As a woman, learning to distinguish between burnout and a problematic boss is essential for maintaining your well-being and career growth.
To understand burnout symptoms you first need to understand your relationship with your job. The concept of being able to “love what you do” seems over-simplified and frankly, sometimes loving what you do is not sufficient. Doing what you love can just as easily make you feel exhausted, unproductive and stressed.
Burnout typically begins when we fail to see the red flags we allow to exist by glorifying the concept of working too hard, overtime/after-hours and thinning the gap between boundaries and emotions.
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands from work and relationships. To top this, there is also something referred to as “feminine burnout” which is the same burnout and being a woman is just the icing on this cake.
The definition of being a modern woman has gradually evolved from being liberated, independent and self-reliable to a woman who struggles to make the right choice for her health, doesn’t respond to hormonal cues, doesn’t prioritise desire and sensuality and lines up caffeine order before mental health.
While burnout has to do with how the self works under pressure, having a bad boss on the other hand is like just another prompt, it’s a bullet you choose to take on the heart or dodge John Wick style. Here are a few symptoms that could pull you from getting trapped in the burnout cycle and a UNO reverse to deal it all out.
You tend to fall into existential crises quite often – Watch movies/shows that make you feel good to awaken your inner child and help you focus on what matters the most
- You blissfully ignore play and focus on work, thereby turning yourself into Jack, a dull boy – Put on a nice outfit to make yourself feel more than your job
- You constantly compare yourself to others – Maintain a journal with who you discuss the nitty-gritty of your day and problems
- You have been making plans just to cancel them – Take one step at a time, it’s okay to cancel plans but it’s also not okay to push yourself away from your loved ones. Start by taking yourself on walk-dates
- You often feel unmotivated – Listen to your favourite music to reconnect with your tastes and hobbies
- You don’t enjoy food and experiences like you used to – Try something new. Its okay to grow out of old experiences
- You experience emotional numbness – Write letters to yourself and meditate as often as you can
- You crave intimacy but push it when initiated – Begin slow and steady, declutter your thoughts by decluttering your space and practice letting go
- You befriend negative reinforcements – Write five positive affirmations about yourself
- You feel unfocused and spacey – Practise yoga while practicing intention and habit.
If you have crossed off most of these symptoms it’s officially time for you to take a break or “Eat pray love” in Bali, Italy and India for some time. In short, a bad boss is like a shot of a quick call over the weekend and burnout is a hangover that will stay with you for weeks and eventually turn into a habit.