CLEAR Signs YOU’re Drained and Burned Out!
Most people know the feeling: You’re tired and exhausted and your motivation to do anything is non-existent. You would prefer to spend the whole day in bed or on the couch. What might just be normal laziness after a long, exhausting work week, your body’s message to help you relax, can become a serious problem when it occurs over a period of time. Constant exhaustion and lack of drive can be clear indicators of a burnout syndrome. However, it is often difficult to distinguish between harmless laziness and serious illness. In this article, we've compiled the most important factors for you to recognize whether you're just going through a short phase of laziness or are worn out.
1. Lack of motivation is not in your character
In the past, you always wanted to do something on your days off. The best way to spend your time off was to go on a day trip, to be on the road. In the evenings you liked to hang out with friends and were up for any shenanigans, but currently you can hardly motivate yourself to get out the door. The probability that this behavior is related to simple laziness is very low. This is because usually lazy people tend to show this behavior pattern regularly over the years. Moreover, lack of motivation is rarely responsible in their case, rather they really like not doing anything and lying around. So if you suddenly suffer from a lack of motivation, even though you used to be the life of the party, you're probably drained professionally or personally and need some rest and time dedicated just for you.
2. You’ve lost your passion.
This point is very much linked to the lack of motivation. Many people cultivate hobbies full of passion. These can show themselves in the form of exercise alone or in a club, as well as in creativity, making music, handicrafts or painting. If you had such a hobby, anything you practiced full of passion and devotion, but now suddenly you can no longer work up to it, you are very likely exhausted. After all, while we all have the occasional lazy, unmotivated day, our passion will rarely be affected. The good news is that even if you're drained, it doesn't mean you're suffering from burnout. In challenging circumstances, everyone needs a short break from time to time.
3. Your life is on autopilot
One of the surest signs of a serious condition is when you feel like you have no control over what you love. Every day follows the same pattern: you get up, struggle to get to work, and put in time there. When you get home, you crawl into bed and try to just blank out until the next day. Nothing can get you out of this daily rut. You feel no motivation, even invitations from friends are of no interest to you. And during all this time you feel like you can't make decisions for yourself. An inner compulsion to self-isolation drives you, you feel as if you are watching yourself, while real life runs alongside you. In such cases, the diagnosis is almost certainly burnout, and you should try to regain control over your life with outside help.
4. You are constantly moody, irritable and emotional.
Another sign that there might be more to your laziness is frequent and sudden changes in your emotions. One moment you were reasonably happy and content, but a little something calls up negative memories. Instead of being able to just shake them off, you let them affect your feelings. Within a few seconds you get into a negative emotional state, which you often take out on people in your environment. The closer people are to you, the more likely it is they’ll suffer from your emotional outbursts. You give snippy answers to your best friend, are cold and distant towards your work colleagues or yell at your partner. And all this happens without you being able to give a reason for it yourself. There's a good chance that there's a lot of stress behind it, which is why you're drained. People who are simply lazy are not prone to such sudden and incomprehensible changes of emotions.
5. You neglect yourself
Chronic laziness is often accompanied by a certain amount of self-neglect. Numerous points fall under this. On the one hand, these can be quite harmless. Examples would be not putting on makeup or neglecting shaving or hair care. Things become more extreme if general body hygiene is neglected. A particularly worrying example is when food intake is seen as unimportant and unnecessary. The first step is often a switch from cooking to delivery services and fast food; the second step is that even this may be too much effort, and the quality and quantity of food consumed declines even further. This point may also apply to lazy people to a certain extent, yet they will rarely neglect themselves completely. It is also important to distinguish whether you have always placed somewhat less emphasis on balanced nutrition and personal hygiene, or whether this change has occurred recently.
6. All of these points have developed slowly and unobtrusively.
One of the most important things you should know about burnout is that it doesn't develop abruptly. Rather, you feel more and more drained over time. Your motivation steadily decreases from week to week. In retrospect, it is impossible to say when this development started. So if you complain about a sudden tiredness and lack of drive, this is probably related to a quite normal exhaustion. This can be caused, for example, by a series of particularly exhausting work weeks or personal stress. In this case, the best solution is to simply give in to laziness and take a short break. However, make sure that this behavior does not become a habit, because this could be the start of the creeping process of burnout.
Today’s Conclusion
We hope we were able to make a small contribution to the distinction between burnout and laziness with this article. It is of utmost importance to recognize the symptoms of burnout as early as possible and to become aware of the problem. This is the only way to take active steps to remedy it. It is advisable to seek professional help in the case of burnout. It is very difficult to overcome a true lack of motivation alone. If you are not yet suffering from burnout, but still feel drained, targeted rest is the best way to go. It's perfectly fine to occasionally switch off and ignore the rest of the world for a day or two. Doing so can replenish dead batteries surprisingly quickly. However, it's important to never lose control. Because after this rest phase, it's time to get back to life and face the challenges ahead. That's it for today.