Burnout doesn’t slam into your life like a car crash. It creeps in, quietly. A skipped lunch here, a late night there. You tell yourself it’s just “a busy season.” But before you know it, your body is screaming, and you can’t remember what rest even feels like.
I know this, because I’ve been there… more than once.
In this blog, I want to show you the subtle, sneaky habits that lead to burnout — and how to spot them before they take over.
Nobody ever just wakes up and — poof — you’re burnt out.
No. It takes time to truly succumb to it, and it’s not always straightforward. Look, burnout comes from chronic and prolonged stress. It’s insidious. From my experience of burnout (I’ve had the pleasure two times and came really close a third time), there are warning signs that highlight that you’re on the path to burnout. However, in the world we live in, we either ignore the signs, normalise the signs, or even bury our heads in the sand until our bodies are screaming at us. Because yes, your body will scream at you.
And even when your body is screaming at you, you will also keep denying that it’s stress, because hey, denial is a hell of a drug, especially when all you’ve ever known is stress. So, what I thought I would do today is look at the teeny, tiny little habits that we can all be guilty of succumbing to when things get stressful, busy, or plain ole hectic.
1. Sacrificing the Bare Essentials
Be honest: have you ever sacrificed your sleep to get sh*t done?
Skipped the gym?
Let your diet slide?
Forgotten downtime?
Yeah, most of us have.
I personally got into this habit when I was at uni, leaving everything to the last minute to use that surge of pure pressure (aka panic) to cram for an exam or finish an assignment.
And what happened? Nothing bad. I passed my exams and finished that assignment, heck, I might have even received a high distinction for it.
Perfect. A little bit of positive reinforcement.
Then enter adult life. What happens when you do the same thing?
Well, initially, nothing bad. You might even get some positive reinforcement from a manager who’s seeing all this output. Or maybe you’re seeing the benefits: maybe you’ve hit a target, secured a new deal, grown your business a little more.
Amazing.
So this can create a feedback loop, whereby sacrificing all the things that we need to make us human feels like a good thing.
I love that for us.
With the ever-constant promise to yourself that once you achieve some future goal, you’ll get back into all those good habits like sleeping, exercising, eating healthy, and maybe seeing your loved ones.
Which, lets be real, doesn’t happen.
2. The Ever-Moving Goalpost
Okay, so you’ve been sacrificing all those basic essential habits to achieve your goals… Cool, cool, cool.
Now enter the ever-moving goalpost.
You recognise what you’re doing isn’t healthy, but you have a plan: you will start when your business achieves a specific goal or your company reaches some arbitrary milestone.
What happens when you get there? Well, now you’re even busier to implement those things.
And so enters the ever-moving goalpost.
It’s really easy to do. And before you know it, your future self keeps getting pushed further and further down the track.
3. Taking On More Work Than You Can Handle
We’ve all heard the saying: “If you need to get something done, give it to a busy person.”
For a lot of people (especially my clients), they like to feel busy and they like to help out. Heck, they like to feel that adrenaline from being put under pressure, so they say “yes” to everything.
- Extra work? Sure!
- Help out a friend? Sure!
- Take on a new project? Absolutely!
Are they a sadist? Maybe. But more often than not, they don’t realise they’re at capacity until they’re overflowing.
It’s really easy to say “yes” to extra work, whether that’s at home or at work, and it can come from:
- People pleasing
- Wanting to show drive
- The rush of being busy
- Feeling like if they don’t do it, it won’t get done properly (hello, control/perfectionism)
For whatever reason, it’s an easy habit to get into — and you can quickly find yourself drowning in the additional work.
4. Ignoring Health Issues
Okay, this one…
Stress has a profound impact on your body. It can impact digestion, immunity, and cause inflammation. Could I go on and on about this? Absolutely (and if you’ve come to a talk of mine… you know I do).
BUT to keep things moving, I shall not go on a tangent!
Here’s the thing: so many health issues that arise from stress have started to become common ground. Gut health issues, skin issues, allergies, aches and pains, hormone issues, etc., have all been somewhat normalised.
And when things get normalised or a number of people are suffering from different health issues, it’s easy to think that they’re: a) normal, and/or
b) you don’t have to do anything about it.
Most people I work with typically wait until these health issues are detrimentally impacting their life. Whether that’s having to take time off work, being unable to do what they normally do, having to stop hobbies, or even ending up in hospital.
Take it from me: take your health seriously and don’t wait for it to get worse.
Once stress starts impacting your health, it’s game over. You’re forced to take it seriously — and by this stage, you’re quite far down the garden path to burnout.
What next?
The thing is, burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It sneaks in, step by step, through habits that seem harmless at first. But the good news? You can catch it early and start undoing the cycle.
Pay attention to the whispers before they become screams. Trust me, your future self will thank you.
Next week, we will going through Part 2: The small, sustainable ways to reverse the habits that lead to burnout.
In the meantime, if you want to have a chat around 121 coaching, book in here. Or if you want a talk for your team/company, feel free to reach out or book in a call.
Visit our stress management training for leaders in London page.
