Burnout symptoms: Signs of burnout and how to avoid it

As a team lead, the last thing you want is for a team member to feel burnt out. But burnout can happen to anyone, and sometimes it can be difficult to spot. 

With the right preventative measures and support, you can prevent burnout on your team before it even happens. Or, if team members already feel burnt out, you can empower them to regain balance. Here’s how.

What is burnout?

Burnout is the feeling of emotional, physical, or mental exhaustion that happens as a result of overwork. When you’re overworked, you’re working too hard, too much, or for too long. 

Burnout can happen to anyone. According to the Anatomy of Work Index, 71% of knowledge workers experienced burnout at least once in 2020. Of those workers, nearly half of respondents (46%) cited being overworked as a key factor contributing to burnout. 

Symptoms of burnout

Burnout is a multifaceted issue that manifests through a combination of emotional, physical, and psychological experiences. These burnout symptoms may develop gradually, which makes it important to recognize them early for effective intervention.

The World Health Organization has officially classified burnout syndrome as an “occupational phenomenon,” which emphasizes its global prevalence and health implications.

Emotional exhaustion

One of the hallmark burnout symptoms is emotional exhaustion. This occurs when individuals feel utterly drained and unable to cope with the demands of daily life. Emotional exhaustion can result in a pervasive sense of being overwhelmed, often leaving little energy for personal or professional activities—or other important areas of your life.

Depersonalization

Depersonalization involves a sense of detachment or cynicism toward one’s work or the people involved in it. Those experiencing this symptom may feel disconnected from their tasks or view colleagues and clients as obstacles rather than individuals. This lack of empathy is a common indicator of occupational burnout, particularly in healthcare professionals.

Feelings of incompetence

The effects of burnout often erode a person’s sense of accomplishment. Individuals may feel inadequate or question their abilities, even in areas where they previously excelled. This self-doubt can significantly impact their sense of purpose and overall motivation. InformedHealth.org explains that this symptom can also progress into a serious mental health condition if left unaddressed.

Physical symptoms

Burnout doesn't just affect the mind—it can also take a toll on the body. Common physical burnout symptoms include chronic stress, headaches, and gastrointestinal issues. Long-term burnout may even increase the risk of severe medical conditions like heart disease.

Notably, during the pandemic, 75% of workers reported experiencing burnout, with 40% attributing it specifically to pandemic-related stressors.

Anatomy of Work Special Report: The unexplored link between impostor syndrome and burnout

Burnout and impostor syndrome have historically been studied as two separate phenomena. In this report, we connect the dots to help leaders slow burnout and increase employee retention.

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Signs of burnout

While burnout symptoms reflect internal struggles, warning signs of burnout are external behaviors that suggest someone might be grappling with significant stress or overwhelm.

These signs often become apparent to others and can severely impact personal and professional relationships. According to the American Psychological Association, recognizing these outward behaviors is critical to addressing burnout syndrome before it worsens.

• Decreased performance: A noticeable decline in productivity or quality of work is a significant warning sign of burnout. Burned-out individuals may struggle to meet deadlines, make errors, or exhibit a lack of attention to detail.

• Withdrawal: Social withdrawal is another key indicator. This can include avoiding team meetings, ignoring emails, spending more time on social media, or becoming less communicative with colleagues and loved ones.

• Irritability: Job burnout often leads to heightened irritability or impatience. Simple tasks or interactions that once seemed trivial may provoke anger or frustration. This emotional volatility can strain relationships, both at work and at home.

• Absenteeism: Frequent absenteeism—whether it’s taking unplanned days off, arriving late, or leaving early—is a clear behavioral risk factor. Over time, this pattern may escalate into complete disengagement.

What causes burnout?

Like the various signs of burnout, there are a variety of burnout causes. In general, each cause leads to a central tipping point: when work-related stress or pressure becomes too much or goes on for too long. This leads to burnout. 

In particular, you may be at risk of burnout if you have:

• Little to no control over your workload.

• Little to no recognition of a job well done.

• Unclear job expectations.

• Unreasonable or overly demanding job expectations.

• High-pressure work environments.

• Too much work—specifically when it leads to less time to do the things you enjoy outside of work.

The good news is that positive leadership can prevent or reverse many common causes of burnout. That’s where you come in. Understanding burnout symptoms is just one piece of the puzzle—if you lead a team, you can apply this understanding to action. 

Who can get burnout?

The truth is, burnout can happen to anyone. If you love or tolerate your job, whether you work from the office or work from home—if you work too hard or too long, you can experience burnout. 

And burnout doesn't just happen at work—you can get burnout in all areas of life. In fact, new parents and caregivers often report experiencing burnout. Although this article is focused on workplace burnout, some of the strategies listed below help to mitigate burnout in your personal life, too.

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Anatomy of Work Special Report: The unexplored link between impostor syndrome and burnout

Burnout and impostor syndrome have historically been studied as two separate phenomena. In this report, we connect the dots to help leaders slow burnout and increase employee retention.

Get the insights

How to avoid burnout

One of the most impactful things you can do as a manager is support your team by understanding how to avoid burnout and recognizing it before it happens. By leveraging a variety of tools, strategies, and meaningful conversations, you can take proactive steps to protect your team from burnout.

