhaustion and burnout.

 

Rest feels unwarranted, and yet, you crave it. Burnout is more common than ever. If you’ve already found yourself nodding in agreement, it’s time to reframe some thoughts. You don’t need to choose between big goals and your wellbeing. You can have your cake and eat it, too. 

 

Common Indicators of Burnout 

 

According to an article titled Burnout: Symptoms, Treatment, and Tips on How to Deal written by Melinda Smith, M.A. and Sheldon Reid on HelpGuide, “Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress.” It puts your body into survival mode, rather than allowing you to live life abundantly. 

 

Left unchecked, the stress of burnout will affect your entire nervous system. Many of the signs can skate by as hidden symptoms, as they’re often not specific to one particular cause. 

 

It’s important to check in with yourself about how you really feel, even if it isn’t how you want to feel. Acknowledgement is often the first step toward change. Here are some key indicators to look out for: 

 

• Emotional Indicators:

• Increased irritability
• Numbness from overwhelm
• Detachment 
• Loss of motivation
• Feeling stuck

• Physical Indicators

• Changes in sleep habits or appetite
• Lowered immunity
• Frequent headaches or muscle pain 
• Adrenal fatigue (brain fog, energy crashes, sleep issues, cravings for salt or sugar)

• Mental/Behavioral Indicators: 

• Hyper-productivity followed by collapse
• Self-isolation 
• Withdrawing from responsibilities 
• Showing up late to events or appointments and leaving early, or skipping altogether 
• Disconnection from things you enjoy 

High achievers often overlook these early signals of burnout by brushing it off as stress. In the HelpGuide article about burnout, Smith M.A. and Reid make a key distinction between stress and burnout—stress involves too much, while burnout is about not enough. 

It’s important to note that burnout can have overlapping symptoms with depression as well, and may be a risk factor for it, but is still different from depression itself. The main differentiator here is that depression is a medically diagnosable affliction, while burnout is not.  

The Root Causes of Burnout for Women (Not Just Generic Causes)

The root causes of burnout for women especially reflect this notion. As a multi-role woman, it’s easy to get trapped in a cycle of giving too much to others and feeling like there’s no energy left for yourself and the things you need to live a rejuvenated, balanced and fulfilling life. 

• Over-functioning and under-receiving in return 
• People-pleasing disguised as leadership
• Lack of boundaries with business, family, and friendships
• Chronic “performer mode”—always being the strong one
• The mental load (the invisible work women carry, whether it’s generational, due to personal trauma or something else)

We wear so many performative masks as women, from mother to sister to daughter, friend, business partner or neighbor, and much more. Where stress is about overabundance, burnout is about a lack of receiving in return. Smith M.A. and Reid of HelpGuide note that, “anyone who feels overworked and undervalued is at risk for burnout.” 

The big picture question to ask yourself if you think you might be burnt out, or feel as though you’re on the verge of it: Do I feel valued? 

Initial Strategies for Coping With Burnout (After Acknowledgement)

If you’re already feeling burnout, it will likely be overwhelming to come to terms with it, and that’s okay. 

There are small things you can do now to help give yourself some breathing room to cope but also to take a productive step forward under the guise of not feeling overlooked or undervalued, both by others and yourself. 

• Create white space: schedule free hours or a half-day reset and completely clear your calendar of obligations for a short period of time 
• Focus on tools to reset your nervous system: breathwork, movement, grounding (this could be physical exercise, either intense like weight-lifting, or lighter and more somatic like walking or yoga)
• Attempt sleep re-regulation: give yourself a 72-hour recovery protocol. Ditch your alarms to let yourself sleep and wake naturally, and focus on a nighttime and morning routine that really resets and prepares your mind and body 
• Have a 10-minute rule for reclaiming your mental bandwidth: start a timer and allow yourself ten minutes to focus on everything that’s bothering you
• Whether you chat with a trusted friend or family member, write everything down or list it out for yourself, the physical act of releasing the words into the world will hopefully get them off of your mind for a period of time or provide some relief 

This temporary relief is a good start to getting you back on your feet. You deserve to live an abundant life where you feel valued and recognized both by others and yourself, and it’s okay to start small before taking bigger steps. Babies crawl before they walk, and walk before they run. Give yourself time and space to understand and develop an escape plan to leave burnout behind. 

