What Is Burnout?

The term “burnout” was first coined by psychologist, Herbert Freudenberger, in the 70’s, giving a name to the chronic stresses experienced by healthcare workers. They were constantly giving more than then what they were built to give, with little recovery in between.

But today, burnout has metastasized into nearly every profession. Whether you’re pulling 12-hour days as a doctor, a lawyer, a psychologist, or a waste management consultant like me, it all creeps in just the same.

We tell ourselves it’s meaningful work - sometimes not - but when your life becomes an endless cycle of reports, meetings, powerpoints, and tending to patients and clients alike, that meaning starts to feel diluted. And this isn’t to say you shouldn’t go into purpose-driven work. We need people solving big problems. But slowly erasing yourself in the process? That’s not the solution.

How Burnout Shows Up

The first things to crumble aren’t always visible.

1. Self-care - You stop doing the little things: exercising, meditating, stretching, flossing.

2. Sleep - You’re either sleeping too much or not at all. Buzzing at 01:00. You wake up tired.

3. Stress levels - You’re irritable. The tiniest thing sets you off. Irritability turns into anger.

4. Eating habits - Meals become an afterthought, or a mindless binge.

5. Joy - Things you loved now feel like chores.

It keeps going.

• You feel numb, detached, and don’t care anymore.

• You laugh about how ridiculous your situation is - because any other reaction requires too much energy.

• You stop caring about your work, or worse, about yourself.

• Rage simmers just beneath the surface.

• Your body rebels - for me I was getting migraines so bad I couldn’t speak, the glands on the right side of my face and neck swelled up, and had weird “rainbows” blurring my vision that lasted anywhere between 10 minutes to half an hour.

• You don’t live. You survive.

Burnout Is a System Failure, Not a Personal One

If you’re feeling this, you’re not weak. You’re reacting normally to a world that asks too much and gives too little back.

We’ve accepted the 5-day grind (for some of us it’s 7 days), in exchange for 2 days (or 0 days) of recovery. Like that’s a fair trade.

That’s a minimum of 36% of your life lost every week and yet we call that normal.

But here’s the good news: burnout isn’t the end. It’s a warning. A sign that your current system isn’t working, and something needs to shift.

So What Can You Do Right Now?

You don’t need a 10-step plan or a life overhaul. You need one tiny pivot. Start there.

Here’s what helped me start climbing out:

1. Permission to stop
   Give yourself permission to not be productive today. Even for an hour. Breathe. Sit in the nothingness. It’s where repair begins.

2. Recognise it and label it
   Say the word: burnout. Define how it looks for you. Write down your personal symptoms. Externalizing it makes it easier to face.

3. Reclaim something small
   Reintroduce one thing you used to love: music, walking, cooking. Not to be productive. Just to feel human again.

Preventative and Coping Measures

What helps me are my six fundamentals.

1. Sleep - Good sleep hygiene isn’t a luxury, it’s a lifeline. A hot shower, lights low, and deep breathing help.

2. Meditation and breathwork - Even 5 minutes of deep breathing can shift your nervous system from sympathetic (flight or flight) to parasympathetic (rest and digest). Meditation isn’t about clearing your mind, it’s about gaining insight and noticing what’s happening to you.

3. Exercise - mixing cardio, strength, and flexibility throughout the week releases endorphins and dopamine, helping to reduce cortisol (the stress hormone).

4. Healthy eating - healthy fats and protein to start the day and plenty of vegetables throughout. The goal is to stabilise energy and mood, not chase the next sugar spike.

5. No alcohol - though alcohol makes it feel like your stress levels are reduced in the short term, it ends up increasing your them and your emotional and physical balance in the long term.

6. Reduce caffeine - I treat caffeine like a drug. It might give me a temporary lift, but it can also spike anxiety and give me headaches if I’m not careful.

Final Thought

Burnout doesn’t make you broken. It makes you aware.
Of your limits. Of your values. Of what you won’t tolerate anymore.

If you're here, feeling it, naming it - you’re already rebuilding.

You don’t have to quit your job tomorrow. But it may just give the wake-up call needed to prioritise yourself and find one that gives a little something back to you.