The Muse: I’m normally a morning person, even on the weekends, so when I realized I had been dragging myself out of bed around 11:30 AM for the last few Saturdays in a row, I knew there was a problem.
But I haven’t always been so good at recognizing the signs of burnout. At one point (as my good friends will tell you), I was basically a zombie who didn’t want to do anything except work, but wasn’t very effective when I did. I couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t focus, and really couldn’t enjoy anything I was putting my energy toward (or, well, attempting to).
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I felt like this my freshman year at CMU. I hit almost all of the symptoms on that list with the exception that I knew it wasn’t going well. This article is another reminder why I transferred into Drama from the math program. Drama may be harder but it is much more rewarding, although I can only speak for myself. I think a lot of people in the SOD reach this point at some point throughout the school year. We all have summer break to look forward to and I think that helps but the problem persists. We encourage a stress culture that isn’t healthy. People are proud of their all-nighters and snap at people who aren’t doing them. Professors often say they would rather have you sleep and turn in good work later, but most of the students are too afraid to try it. I hope it’s a cycle we can eventually break out of but I fear that it is just a side effect of going to a top tier school.
We talk about burnout here at school and how it's never a good thing, and that is true. However, I think it's one thing to notice the signs of burnout, and another to actually take those steps to help alleviate burnout. We're always going to be facing burnout, it's a normal situation that happens to everyone and so the best thing to learn right now, while you're in school where you can try different things is figuring out what you need to do personally to not burn yourself out. The article was nice in putting some of the signs right out there so that people can watch for them but it doesn't really give ideas on how to fight those signs and make yourself healthy. Spend some time while you're in school, in a culture that thrives on burnout, and figure out what you need as a human being to fight this.
It's great to have this "burnout" list to reference, as it is more difficult to recognize the signs while you're in the middle of a burn out. Having this list on hand might be the gentle reminder you need to take a step back and assess.
But I agree with Tyler, I wish the article had continued to push the issue and divulged how to get yourself out of a burn out. Or better yet how to stop from reaching the burn out. You don't always have the option to take a break off work, or go on a vacation. Sometimes you need to power through, but powering through rarely helps a burnout. What do you do when you know you're burned out but still have work to get through? It's a tough issue, and one that CMU students face daily. Perhaps this is the reason for the phrase "work hard, party harder."
In a college setting, especially one as rigorous as CMU, I think it's really easy to get caught up in worrying about your work and not about yourself. We're also at this time in our lives (and I speak from an undergrad's perspective) where we're trying to figure out who we are as independent adults and what makes us tick, happy, and passionate about what we're doing. While you're in school and you're in an environment where you can "find yourself", you're also in a place that will really test your limits and push you to see how much you're willing to take and how passionate you really are about progressing and being successful in your chosen career. While this article offers a list of great tells for burnout, I also agree that it would've benefitted from supplementing that list with ways to avoid these symptoms. At the same time though, I think that those avoidance tactics would vary from person to person, making it a bit more difficult to pull together a list of sure tactics that would work for everyone across the board.
I find it concerning that I show some of these traits. While I thoroughly enjoy my work, I do often show "A lack of interest in social activities and being with others...Difficulty with healthy habits like exercise, diet, and regular sleep...Constant exhaustion...Psychosomatic complaints, such as headaches, lingering colds, and other issues with a cause that's difficult to identify". I think this is mostly due to how much effort I put into my work in order to get the best result. Although I get tired, I don't think on my way to burnout. When I am away from the theatre, I get bored and want to get beck to work. I am enthusiastic about what I do and can't see myself losing that any time soon or in the distant future.
I think burnout is something we should all be particularly concerned with, especially in this industry. The 16 signs of burnout on this list are things we all experience, sometimes on a daily basis. I also think that some of these are more dangerous than others.
From my own personal experience, I think that some of the more dangerous ones are
General apathy towards work and chores
Feeling of stagnation
Constant Exhaustion
Detachment from people and things you care about.
While all of the symptoms on the list are important to keep watch for, these four should be some real alarms. I know that I have experienced all of these things while working too hard, and this article (and the one linked to it at the bottom) pretty well sums up ways to avoid and reverse these things.
It’s something we should all be a little more sensitive to, as it will likely affect us all sooner or later.
This article frustrated me beyond no end! Once again burn out is a problem. Burn out is bad. How do we manage burn out? The question is left to being rhetorical and then it just lists the symptoms of recognizing burnout. Why write an article that doesn't pose some basic and generic solutions, or even some resources on how to manage, combat, or beat burnout? Like I said, waste of an article for those os us in places where see direct effects of how burnout can negatively impact a project and or product. Being apart of culture where so much of our work relies on other people, we can all agree how personal burnout can lead to problems for all, and even worst, group burn out. Thinking personally about how you can contribute to alleviating this type of epidemic is something worthwhile of doing. And then maybe you can write an article that gets posted onto the greenpage and give us some insight. Because for myself, managing personal burnout is not the same as dealing with burnout among an entire team. Though it would be nice if netflix binging and a glass of wine could work for that as well!
The discussion of burnout I think is an especially important one for CMU students. Especially that dangerous last symptom. CMU students work really hard for long stretches of time, and we have to realize that we need to be aware of what is going on around us and our own personal wellbeing. As the article said, most people dont realize that they are getting burnt out until its too late. I know many people in my class slept basically the entire month of may because of burn out from last spring, which none of us really saw coming. I think being aware that its happening is half the battle.
The introduction to the article was very well said. It seems articles on burnout are pretty popular, but this is the first that really hit it on the head for me. Specifically the way in which burnout can "sneak up on you" and how you have to "actively stop" the many parts of your life from sucking up all your time. Also, it is very easy to put off taking a break, because what's going on in the present seems insanely important. But, as the article cites, if you're not paying enough attention, the first signs may be lack of focus, no concentration, and irritability. At that point, you're not helping yourself or anyone else you have to work with.
The list that is included is pretty useful. Some items are less applicable than others, but some are very true. For example, lack of interest in social activities, stagnation, general sickness, short temper, and frequent boredom are spot on. It is interesting how bored you can get when you're tired even when there's so much work to be done, which just perpetuates the burnout.
My hope is that by taking more breaks and stepping back from the work more often, the time I spend working will be more productive and enjoyable. It sounds great, now it's just time to see if it actually works.
Burnout is something that is constantly scaring me! I've heard so many stories from people that they were giving their all and then some while they were in school, and then burning out sooner than they would have expected once they were out in the real world. I do not want this to happen to me!!!!!! I love the work that I do, and I never want to stop doing it. However, I have made it a very big point in my life to take my days off as actual days off. Not a day off where I sleep in and continue working. NO WORK!!! I have found that this is helping me keep my sanity, and hopefully won't burn me out!
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