6 Signs of Burnout

Everyone experiences burnout in their jobs… yes you heard me… everyone! And bloggers are no different. (even though I wish we were)

In psychology, burnout is a state of stress physically, emotionally and mentally from prolonged feelings of stress.

Maybe you’ve noticed a change in your emotions, relationships with others or you’re questioning whether blogging is even for you anymore. These are all valid and I promise you are not alone!

Keep reading to learn about the signs of burnout, how they all interact with each other and how you may be noticing them within yourself as a blogger!

1. Exhaustion & Fatigue

Exhaustion & fatigue show up in many more ways than just feeling tired. Not only does it show up as headaches, dizziness and muscle weakness, but also as impaired decision making and judgement.

It is so important to make sure that you take care of yourself and listen to your body so you don’t also have long-term health effects from experiencing burnout.

You may notice this if you find yourself...

• Feeling drained by the thought of your blog

• Feeling drained when you have to work on new posts and engage with users

2. Foggy Brain

You’re probably not surprised to hear that the term “Foggy Brain” isn’t a medical term, but rather a way to describe feeling like you’re in a haze. This is what can happen from prolonged symptoms of exhaustion and fatigue if gone unchecked.

Foggy brain has effects on your ability to think and can often leave you feeling confused and mentally disorganized. Not to mention the struggle to put your thoughts into words!

You may be experiencing a foggy brain if...

• You’re experiencing writer's block

• You have ideas but no motivation to write them

3. Negativity & Cynicism

Individuals experiencing burnout tend to feel very negatively towards completing tasks, in this case: feeling negatively and cynical towards your blog.

Negativity is a scary thing because it can so easily metastasize into other areas of one’s life without even recognizing it. If a cynical attitude and negative view goes unchecked it’s almost inevitable that there will be spillage.

You may notice that you’re feeling stressed out by social media, or hearing the opinions of others is a waste of time, or that the words “never” and “always” become slightly more common in your vocabulary.

So, what does this look like for you as a blogger...

• You feel resentful towards doing anything for your blog

• Feeling frustrated with your results and stats from the blog

4. Overly Emotional & Sensitive

When you’re feeling overwhelmed by work it is really easy to be overwhelmed by other seemingly small things in other areas of your life.

This can show up within yourself if you’re having trouble letting go of negative thoughts of being overly critical of yourself. But this can also show up in your relationships with others.

Examples of this can be anxiety in group settings, trouble receiving feedback from others, feeling self conscious in physically or emotionally intimate situations or even feeling overly empathetic towards others.

Try looking out for...

• Feeling frustrated with your results and stats from the blog

• You feel impatient or quick tempered

• You’re withdrawing from friends and family

5. You Don’t Enjoy Blogging Like You Once Did

So, what happens when you add up feeling exhausted, foggy-brained, negative and emotional? You get a lack of enjoyment of what you once loved to do.

For us bloggers a huge part of what we do comes from passion and creativity. But, if you’re feeling burnt out and exhausted by your work it is nearly impossible to get inspired by anything!

Bloggers and business owners aren’t exempt from losing interest in what they do and used to love.

What you may notice as a blogger...

• You’ve lost interest in your blog

• What once felt fun now feels like a chore

6. Wanting To Give Up

Burnout is real sometimes it does reach the point of wanting to give up. If you’re feeling like this you’ve probably been burning at both ends for a really long time.

Maybe you need to step away for a little while, or maybe you just need to ask for help!

If you’re reaching this point you may want to ask yourself: is this temporary or is it time to move on? Either one is okay!

This might look like...

• It feels impossible to keep up with responsibilities of your blog

• You’re struggling to find time for yourself

So, you’ve found yourself in creative slumps, writing blocks and just down-right not wanting to do anything with your blog. All of these signs of burnout are completely normal to feel in any job.

I hope this post helped you recognize if you’re feeling burnout and identify which stage of burnout you’re in.