Burnout Red Flags: How to Spot the Warning Signs Before They Spiral

Boost your self-awareness and stop ignoring the signs screaming for your attention

Photo by Bernd 📷 Dittrich on Unsplash

Burnout doesn’t slam into you announcing “Hiya love, I'm here!”. No, it creeps up when you're looking the other way.

Sneaky cow.

One day you’re ‘just tired,’ and the next, everything feels hard, you're grumpy, wiped out, and unsure why you can’t achieve what you want at work or at home.

The catch? Burnout looks slightly different for everyone.

Spotting your personal red flags early is the first step to stopping it before it takes over and crushes your life.

Burnout syndrome describes a group of symptoms across 3 key dimensions - this makes it different from chronic stress alone:

Diagram of 3 Key Burnout Dimensions and Descriptions by Sabrina Ahmed (Author)

The road to burnout sometimes shows an increase in one or two dimensions first, before all three are moderate to high.

As things get worse and challenging over the months (and even years), more symptoms are added to the mix.

This is why its confusing to know what's really going on, and when to pay attention until you feel like utter trash.

The slow creep and where burnout comes from

This slow creep to burnout resonates for me. I'll tend to get tired and exhausted first because unhelpful burnout patterns kick in when I'm under pressure.

For example working longer hours, going to bed later, eating for fuel vs nutrition and enjoyment.

These coping strategies seem helpful initially but perpetuate self-sabotaging thoughts, feelings, habits and traits - burnout patterns - like perfectionism, people-pleasing, complaining, or overthinking.

When I'm running on empty and don't rest enough, it affects how I see myself too. My confidence suffers, as I make more mistakes or it's harder to focus, which ramps up how ineffective I feel.

If this goes on for too long, even if I'm delivering outcomes or meeting goals well enough, they feel hollow and I feel detached and cynical about my situation.

In chaotic environments, I lose trust in others and stability too. It turns into a multi-layered and overwhelming experience.

I end up feeling like a zombie robot.

Remember there are always external and internal stressors impacting your burnout journey, including but not limited to:

1. Work or home pressures: i.e. financial risks, project deadlines, caregiving duties;

2. Unhelpful coping strategies: i.e. not wanting to share and be vulnerable, perfectionism, isolating yourself;

3. Core beliefs: i.e. ‘I have to work hard regardless’, ‘Rest is for the weak’, ‘If I don't get this done, it will all fail’;

4. Biological factors: i.e. not sleeping enough or poor diet, lack of movement;

5. Social engagement: i.e. limited social support, peer isolation, bullying, social overload, unhealthy childhood attachments;

6. Personality traits: i.e. high introversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and neuroticism, perfectionism, people-pleasing, Type A (achievement-oriented) increase burnout risk;

7. Loss drivers and unprocessed grief: i.e. loss of support, trust, health, stability, a loved one etc.

Your personal combo of these stressors and risk factors creates your unique burnout red flags and symptoms.

Look at all aspects of your life, past and present, to understand what’s going on better.

This is why recovery might take longer than we want. Some issues are tackled quicker than other deeper ones. You might have picked up habits over years, and challenging them might be hard at first.

I want you to know this: you will recover and build a great life - you just have to start.

It doesn't matter where, but rekindle hope and start small.

What burnout really looks and feels like

I wrote recently about my tendency to fall into overextension, especially if I'm motivated by a project or goal (Thanks, Type A traits).

The drive to achieve often wins above my drive to rest.

Due to the complexity of burnout and its internal and external drivers, it affects more than just your energy levels.

Here are other red flags and symptoms you might notice, but it's not limited to these:

1. Emotional: i.e. irritability, cynicism, fearful, detachment, sadness, upset, anger, worry, numb;

2. Physical: i.e. chronic fatigue, headaches, disrupted sleep, muscle aches and pains, digestive issues, dizziness, nausea, reliance on drink or drugs;

3. Cognitive: i.e. forgetfulness, trouble focusing, decision fatigue, anxious repetitive thoughts, jumping to conclusions;

4. Social: i.e. isolation, relationship troubles, over-socialising with groups for distraction.

Reflective question:

• Which of these symptoms feel familiar to you?

Take your notebook or phone to express what comes up. You’ll build self-awareness so you can take intentional action.

Burnout isn't just one flavour - let's explore the 3 burnout subtypes

Due to the various burnout drivers out there, we know burnout isn’t one-size-fits-all.

Researchers have identified three burnout subtypes, each with its own red flags and symptoms. It's handy to explore and hone in on the best focus areas for you.

Here are the burnout subtypes with examples:

1. Overload or Overextension Burnout (Frenetic)

• Key Dimension Impacted: High Emotional/Physical Exhaustion

• Symptoms: Overworking, sacrificing health or relationships, inability to delegate.

• Examples and Potential Burnout Pattern: The go-getter who’s constantly ‘on’ (The Busy Bee); the worker who believes rest is for quitters (The Marching Soldier).

Reflection Prompt: Do you often feel like you’re burning the candle at both ends and still not achieving enough?

