Burnout is a term rapidly gaining prevalence in mainstream conversation in recent years, gaining traction in the vocabulary of the masses when it was officially recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019 as a syndrome associated with the workplace.
In the years since and as understanding of burnout grows, its use has also become associated with areas of life away from work. In a similar way to the effects of the mental load, burnout has also been linked disproportionately with women.
Burnout symptoms are multi-faceted and varied, and can be physical, emotional and behavioural. They range from headaches and digestive problems to feelings of anxiety and self-doubt. Those experiencing burnout can feel the need to completely withdraw socially from friends and family.
TV chef Lorraine Pascale knew that something didn't feel right, but didn't recognise her negative feelings as burnout. "I just thought I wasn't good enough," she said during an appearance on BBC Women's Hour.
"I didn't realise it was anxiety, I didn't realise it was stress, I didn't realise..." she said of what she felt was maintaining a sense of ambition, but actually left her burnt out. "I just blamed myself, I beat myself up," she concluded.
Presenter Nuala McGovern suggested putting a toolkit together to help women experiencing burnout. Joined by Squiggly Careers founder, Helen Tupper, Helen had some advice for achieving goals without burnout.
"Ground your actions in your values and make sure that you are seeing your successes, and not just focussing on the next thing," she suggested.
Burnout expert, Dr Claire Ashley, added her thoughts. "Respect the era of the life you're in and modify your goals and modify your ambitions accordingly. It's about respecting the fact that your capacity is temporarily lowered," she said.
Dr Ashley adds, "You don't have to lose yourself, you can still have your ambition, but it's just to make sure that your goals are adaptive to your vocabulary."
The experts suggest some important terms to be incorporated into your daily language to make being ambitious work alongside not pulling yourself in too many different directions. These phrases are:
- 'Not yet'
- 'Now now'
- 'Not me'
"Finding ways to weave that language into your language so your default isn't 'yes, of course,' every time" is key to making the toolkit work, according to Helen Tupper.
"Being ambitious is a beautiful thing, but just learn to say 'no' more often," Lorraine concluded, poignantly.
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