Burnout

[SilverGlitterBaubles]

I am going through a prolonged stressful time at work following many challenges and changes. I have been working lots of hours and it is starting to take its toll as I feel exhausted. I find it impossible to switch off, even when I am not working I am still thinking about it and I am not sleeping well at all.

A good friend has been in a similar situation and she had to leave her job due to burnout. She is telling me I need to do something about this because I too will burn out.

Is she right? Is this what burnout looks like?

I had physical burnout after about 1yr of me tal burnout. I was super forgetful, too tired to do almost anything, insomniac and had no appetite. I'm sure I was depressed but the anxiety felt most pressing as I was beginning to get panic attacks. Suspected I might have ADHD because I couldn't stay focused on anything and was always zoning out. About a year later I ended up in hospital with an embolism, anemia (had b12 injections), Vit d deficiency, and hyperthyroidism. I'm sure it was all connected and began with me having chronic stress (then not looking after myself mentally or physically).

Maybe visit your GP and get bloods done and express your situation?

I started to feel like this a while ago.
I decided to prioritise my own wellbeing before work, after all a job worth your health ?
I cut back my hours, prioritised taking breaks and stopped thinking about work in own time.
I stopped worrying about things and if something doesn’t get done, it doesn’t. My performance is pretty good so a lot of the pressure was my own doing. I’m a perfectionist. I had to learn not to be.
Its put me in a much better place mentally and physically.

I could have written your OP and a bit of @Germanymunch ’s too. Bit of a wake-up call to read it to be honest. There are various burnout questionnaires online; might be worth trying one of those to see what it tells you. I am looking for a new job but am so tired that it feels like a lot of effort 🫤

@Newyorklady This is good advice and agreed I also have perfectionist tendencies and want to do it all which does not help. I start each week with similar good intentions and then things just escalate and I get sucked back in to staying late because of I think if I can just get that stuff done then tomorrow will be better but it's just not.

@Germanymunch This sounds horrendous and a caution to anyone in the same boat. Can I ask if you are in a better place now health wise and with work?