2. Under-Challenged Burnout (Boredom)

• Key Dimension Impacted: High Cynicism/ Detachment

• Symptoms: Indifference, boredom, lack of meaning, disengagement, frequent distractions.

• Examples and Potential Burnout Pattern: The creative who feels stuck in a monotonous projects with no room to grow (The Overthinker); the entrepreneur overlooked for opportunities and complains to their partner (The Complainer).

Reflection Prompt: Do you find yourself mentally checked out or indifferent toward your work?

3. Neglect Burnout (Worn-Out)

• Key Dimension Impact: High Feeling Ineffective

• Symptoms: Feeling helpless, giving up easily, lack of motivation, loss of confidence.

• Examples and Potential Burnout Pattern: The business owner overwhelmed by failures or setbacks (The Procrastinator); the creative who stops creating (The Comfort-Seeker).

Reflection Prompt: Do you feel like no matter what you do, it won’t make a difference?

Why do we ignore the red flags and symptoms in front of us?

First-off, most of us don't realise these signs, red flags, and symptoms are burnout or on the road to burnout.

Burnout symptoms are normalised in culture and society ("Everyone’s stressed"). Choosing your health and doing things differently is hard - bloody hard.

Others might judge you, you’ll judge yourself, and any change uses energy you barely have anyway. I get why we’d rather stick our heads in the sand and ignore it all.

People also fear being perceived as weak or incapable, especially in some high-stress industries.

I know folks in financial services and mining who didn't get mental health support because it might show up on a record or insurance check in the future.

They'd rather suffer now versus face a potential future judgment. This is a tangible fear for them in a cutthroat system.

Symptoms are sometimes misattributed to other causes too (e.g., thinking it’s just lack of sleep, normal ageing).

Even though I study this stuff and work to help others with these issues, I get caught out sometimes.

During a burnout phase, I thought my dizziness was due to anaemia until I realised I'd been overdoing it for way too long.

Sometimes it is anaemia though, so it's worth getting a blood test to check underlying physical issues exacerbated by burnout and chronic stress.

How to spot your personal burnout red flags

It all starts from self-awareness. Do your due diligence to check what's actually going on, or you'll be fixing the wrong problems or trying the wrong solutions.

Reflective or creative journalling prompts are a low entry starting point for this.

You don't have to write pages, or record a podcast length of voice notes.

Keep it simple.

Set aside 2 minutes to ponder these reflective prompts:

• How am I feeling emotionally and physically?

• When did I last feel truly engaged or energised at work?

• What tasks or situations drain me the most?

• Which burnout subtype resonates most with my experience?

Not sure what your main red flags and symptoms are? Take my Burnout Risk Quiz to uncover your burnout risk profile and top tips:

Get out of your way and choose recovery steps for your burnout subtype

We're so often frazzled or zombied, we have no idea where to start or don’t believe we'll ever feel better.

You will. I've done it myself and seen it many times in others.

Based on which burnout subtypes resonate with you, I'm sharing a first recovery step to get unstuck and experiment with.

I know you'll find a gazillion reasons why you can't. This is why you're burning out, so prioritising recovery is the key choice only you can make.

Either keep going as you are or choose a healthier mind, body and brain so you reach the goals and outcomes you want.

From my experience, your body will do it for you eventually, so it's better to choose with intention.

1. For Overload or Overextension Burnout: Prioritise rest and delegate or delay tasks.

2. For Under-Challenged Burnout: Find one way to inject creativity or challenge into your routine.

3. For Neglect Burnout: Identify one small win or ask for help where you feel stuck.

Burnout recovery is a process, but the first step is understanding what’s going on.

Then make one small change. And another. And another. They add up over time and you'll notice the shift.

You've achieved so much in your life already.

Trust in your ability to change and recover to spend your time and energy on what you uniquely offer the world.

Key takeaways

Burnout isn't a one-size-fits-all issue. It manifests differently for everyone because we live complex and varied lives.

Burnout describes emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and social red flags and symptoms across 3 key dimensions:

1. Emotional/Physical Exhaustion

2. Cynicism/Detachment

3. Feeling Ineffective

This is why comparing yourself to others doesn't ultimately help. Instead, get curious about your own mind, body and brain.

Check if your symptoms are newer or longer- term habits. What influences them?

Use the 3 burnout subtypes to dive deeper and prioritise your recovery steps:

1. Overload or Overextension Burnout (Frenetic)

2. Neglect Burnout (Worn-Out)

3. Under-Challenged Burnout (Boredom)

By understanding your burnout subtype, red flags and symptoms better, you’ll feel more confident in trying those first steps toward recovery.

Remember, you don’t have to do it alone - we’re here to cheer you on.

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Start 2025 in an intentional way to find peace of mind and body.

Explore your burnout red flags and where to focus for the next 90 days by joining my next free live 60-minute Art-based Action Board Masterclass on Friday 10 January at 9pm GMT.

Click the button below to register for the Zoom details.

Prep info and testimonials from the October Masterclass available here.