The Three Types of Burnout
Did you even know there were three types of burnout?
Or that research shows that people don’t burn out in the exact same way or for the exact same reasons. It makes sense if you think about it. Depending on the numbers you reference anywhere from 48% to 76% of workers in North America have experienced burnout. They couldn’t all be experiencing it in the same ways.
We had a participant in our Re-Work (Connect) tell us what a relief is was to learn that there were three types of burnout. She had been suffering through burnout but because it didn’t look like what you typically associated with burnout, she was also dealing with a lot of guilt and confusion about it. So we hope this helps you if you’re struggling with burnout but unsure about why. Here are the three types of burnout:
OVERLOAD BURNOUT: Pushing yourself to succeed at the cost of your health. This is the burnout we’re all most familiar with. It’s the type of overextension we mostly associate with burnout. This is tied to a compulsion to overdeliver and very much entangled with perfectionism. Signs of overload burnout include:
Sacrificing your personal life and needs for work
Dedicating an unhealthy amount of time and energy into advancing your career
Jeopardize your well-being for the sake of your goals
UNDER-CHALLENGED BURNOUT: When work feels stagnant and tedious and your motivation suffers as a result. This is related to a sense of being misaligned with the work you’re doing. Signs of this type of burnout include:
Longing for tasks and assignments that might challenge you
Feeling that your role lacks opportunities for you to grow and learn
Feeling trapped when it comes to furthering your abilities and moving forward in your career.
NEGLECT BURNOUT: Feeling a sense of helplessness in the face of difficulties that stems from a lack of guidance and structure at work. This speaks to a sense of depletion born of that lack of structure. This type of burnout shows up as:
Retreating and giving up easily when you encounter a problem at work
No longer trying when your job offers challenges you can't easily resolve
Feeling sad by the idea of going to work and dread stepping into the office
BUT. AND. ALSO. You might experience a mixture of all three types of burnout. Because burnout is fun like that. At Re-Work the first step in addressing burnout is understanding. So we’d encourage you to first determine what type of burnout you may be experiencing. And then turn to the Re-Work equation and whatever other resources you have access to to address it.
You can always join the (free!) Re-Work community on Mighty Networks for additional support. Or start with the Re-Work Equation workbook and work from there. You don’t have to do this alone and in fact it’s hard to. So reach out.
