Published on 12, July, 2020
This is the first year where I really feel I can recognise a few signs of burnout before being actually ‘in’ it. I know it’s not far off. At least I think so anyway.
For me, I feel like I become a little less articulate, seemingly simple tasks become pretty much impossible (an instance at work basically confirmed this today), inertia really sets in (I owe thanks to everyone who helped me learn more about this in a recent post), I tend to lose a bit of social fluency (I think I miss points of etiquette more often than usual) and I become very clumsy.
All of this is happening right now. It’s interesting to sort of sit back and observe it a little before it properly happens this time around.
Do you know your warning signs? Hopefully this isn’t a rude question. Genuinely curious.
Hi mate. Thankfully(?!?), my last one was big enough and profound enough to make me reasonably confident that I won't "find" myself in that position again. You might remember that I refer to it as a "Mega-burnout" because I was unable to function (almost completely) for at least 9 months and then it took a few years to climb back into some form of near-respectable activity.
Looking back, I can identify at least 4 proper burnouts before that mega one. None were nice - especially because I had no idea what the hell was wrong with me !! I was masking like hell upto and during the "fall" into burnout !!!
I think that, my biggest signal of another approaching burnout for me = would be realising that I was 24/7 masking !
As always, lovely to hear from you.
Number.
Hey buddy- great to hear from you too.
Masking is a huge contributor to burnout. At least in my experience anyway. A lot of people have commented on the ‘new me’ of recent months (particularly at work) but in truth, this has been a real renewed effort in masking and, once again, it hasn’t worked in my favour. Truth be told, I’m tired. That realisation that you describe was a very impactful moment for me recently and probably, on reflection, is the reason I started posting here again after such a long time of being silent in the background.
Once again, I can relate to what you have written and hopefully I haven’t made my reply ‘all about me’. It’s just that you have described what I wish I could have on so many occasions.