How to Deal with Emotional Overwhelm and Work Burnout

How to Deal With Emotional Overwhelm and Work Burnout

In a society where work is seen as essential and necessary for quality of life, it can be challenging to create a work-life balance while also ensuring financial stability. There is a fallacious idea that work is something to be endured to get to the better parts of life. Bosses are someone to complain about. Upper management is some abstract group with makes questionable decisions, out of touch with the work being done on the ground. If you agree to work extra hours, you can prove your value to the company. 

These are the understandable trade-offs that have been normalized. But these long hours can be exhausting and the stress can impact other aspects of your life. Maybe you’ve noticed that you don’t have energy outside of work, or you don’t have time to do things that you used to love, or maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed thinking about putting energy into doing anything outside of work and a select few activities. You might feel like you spend all your time recovering from work to only do it again. 

Burnout is a feeling of emotional, physical and psychological exhaustion which can manifest as apathy about work, lack of motivation, diminished performance, exhaustion, and physical symptoms. Burnout is caused by prolonged and excessive stress brought on by working prolonged hours or under stressful conditions like strict bosses. 

Conversely, you might be feeling heightened emotions in response to stress. Emotional Overwhelm is feeling emotions so intensely that it inhibits your ability to function. It can affect your cognitive functions like logical reasoning, remembering, and thinking. 

It’s important to give yourself grace when you recognize these symptoms and remember to take care of yourself. Here are some tips for ways to deal with Emotional Overwhelm and Work Burnout: 

Recognize your accomplishments. It can be easy to get swept up in burnout and overwhelm, so remember to pause and celebrate the little wins of each day. This can help you feel motivated and accomplished. It can also help you put in perspective the good work that you are doing.

Check-in with your body and set boundaries. It’s okay to prioritize yourself. Taking a moment to check in with yourself gives you space to see what feels manageable for you at that moment.  

Make time for self-care because if you don’t your body will make that time for you. Self-care could look like taking a walk in the middle of the day or making time to go to the gym. Finding something to release the stress can help alleviate both overwhelm and burnout. 

Communicate with support systems. Family and friends can be amazing sources of support. Sharing your struggles with them can help in finding workable solutions. Communicating with your boss about the strain and unrealistic expectations can also ease stress at work. 

Focus on a healthy lifestyle. As silly as it sounds, eating healthy food, exercising, sleeping, and drinking water are simple things that can have a profound impact on emotional, physical, and mental health. They are also things that are easy to fall by the wayside in times of stress. Be intentional about your wellbeing. 

Somatic and Mindfulness practices. Finding a meditative practice that works for you can have many benefits. It allows you to connect more deeply with internal body sensations and increase awareness of when and where stress sits in your body. It can also help you recognize when you start to feel stressed so you can act to relieve it.

When in the midst of emotional overwhelm and burnout, it can be difficult to remember to practice these skills, so it can be helpful to practice them continually and learn how to recognize signs of burnout in yourself. 

You are not alone in dealing with burnout and overwhelm. There are people you can turn to to help you find the skills and practices that work best for you to help deal with and prevent burnout and overwhelm.

Reach out and check out our therapists here if you are interested in getting some extra support as you work through burn out.