To better understand how to truly break up with burnout, you’ll have to identify the type of burnout you experience. The Harvard Business review details three major types of burnout: overload burnout, under-challenged burnout, and neglect burnout. 

Once you identify the burnout you experience, you can figure out what’s missing in your life, and what you need to feel valued and fulfilled. 

Overload Burnout 

This is the most common type of burnout felt by people—typically, overload burnout occurs when you are extremely high-achieving and work frantically to achieve success and progress. You might hold some wonderful abilities with this type of burnout, like being highly dedicated or a quick-problem solver. 

According to Melody Wilding who wrote 3 Types of Burnout, and How to Overcome Them for the Harvard Business Review, “overload burnout typically affects highly dedicated employees who feel obligated to work at an unsustainable pace.” 

What’s missing → Those affected by overload burnout experience mental and physical exhaustion due to lack of balance from overlooking personal life to focus on work, thus jeopardizing their well-being to focus on work commitments. 

What’s needed → To overcome overload burnout, develop a stronger set of emotional regulation skills like defining and fully processing emotions, rather than suppressing them to focus on other things. Reframing negative self-talk may be necessary as well, like Wilding’s suggestion to say, “‘enjoying my life helps me become more successful.’”

A main focus to push past overload burnout is to separate your self-worth from your work. You are not your job—your identity as a person and the characteristics that make you the wonderfully high-achieving woman you are today are not defined by the roles you hold, but instead by the morals, beliefs and behaviors you keep. 

Under-Challenged Burnout 

A surprising type of burnout; this type burnout is actually the opposite of overload burnout. Instead of being caused by doing too much, under-challenged burnout is caused by doing too little. It stems from boredom or lack of stimulation, likely due to lack of opportunity, no room for growth, little meaningful connection, or not feeling challenged enough. 

When you feel unfulfilled or that tasks are monotonous and dull, this can cause your brilliant mind to feel stunted and overall stuck. 

What’s missing → Those affected by under-challenged burnout will likely feel undervalued or underappreciated, and even frustrated with their current position or role, which can lead to lethargy or cynicism. 

What’s needed → In order to feel challenged, fulfilled and like you’re contributing positively while developing your skills, you’ll need to focus on addressing the demoralization you feel from the lack of interest. Hype up and explore the things that make you curious, like your passions or hobbies. Rediscovering your spark by trying something new and challenging can help you kick the under-challenged burnout. 

Know that with this specific type of burnout, the path forward isn’t sedentary. It might mean reviving passions you’ve pushed aside, but it can also mean traveling down an entirely new path altogether. 

Neglect Burnout 

If you’re not feeling overloaded or underworked, you’re likely in the third category of burnout, which is feeling plain worn-out. Neglect burnout can cause you to become passively helpless and feel uncertain, frustrated or like you might be incompetent—when really, you aren’t being recognized or provided the sense of stability that helps you flourish. 

What’s missing → With neglect burnout, you likely experience a lack of structure, guidance, direction and stability. In her Harvard Business Review article, Wilding explains that those experiencing this type of burnout, “may find it difficult to keep up with demands or otherwise feel unable to meet expectations.”

What’s needed → To overcome neglect burnout, you’ll need to regain a sense of agency over yourself and your roles. Focusing on setting better-boundaries or counteracting your to-do list with a “to-don’t” list can help you begin to organize yourself and create a sense of stability. Take initiative over the big picture and do what you can to align priorities while putting healthy limits in place. 

The feeling of helplessness is best met with a better sense of predictability. Focusing on the routines and rituals you can control will make it easier to face areas of your life where you are experiencing lack of structure or feeling neglected. Give yourself a little TLC and be consistent with it to help set yourself up for success. 

Kick Burnout Out of Your House For Good

As you move to reclaim your life beyond burnout, you’ll experience an identity shift as a well-rested, present and more energized woman who values herself. The trickle-down effect of valuing yourself and setting better boundaries will help you recognize the ways in which others value you, too, and the ways in which you are not willing to be treated. 

Normalize rest for yourself, and make sure you have spaces where you can find inspiration from ambitious women also working to value themselves. GoBundance women is just the place for high-achieving women looking to work smarter and balance their identity with their work. 

Burnout isn’t a badge of honor—your value is. Sign up for a membership with us today!