I keep hearing the phrase "burnout" lately. Three times in the last few months, different ages, different causes. In my research for my MA in Career Development Studies, two out of three of my participants used the word.
It is a dramatic phrase though, burnout...as in, “I burned myself out.”
This is about being set alight to the point of burning up. This is distress.
What is Burnout?
Burnout can be defined as a physical rejection of context. If I was to use my language I would say, it was the body’s voice speaking clearly that—enough is enough.
That the physical strain of the hours, the intensity of emotional strain, people pleasing, overachievement, the never-ending ladder to the top, the prioritising of work over family life, the ignoring of repeated lost sleep, socialising to excess, drinking too much on the job—the body finally speaks.
It is a shame that life has been set up to silence the body until the point of breaking.
It is as though it has to scream before you can hear it.
Why don't we hear our bodies when they speak?
We do not burnout suddenly. The body generally speaks quite plainly to ears that are listening…but we have been trained not to engage with the voice of our bodies until it is too late.
The body is often forgotten in careers decision-making because corporate systems, capitalist meritocracies and professional roles are not conducive to being body-sensitive.
Long days, early mornings, back to back performative meetings, workplace politics, balancing lifestyle with work. All these events are felt as stress that is internalised and absorbed by the body.
It is rarely given space to voice or be heard. It is as though the body is the armour that bears the weight of life: we think to ourselves, "Put up with it if you’re tough enough."
I mean, why would you listen to a voice that threatens your job security and identity?
Body and Mind as One
But thinking of the body as separate to you, just a capsule, Descartes’ machine, misses the point about how the body works.
Think more alignment: the body and the mind must align and work together in communion rather than exist as separate soldiers in the battlefield of life. You are one thing: body and mind.
One united front.
What’s your body saying?
Listen out for its language: it speaks through stressed shoulders, exhaustion, difficulty sleeping, staying asleep, anger or irritability, cramps, anxiety, reaching for unhealthy supports that you know are bad for you but can’t help reaching for.
Listen to that voice. It’s trying to tell you something.
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