Life can be so overwhelming, and regardless of feeling tired, we were socialized to keep pushing and giving it our all. After all, your life depends on you and how well you can juggle family, work, friends, social groups and all the other loads that you may have. Sometimes, though, we need to listen to our bodies and understand that if we keep pushing too hard, we are at the risk of breaking down and even losing our lives. Here are some signs that will help you know that you are burnt out and need to take a chill pill.
Irritable Behaviour
If you find yourself being irritable over everything, including things that have nothing to do with you, it may be a sign that you are burnt out. You may find yourself snapping at people who don’t deserve it, making them avoid you more. Even your family will experience your irritability and withdrawal for fear of your reactions. If you are starting to feel annoyed at everything unjustifiably and unnecessarily, this may be the sign for you to rest. You are probably burnt out, affecting your emotions and making them unsteady in the process.
Feelings of Numbness
Have you ever seen people who say things like, “I can’t feel anything”? Even when they are in very hurtful and sad situations, they are unfeeling. This is not because they have mastered their feelings but because they have become numb to them. Whether it’s a promotion, bonus, death of a loved one or any positive and negative things, when you are burnt out you will most likely be unable to react as you become numb. If you are experiencing this, you are probably burnt out and may need professional help.
Extreme Fatigue
Being tired after a long day of work or school is normal. After all, life is continuously moving and in trying to catch up, we can get tired once in a while. If you, however, become extremely tired even after a good rest or sleep, you are fatigued. We can’t carry today's fatigue into the next day for a long time, and if you find this becoming your life cycle, you are burnt out and need to take it easy on yourself at this point. This is not healthy and needs to be dealt with. If you are finding these signs helpful, check out the next sin on the list.
Lack of Concentration
Have you ever been in a situation where you are ‘well rested’ and then need to study or work but can’t seem to get anything done? You find it difficult to focus on even the tiniest of tasks and can’t arrange your thoughts. If this is happening to you (despite you not having ADHD) then you may have overworked yourself right into this dilemma. Having been known as someone who is focused, then suddenly changing and finding it impossible to now focus may be a sign you are burnt out. Our mind and body communicate to us and if you are feeling like this, your mind is just telling you to ease up and relax because it is oversaturated.
Forgetfulness
We do not mean the normal forgetfulness where you can’t remember where you put your phone or voucher. We are talking about something more intense and alarming. If you are suddenly finding it difficult to remember important things and information, even though you have a sharp memory, you may be burnt too. In the same way, when you overload a computer with information in its processor, it may crash, in the same way your mind may crash after being oversaturated. This then makes it hard to remember even the simple things making your life harder than it really should be.
Withdrawal
This is one of the signs of burnout. In a bit to stretch the aspect of your life that is burning you out, you stretch it into other activities that you are supposed to be doing. An example would be becoming ignorant of your social life because you feel like work, school or one aspect of your life is the only thing you can accommodate now. If this is happening to you and you find other aspects of your life encroaching into each other, making you withdraw from social activities it is a sign of withdrawal. All men need company, and if you suddenly start isolating yourself, you need to be careful, as this is one of the telling signs of being burnt out.
Reduced Performance
If you are at work and can’t do the simple things like meeting your quarter anymore it may be an alarming sign. We are not talking about being unable to do this due to a shift in the economy but in terms of your performance abilities. If you are gradually performing lowly, then this is a sign of being burnt out. You need to take it slow and go on a vacation somewhere to get your life back together.
Insomnia
One of the most difficult things to do when you are burnt out is sleeping. This is because you would have conditioned your body into a constant work habit, making it hard to register when it is time to relax and let loose. When you now find it difficult to sleep, even when you are extremely tired, it's your body telling you that you are burnt out.
Deterioration in self-care
No matter how hectic life may get, you still call it to yourself to take care of yourself. If you, however, find yourself neglecting yourself and failing to do the basic things such as showering and eating well, it may be a reflection of you being burnt out.