The Three Types of Burnout
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Starting your week with some Monday Momentum!
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Have you ever felt burned out but you tell yourself that you have no right to feel burned out because you're not even doing a lot of work? I know that I have and I know that it's common. Something that most people don't know is that burnout is not only caused by doing too much.
There are predictable causes of burnout and there are actionable steps that you can take to be sustainably productive without ending up feeling burned out.
According to Ali Abdaal, author of Feel-Good Productivity, there are three types of burnout:
1. Overexertion (Doing too much)
2. Depletion (Not resting to recharge)
3. Misalignment (Not having a purpose)
Not-so-fun fact: if you procrastinate a lot and find yourself cramming massive amounts of work last minute, you're setting yourself up for overexertion burnout. This will only worsen the procrastination. (Check out last week's Monday Momentum for information on reducing procrastination.)
Here is what Abdaal has to say about each type of burnout and his research-based solution.
Overexertion
Overexertion burnout is due to simply doing too much. This type of burnout happens when you pack too much into a day. A single day of overexertion can lead to a mini-burnout. Consistently taking on too much for an extended period of time can lead to prolonged feelings of burnout.
The solution to this is to do less and say no more.
- Make a list of all the things that you currently have on your plate.
- Select the projects or commitments that you actually value.
- Prioritize those commitments and practice saying no to the rest.
We have to accept that we are human and we cannot do everything we want to do at the same time without paying a heft price of burnout.
Depletion
Depletion burnout is due to a "misguided" approach to rest. If you do not give yourself proper deep rest, your mood will suffer and you will feel burned out. It's important to properly recharge your mind, body, and spirit.
I see this type of burnout a lot. Students will commonly scroll on their phone for hours or binge watch TV or YouTube and then expect to feel recharged. I think we both know that doom scrolling is more mind numbing than it is energizing.
Here is a simple experiment:
- Set a timer for 5 minutes and make two lists
- List the things you actually tend to do when you're feeling drained
- List the things that tend to actually recharge you
I am not going to suggest all of the activities that would be actually recharging because it will so depend on who you are as a person. If you want ideas of ways to recharge, I suggest that you consult ChatGPT or Google and find some activities that would suit you.
Misalignment
Misalignment burnout is due to doing the "wrong" stuff. Feelings of burnout will develop if you've spent weeks, months, years, or decades putting effort into things that don't bring you any happiness or purpose.
The solution to this is to remind yourself of what matters to you and how your actions align with that.
Ask yourself "Why am I doing this?" five times.
Here is an example:
- I need to get started on this assignment now instead of doing it last minute.
- Why not procrastinate? (1)
- I don't want to feel guilty all week and I want to prove to myself that I can do what I say I'll do so I can trust myself.
- Why trust myself? (2)
- Trusting myself allows me to grow as a person and be confident.
- Why have confidence? (3)
- Having confidence in myself reduces my anxiety by proving that I can handle hard things when they inevitably happen.
- Why reduce anxiety? (4)
- I want feel good enough to actually use my full potential.
- Why use my full potential? (5)
- I get one life to live and I want the best quality of life possible and I want the freedom to live the life I want.
After doing this exercise a few times, you will start to see how your actions and choices are not things that you "should" be doing. Often, the daily actions you take actually are a step towards something you truly want for yourself. Your internal narrative on why you're doing the things you do, will massively impact how you feel about those tasks and whether they drain you or not.
You're capable of sustainable productivity <3
