Are You Burned Out? Or Are You Lazy?

The day just started, and you can already tell that you're not feeling it. And if you get another email about a meeting that could have been an email, you might hurt someone. You look at your calendar and the day ahead seems daunting, let alone the week. As your to-do list continues to grow, your motivation to get anything done disappears. Does this mean you are lazy? Or just plain burned out?

What exactly is does being burned out mean? WebMD defines burnout as feeling overwhelmed, emotionally drained and unable to keep up with life's incessant demands.

Anyone at any point can become burned out. Too often, people think that if their workload hasn't changed, then they have no reason to feel burned out. Burn-out symptoms can vary from person to person. That is because we all manage and react to stress in our own different ways. How exactly does burnout happen?

Research shows that people typically become burned out when their work demands more from them than they can give. Most employees are in performance driven positions with goals to meet. As is the case with most companies, those goals can be moving targets. This type of environment has been shown to increase workplace stress and anxiety.

There are many kinds of burnouts, and they all affect us differently. Lately, research has shown these to be the most common types of burnouts.

Pandemic related burnout This type of burnout refers to the stress and anxiety one can feel while living through a pandemic. Not being able to have contact with friends and family have left many people feeling isolated. This combined with ongoing work demands can have a negative effect on mental health.

Parent/work burnout This type of burnout refers to the stress and anxiety that comes along with balancing work and family. Single family homes along with homes where both parents are present can equally be affected..

Work from home burnout This refers to the anxiety one can feel when they are isolated from their team. The lack of interpersonal connections, managing deadlines while minimizing miscommunications can be overwhelming for many people.

Overload Burnout This type of burnout is one of the more common ones. This happens when people are handed more work than they can handle. However, this does not happen overnight. Overload burnout is a build up of overworking along with poor self-care.

What are the signs to look for?

• Constantly feeling tired or drained
• Loss of motivation
• Lower satisfaction and no sense of accomplishment
• Developing pessimistic attitude
• Sense of failure and self-doubt
• Not "feeling like it" attitude when it comes to responsibilities.
• Starting to feel physically ill
• Loss of sleep
• Loss of appetite

How is this different from laziness?

The thing that separates burnout from laziness is the inclination to attend to responsibility. Stress and anxiety stemming from burnout can be crippling. You are aware of the work you have to do, but your faculties are worn out. When you are lazy, you typically don't feel like doing any work, even though you are more than capable.

The next time something makes you question your work ethic, take a good look at what you're going through. Chances are, you might be going through some kind of burnout.

References

U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2020, June 18). Depression: What is burnout? InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279286/.

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2021, June 5). Know the signs of Job Burnout. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/burnout/art-20046642.

Contributors, W. M. D. E. (n.d.). Burnout: 3 signs to look for. WebMD. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/burnout-symptoms-signs