4 Types of Burnout & Their Burnout Treatment Plans for Dealing with Burnout
Burnout is not one-size-fits-all. It's multifaceted and unique to you. There are types of burnout that you may be experiencing. In this post, we’ll dive into each type of burnout, their characteristics, signs to watch out for, and burnout treatment plans for each type of burnout.
What is burnout?
First, let’s define burnout. Burnout is a mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion caused by stress and work. Burnout leads to a decrease in motivation, energy, and productivity. Burnout is a level of exhaustion that can not be solved in one weekend or with your usual self-care routine. For more on the signs of burnout, check out this article.
Types of Burnout
Understanding the different types of burnout will help you identify a treatment plan for your burnout. Since each type of burnout has different causes, the actions and burnout treatments will vary.
Below are the 4 Types of Burnout & Their Burnout Treatment Plans for Dealing with Burnout:
Overload Burnout
This is the most common type of burnout. Overload burnout is when your workload is too much.
This happens when you work too hard and/or are under-compensated through low pay, lack of recognition, and stalled promotions.
Characteristics:
Feeling like your workload is impossible and never-ending, there never seems to be enough time and your goalpost is constantly moving. Feeling you are underappreciated and underpaid.
Signs to watch out for:
Your identity and life are strongly tied to your work and “being productive”
Recent layoffs have increased your workload
Your manager is insinuating a potential promotion for extra work without a defined timeline.
Burnout Treatment Plan:
You need to do a massive reset. Restructure your work, create boundaries at work, or get a new job.
Week 1: Spend time journaling to find out what went wrong. Identify problem areas.
Week 2: Explore solutions. Not knowing the perfect solution is okay—perfection is an unrealistic goal. Instead, focus on giving yourself a list of options and alternatives to gift yourself better choices.
Week 3: Based on the problem areas you’ve identified select an option. Then create an action plan
Underchallenged Burnout
This type of burnout is a double-edged sword. If you intentionally sought out an "easy" job, congratulations—you got it! But be ready to feel your brain rot for the next 40 hours.
If you are highly paid, yet experiencing under-challenged burnout you may feel stuck and that it’s “irrational” to leave. If you are low-paid and experiencing under-challenged burnout, you may feel like you have no other options. In both cases, you have a choice and can choose a new path.
Characteristics:
A monotonous and under-stimulating job that lacks growth opportunities. Feeling like your job is pointless and unchanged from last week or last year.
Signs to watch out for:
You're constantly bored at work.
Your job consists of mostly repetitive work
No major changes — like ever…
Burnout Treatment Plan:
If you want to keep your job because it is well-paid or low-stress, then you need to find ways to spice up your life outside of work.
Week 1: Create a list of hobbies and activities you like to do
Week 2: Schedule activities to do every day and every week.
Week 3: Experiment, Journal, Repeat. Have these activities helped with your burnout? Journal on why or why not. Do this journal prompt every week until you feel like your new life is burnout free!
If you want to leave this job:
Week 1: Spend time journaling to discover what you want in your next job. Identify “must-haves” and “nice to have”.
Week 2: Set a goal for how many jobs to apply to each week and start your job search.
Week 3: As you continue applying for jobs, create a list of hobbies and activities you like to do
Week 4: Schedule activities to do every day and every week.
Neglect Burnout
As hustle culture gets more popular, so does this type of burnout! Neglect Burnout is when you have neglected yourself! As a result, you don’t have more energy or capacity to give to work. This often happens when you prioritize work above all else, and the repercussions come knocking! This type of burnout occurs when you fail to establish mental boundaries for work-life balance or when your job creates an environment that encourages neglect.
Characteristics:
A strong need to prove yourself at work. Lack of support system or “backup” at work. Feeling like work has to come first.
Signs to watch out for:
You skip exercise, social events, or meals for work
Most of your life choices—such as your location, family, and education—revolve around work.
“All I ever do is work!”
Burnout Treatment Plan:
You need a complete overhaul of your relationship with work
Week 1: Write down all your beliefs about work and productivity. Journal on how these beliefs contributed to your burnout.
Week 2: Examine if all of these beliefs are true. Write down examples to counter these beliefs.
Week 3: Create a new of beliefs that embrace the fullness of life—valuing family, friends, and experiences—prioritizing yourself over your job, and contributing to a better, less burned-out world.
Misalignment Burnout
Do you feel like you're selling your soul for $1.95? Hopefully, it's not that bad— legally, you should at least be making minimum wage.
Okay— jokes aside, misalignment burnout is when your values are disconnected from your organization’s values. This type of burnout can stem from wanting work that benefits others, not believing in the product, or finding the company’s mission uninspiring.
Characteristics:
Feeling out of place, wondering if they're crazy or if you are, and feeling alone in your ideas or beliefs.
Signs to watch out for:
Running into moral conflicts at work
Feel a sense of alienation
Forcing yourself to conform to your manager’s wishes
Burnout Treatment Plan:
Run. You shouldn’t have to compromise on your values for a paycheck.
Week 1: Define what your values are. What are your company’s values? Where is the misalignment?
Week 2: Course-correct: What brought you to this role, and how can you prevent falling into this type of burnout again?
Week 3: Set a new action plan and do the plan!
Conclusion
I’m not trying to encourage everyone to quit their jobs. We all have bills to pay and savings goals to meet. However, don’t fall into the sunk-cost fallacy where you are hesitant to leave a job because you have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that leaving would be more beneficial. Or, you may have a clear plan, too say for X amount of years in order to get Y. Great! Have a plan and feel free to adjust that plan if you are experiencing the types of burnout above.
People burn out differently and for various reasons, it’s important to identify the type of burnout you’re facing. You might even experience a mix of two types. Knowing where you stand helps you find targeted solutions for your specific challenges.
Burnout is a signal to do deep introspection. Check out the Burnout to Balance guide for 30 days of journal prompts to help guide you out of burnout and into balance.
Welcome to Growthalista
Helping YOU Grow in Your Next Self with Burnout & Mental Health advice rooted in the real world!
