Are You Burning Out? Assess and Prevent Work & Job Search Burnout

Burnout is something we often don’t see coming until we’re deep in it. It’s that feeling of exhaustion, frustration, and detachment that creeps in, whether from endless job applications with no response or an overwhelming workload at your current job. It’s easy to blame yourself—maybe you should just try harder, care more, push through. But the truth is, burnout isn’t a personal failing.

I sat down with Lydia Johnson, a burnout expert, to talk about how to recognize, assess, and prevent burnout—whether you're currently employed or deep in the job search. If you’re feeling drained, unmotivated, or questioning whether you even care anymore, this conversation is for you.

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Recognizing the Signs of Burnout

Burnout isn’t just about feeling overworked. Lydia describes burnout as having three major components:

• Exhaustion – Feeling like you’re running on fumes, unable to recover your energy no matter how much you rest.
• Lack of Confidence – The feeling that your work isn’t good enough, imposter syndrome creeping in, or a sense that everyone else is doing better than you.
• Cynicism & Detachment – Finding yourself disconnected from your work, feeling like nothing matters, or struggling to care as much as you used to.

If you’ve been in a long job search, you might feel this creeping in. If you’re overwhelmed at work, the same symptoms apply. Burnout doesn’t discriminate—it finds people who care, who work hard, and who push themselves to be great.

The Different Types of Burnout

Not all burnout looks the same. Lydia walked us through the four main types of burnout:

• Overload Burnout – The classic version: too much work, too little time, running on empty.
• Under-Challenged Burnout – Feeling bored, stuck, unfulfilled, or unchallenged in your work.
• Neglect Burnout – Feeling unsupported, lacking resources, or struggling to keep up without proper guidance.
• Lack of Purpose Burnout – A sense that your work has lost meaning, leaving you questioning if you even care anymore.

And here’s the kicker—you can experience more than one at the same time. Maybe your job is too much, but it’s also meaningless. Maybe you feel unsupported, and at the same time, you’re completely uninspired.

How Burnout Impacts Confidence & Motivation

A lot of people feel guilty when they start to care less about their work. But caring less is literally a symptom of burnout.

• If you’ve lost motivation, it’s not because you’re lazy—it’s because you’re depleted.
• If you don’t feel confident in your skills, burnout could be tricking your brain into thinking you’re less capable than you really are.
• If you find yourself disengaged from work or the job search, it might not mean you don’t want a job—it could mean you’re just emotionally and mentally exhausted.

Internal vs. External Causes of Burnout

Burnout isn’t always about the job itself. Sometimes, there are internal tendencies that make us more prone to burnout, such as:

• Perfectionism – Setting unrealistically high expectations for yourself.
• People-Pleasing – Always saying yes, taking on more, and struggling with boundaries.
• High Achievement Drive – Feeling like your 100% is someone else’s 110%, making it hard to slow down.

If you’ve burned out more than once, it might be worth asking: Is it always the job, or is there a deeper pattern at play?

Job Crafting: Making Your Current Job More Sustainable

If you’re not quite ready to leave your job but you know something has to change, job crafting might be the answer.

• Reframe Your Role – Look beyond your tasks and find a bigger purpose in what you do. What’s the most positive story you can tell about your work?
• Restructure Your Tasks – Identify the work that energizes you and the work that drains you. Can you swap responsibilities with a coworker? Reduce certain tasks?
• Change How You Work – If you can’t change what you do, can you change how you do it? Small shifts in approach or mindset can make a big difference.

The Holistic Approach to Burnout Prevention

Burnout isn’t just about work. It’s about everything happening in your life. It is often a combination of:

• Job-related stress – A heavy workload, poor management, lack of resources.
• Personal life stress – Caregiving, parenting, financial worries, relationship strain.
• Non-work roles – Responsibilities outside of work that take up mental and emotional energy.
• Long-term goals – A misalignment between where you are now and where you actually want to be.

If all areas of your life are draining you, then even changing jobs won’t necessarily fix the burnout. A full-picture approach is key.

Mental Detachment: The Secret to Reducing Burnout

Here’s something surprising—most people experiencing burnout aren’t working insane hours. What’s really happening?

• Even when you’re not working, you’re still thinking about work.
• You’re replaying emails in the shower, preparing for meetings in bed, worrying about your to-do list on the weekend.
• You’re technically “off the clock,” but your brain never stops working.

This is where mental detachment comes in. Instead of just setting time boundaries, you need to set mental boundaries.

Two Exercises to Start Practicing Mental Detachment

• Label Your Thoughts – When you catch yourself thinking about work, simply label it: “This is me working.” Then, ask: Do I want to be working right now? If the answer is no, shift your focus back to what you were doing.
• Create a “Worry Chair” – Choose a designated place and time to think about work. If a work-related thought pops up outside of that time, tell yourself: “I’ll deal with this during my worry time.” Over time, your brain will learn to compartmentalize stress rather than letting it take over your entire day.

The Truth About Productivity & Burnout

A lot of us think, “If I just manage my time better, I won’t burn out.”

But burnout isn’t a time issue—it’s an energy issue.

• Time management won’t fix burnout. You can’t just schedule your way out of exhaustion.
• Productivity hacks don’t solve burnout. They often just make you work faster, which leads to even more burnout.
• The real solution is energy management. Instead of asking, “How can I do more?” ask, “What actually deserves my time and energy?”

In Conclusion

Burnout isn’t a sign that you’re weak or failing. It’s a sign that something isn’t working, and it needs to change.

• If you’re feeling burned out, don’t push through—assess what’s really causing it.
• Start making small shifts in your job, your habits, and your mindset.
• Focus on energy management, not just productivity.

You’re not alone in this, and burnout isn’t something you have to live with.

Let’s find a way to make your work, your job search, and your life feel sustainable again.

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