How Close Are You to Burnout?

Burnout often begins with tiredness that rest alone can’t fix. Feeling drained can signal your body’s reserves are running low. Rest isn’t just sleep — it’s also emotional and creative renewal. If you’re still tired after resting, your energy may need deeper tending.

Burnout often shows up as mental fog. Difficulty focusing can mean your mind is overextended and needs space to breathe.

When demands outweigh your reserves, stress builds. your text here. A sense of “no finish line” can erode motivation and is a hallmark of burnout risk.

Compassion fatigue slows our ability to bounce back. Needing more recovery time isn’t weakness; it’s information. Your system is signaling it needs more space to restore.

Moral injury often lingers as a heavy burden. When choices feel like they cost a part of yourself, it may leave a residue of shame or grief that needs gentle tending.

Consistently ignoring your own needs in service to others erodes resilience and accelerates burnout. Boundaries protect your energy. Difficulty saying no often leads to overextension — one of burnout’s root causes. It is also a cycle. The more our boundaries remain porous, the more difficult it becomes to create boundaries that serve us when we are exhausted. Finding the small steps to reclaim your time and energy will allow for space to reassess your current needs and values.

Burnout can dim the inner light that guides you. Losing touch with meaning may be a sign your energy is stretched thin, calling you back to what matters most. Rediscovering or naming your purpose in your work or life can help reclaim the passion that used to drive you.

The body speaks what the mind may ignore. Headaches, tight shoulders, or stomach issues can be early signals of stress tipping into burnout. Tending our bodies can have the effect of calming our minds. Somatic reset is the process of "reverse engineering" our fight or flight response.

Institutions and workplaces can add to moral strain.  Feeling betrayed by leaders, systems, or institutions often deepens moral injury, especially when you care deeply about justice. When avenues for agency seem limited, it is easy to become disconnected and hopeless. Finding tools for creating change and feeling powerful within systems can support renewal.

Sometimes caring deeply leads to shutting down feelings. Emotional numbing or anger at those we are called to serve can be a sign your empathy reserves are overdrawn. It’s your system’s way of protecting you from overwhelm.

Second-guessing decisions is a common feature of moral injury. Lingering guilt or doubt after hard choices may signal an internal conflict between duty and values.