1. Be proactive

It’s much easier to prevent burnout than to fix it once it’s already happening—by the time you notice burnout symptoms, it’s difficult to reverse. Instead, be proactive about your team’s workload. 

You can do this by: 

• Frequently checking in on their capacity. Use capacity planning and resource management to get ahead of burnout. Conduct periodic assessments to gauge workload distribution and identify potential stress points early.

• Create realistic and attainable goals. Mapping out clear goals helps reduce confusion and overwork. Encourage your team to reframe challenges by focusing on achievable tasks aligned with strategic priorities.

2. Use a workload management tool

Talking to your employees is critical, but you can also be proactive by looking at their workload.

Workload management tools give you a bird’s-eye view of everyone’s tasks in one place. That way, you can get a sense of if anyone is overloaded and redistribute that work if necessary. These tools are particularly useful for identifying patterns where certain personality traits, like perfectionism, may cause team members to take on more than they should.

3. Ask about capacity during 1:1s

Schedule weekly or biweekly meetings to clarify work priorities and encourage downtime for balance. Use this time to explain how their work contributes to larger goals, boosting motivation and focus.

• Encourage participation in a support group or professional network to build resilience.

• A systematic review of team processes and workloads can help you pinpoint inefficiencies and improve overall productivity while keeping burnout symptoms at bay.

Learning how to avoid burnout is a continuous process that benefits from regular reflection and adjustment.

How to find work-life balance

Great managers address and prevent burnout. But even if you’re an individual struggling with burnout, there are two steps you can take to reduce the impact: reversing burnout and building resilience. 

The first and most important step is to reverse the impact of burnout. Then, once you’re back on solid ground, implement strategies to build your resilience and prevent burnout from happening again. 

Step 1: Reverse

There are a variety of strategies to reverse burnout, and the one that works best for you depends on your situation and personality. Don’t just stick to one strategy, though. Try implementing these strategies in combination with one another for best results. 

To reverse burnout, try: 

• Scheduling breaks. Burnout happens because you’ve been too stressed for too long. You likely have a lot of work to get done, and may be feeling a lot of pressure to do it. To start pushing back against burnout, schedule breaks throughout the day. These can be short breaks—five minutes to walk to the kitchen and make coffee; another five minutes to walk around the block and get some sunshine. If possible, disconnect from technology during these breaks to give your mind some time to relax. 

• Setting boundaries. All of the causes of burnout have one thing in common: external pressure. One of the best ways to reverse burnout is to set boundaries for yourself. Choose a time to log off from work every evening, if you can. Or try turning off notifications on the weekends so you aren’t tempted to respond to messages. Juliet Funt, author of A Minute to Think, recommends setting physical boundaries, too. For example, at the end of the day, place all of your work-related items in a drawer or box. She says, “Tuck them in and let them slumber while you do.” 

• Taking time off (if you can). This might not be an option for you right away, but taking time off is a great way to relax and recharge. Even if you only take a day or half day away from work, this is a chance to seek work-life balance. When you do take time off, make sure to confirm with your supervisor that you’ll be offline and unavailable. Or, if you do have to be available for some portion of your vacation, make sure you set boundaries about what that will look like. 

• Taking care of yourself. More often than not, burnout happens because we’re dedicating too much of ourselves to our work. Instead, take some time for self-care. Do something you like, and see if you can avoid thinking about work for a whole hour, evening, or weekend. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep and spending time with your family members, too. If you can, try introducing more mindfulness into your day to day, through things like yoga or meditation. This can help you combat stressors and increase wellness.

Step 2: Build resilience

Burnout can happen to anyone, and just because you beat burnout once doesn’t mean it can’t creep up on you again. 

To prevent that from happening, take the following steps: 

• Build your work relationships. A lot of times, burnout happens because you’re isolated at work while simultaneously being under a lot of pressure. One way to build resilience against future burnout is to build your work relationships. That way, if the pressure does start to mount, you have friends you can turn to for support, even if it’s just a cup of coffee and a casual chat.

• Align work with goals. While aligning work with goals doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t have a lot of work to do in the future, it does mean you’ll have a clear sense of why your work matters. When you understand what your work is contributing to, it’s easier to understand why the specific task your project you’re working on fits into the grand scheme of your organization’s plan. Additionally, if the pressure does build and you need to offload some work, you can effectively prioritize your most important tasks without worrying you won’t hit your goals. 

• Balance your work life with your personal life. In addition to getting enough sleep and connecting with loved ones, make sure you’re dedicating time to your interests outside of work. Do things you enjoy, whether that’s reading a book, seeing friends, being creative, doing a sport, or something else. Think of it like diversifying your investments—but in this case, you’re investing in your interests. 

From burnout to balance

Burnout can fly under the radar. Given enough time, these symptoms can build up and impact the well-being of your team members. The best way to ensure your co-workers aren’t burning out is to spot it before it happens. That’s where workload management comes in.

Anatomy of Work Special Report: The unexplored link between impostor syndrome and burnout

Burnout and impostor syndrome have historically been studied as two separate phenomena. In this report, we connect the dots to help leaders slow burnout and increase employee retention.

Get the insights

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