What is Burnout?

Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical
exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress.

It happens when we feel overwhelmed
and unable to meet constant demands.
As the stress continues,
we begin to lose the interest or motivation
that led us to take on an activity in the first place.

Burnout reduces our productivity and saps our energy,
leaving us feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful.
Eventually, we may feel like we have nothing more to give.

Most of us have days when we feel bored,
overloaded, or unappreciated;
when what we do isn’t noticed or rewarded;
when it’s hard to drag ourselves out of bed.
But if one feels like this most of the time,
they might be experiencing burnout.

Symptoms of Burnout:

• Every day is a bad day.

• Caring about self, work, or home seems like a total waste of energy.

• One is exhausted all the time. Most of the day is spent on tasks 
             that we find either mind-numbingly dull or overwhelming.

• We feel like nothing we do makes a difference or is appreciated.

There is a difference between stress and burnout
Burnout may be the result of unrelenting stress,
but it isn’t the same as too much stress.

Stress, by and large, involves too much:
too many pressures that demand too much physically and mentally.
Stressed people can still imagine, though,
that if they can just get everything under control, they’ll feel better.

Burnout, on the other hand, is about not enough.
Being burned out means feeling empty,
devoid of motivation, and beyond caring.
People experiencing burnout often don’t see
any hope of positive change in their situations.

Excessive stress is like drowning in responsibilities,
while burnout is being all dried up.

Another difference between stress and burnout is that
while one is usually aware of being under a lot of stress,
one doesn't always notice burnout when it happens.

Stress vs. Burnout

Stress: Characterized by over engagement
Burnout: Characterized by disengagement

Stress: Emotions are over reactive
Burnout: Emotions are blunted

Stress: Produces urgency and hyperactivity
Burnout: Produces helplessness and hopelessness

Stress: Loss of energy
Burnout: Loss of motivation, ideals and hope

Stress: Leads to anxiety disorders
Burnout: Leads to detachment and depression

Stress: Primary damage is physical
Burnout: Primary damage is emotional

Stress: Could kill one prematurely
Burnout: Could make life seem not worth living.

Burnout recovery strategies

Slow down

When one has reached the end stage of burnout,
adjusting one’s attitude or looking after one’s health
isn’t going to solve the problem.
One must force oneself to slow down or take a break.
Cut back whatever commitments and activities possible.
Give oneself time to rest, reflect, and heal.

Get support

When one is burned out,
the natural tendency is to protect
what little energy one has left by isolating oneself.
But during difficult times,
friends and family are more important than ever.
Turn to loved ones for emotional support.
If loved ones are unavailable, use professional help.
Simply sharing feelings with another person
can relieve some of the burden.

Reevaluate goals and priorities

Burnout is an undeniable sign that something important in one’s life is not working.
Take time to think about hopes, goals, and dreams.
Is something being neglected that is truly important?
Burnout can be the chance to rediscover what really makes one happy
and to change one’s course accordingly. 

Self-respect cannot be hunted.
It cannot be purchased.
It is never for sale.
It cannot be fabricated out of public relations.

It comes to us when we are alone,
in quiet moments, in quiet places.

When we suddenly realize
that, knowing the good, we have done it;
knowing the beautiful, we have served it;
knowing the truth we have spoken it

For those who are following my “Ask Grandma” videos
click to see my latest one: “ Dealing with Crushes and Relationship Drama”
which is located in DietHobby under RESOURCES, Videos, Ask Grandma.

Commitment is sticking with something,
long after the mood you were in when you made it,
leaves you.

Commitment is what
transforms a promise into reality.

Words speak boldly of our intentions.
But our Actions speak far louder than our words.

Commitment
is making the time when there is none.
Performing the action when you’d rather not.
Coming through
time after time, after time, year after year, after year.

Commitment is the stuff character is made of;
it’s the power to change things.

It is the daily triumph of the positive over the negative...
….of Trust over doubt and fear.

Make sure it’s YOUR goal.

It is easy to get caught up, and swept along in the current
of other people’s goals, values, and expectations.
We can wind up doing things that we don’t want to do
in order to get something we don’t even want to have.

It’s a big mistake to choose things
that we feel we “should” do…
things prompted by family, friends, or society in general.

There are very few things in life that we really have to do,
so when a person ends end up with a bunch of goals
that other people have set for them,
it’s time to start thinking about what YOU would really like to do.

Don’t set arbitrary goals just because you think you should.
There’s not much joy to be had in chasing a goal
that you don’t care about.
Chances are, you’ll give up part-way and feel guilty,
or you’ll reach the goal,
only to find that success doesn’t make you any happier.

We need to spend some time in thought so we can say:

“I stand here.
This is what is important to me.
This is where I will direct my life’s efforts.
My direction is here.”

Then we need to start doing the things that will move us in that direction.

Please keep in mind that although I can share my experiences,
no one can tell you what successful maintenance will be like for you.
It's a very individual thing.

Some people find that it's best to continue counting calories,
and they do it indefinitely. Others find that they don't need to do that,
as long as they follow certain principles for themselves.

Another thing to keep in mind is that maintenance changes…
…it doesn't stay the same forever.
What works at first may not continue to work later on.
So it's good to be flexible and not box yourself in
to having to have things just one way.

Everyone who has been obese
and then reached their maintenance level
is concerned about regaining.

As you're losing weight, consider what maintaining might look like
in terms of how you eat. For a lot of people, "I will never eat a cookie"
just isn't realistic … and neither is "I will eat cookies whenever I want."
For them, the optimal path is somewhere in between.

Don't be fooled by what online calculators tell you you can eat to maintain.
Many people regain part of their lost weight by thinking
that they “should" be able to eat at a certain calorie level
without regaining, and it turns out that this is not true for them.

Each of us has to find out for ourselves.