If you clicked on this post, chances are you’re feeling… well, kinda terrible about your job right now. Maybe you’re dragging yourself to work every morning, coming home completely drained, and wondering if this is just what adult life is supposed to feel like.
Let me tell you something important: You’re not broken. What you might be experiencing is burnout – and it’s happening to millions of people every single year.
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Here’s the Thing About Burnout…
According to recent statistics, over 20% of American workers are experiencing burnout at any given moment. And if you’re neurodivergent? Unfortunately, those numbers are even higher.
But here’s what I want you to know: This doesn’t mean you’re destined to feel exhausted and miserable forever.
I’ve worked with so many clients who came to me completely burnt out, and I’ve watched them transform their experience and find careers that actually work for them.
What Actually IS Burnout?
Medically speaking, burnout is a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged exposure to emotionally demanding situations – particularly chronic stress at work.
But here’s the part most people don’t realize: Burnout isn’t just caused by the amount of work you do. It’s caused by how unaligned that work is with you.
When you’re doing work that goes against your values, work that feels unfair, work that doesn’t use your natural skills – that work becomes exponentially more exhausting than work you love and enjoy.
The 5 Tell-Tale Signs You’re Burnt Out
1. Chronic Exhaustion
This isn’t just feeling tired after one bad night’s sleep. This is consistently, week after week, feeling absolutely drained when you get home from work. My clients tell me: “When I get home, I don’t have energy to do anything else. I just want to sit on the couch and decompress.”
2. Cynicism
You start feeling cynical about the value of your job. You question whether you’re really making a difference and feel more detached from other people.
3. Loss of Motivation
You simply don’t want to do the job anymore. You’re constantly getting distracted, going off-task, and it feels really hard to stay focused.
4. Cognitive Impairment
Issues with memory, feeling unfocused, or constant brain fog. You just don’t feel like you’re on your game.
5. Physical Symptoms
Headaches, getting sick all the time, heartburn, muscle tension, or even developing conditions like IBS.
So… Do You Think You Have Burnout?
Remember, burnout isn’t one tired day after work. It’s not feeling kind of tired one weekend after a particularly busy week.
Burnout is consistently feeling fatigued, unmotivated, brain foggy, and physically unwell – week after week after week.
If that sounds like you, let’s make a game plan to get you out of this situation and into something much healthier.
Your Get-Out-of-Burnout Action Plan
Step 1: Prioritize Your Mental and Emotional Wellbeing
I have clients come to me who are so burnt out that all they can manage is: show up to work, come home, eat, sleep, repeat. When you’re that depleted, it’s really difficult to make any progress.
At work: Can you put any loving boundaries in place? Like actually taking your full lunch break? Leaving when your shift ends?
At home: Be really intentional with your time. What can you do to give yourself what you need to recharge? Remember: you are your most important asset.
Step 2: Figure Out If You’re in the Right Job
Look at your current situation honestly: Are there things you can change to make this job less stressful? Or is it just the nature of the job/company that it’s always going to be this way?
If you can make changes that would actually get you to a point where you’re happy and fulfilled, that’s your path forward.
If no – because it’s a toxic work culture or just fundamentally misaligned with who you are – then we move to step 3.
Step 3: Different Company or Different Career?
Figure out whether you just need to switch companies (doing similar work in a healthier environment) or whether you need to change careers entirely.
If you just need a different company: I recommend networking to get that job.
If you need a new career entirely: Let’s build that plan.
Finding Your New Career Path
If you need a completely new career, here’s your roadmap:
Step 1: Self-Discovery
Explore these four categories:
- Things I love: What you enjoy, what you’re passionate about
- Things I’m good at: Your natural and learned skills
- How I want to live: What kind of lifestyle do you want?
- My personality: Are you introverted or extroverted?
Once you’ve identified these puzzle pieces, narrow them down to find the most important ones.
Step 2: Explore Careers That Fit
Start exploring careers that include your most important puzzle pieces. You’ll naturally start thinking of 3-5 careers that might fit.
Step 3: Research in Real Life
This step is SO important. Go talk to people actually doing these jobs. Ask them: “What’s the worst part of being a [therapist/marketer/whatever]? What did you find most difficult when you started?”
Step 4: Make Your Move
Once one career floats to the top, figure out what you need to do to get a job in that field. Talk to people who do the job and ask what you’d need to get started.
Then use networking to actually get the job. At the end of conversations ask, “Do you know anyone who’s hiring?” This way you get directly referred instead of competing with 200 other people online.
Where Are You Right Now?
After reading this, where do you find yourself?
- Are you someone who just needs more time for wellness and self-care?
- Are you someone who needs to make a few changes in your current job?
- Or are you someone who needs a completely different career path?
Remember, what matters is that your career feels good and authentic to YOU. You have so much to offer the world by being your authentic self.
If this post brought up some big feelings or revelations, I’m here to support you. You can always drop me a message or book a free Discovery Call if you want to dive deeper into creating a career that energizes you instead of draining you.
Keep shining your light, my friend. You’ve got this!
Lots of love,
Mabel xoxo