How to Tell if You’re Actually Burned Out or Just Lazy
No, they’re not the same thing.
I have seen a lot of people, especially in my generation — the Millennials — throwing out the term ‘burned out’, for what I assume are for different reasons.
I, myself, have often used the term without knowing what it’s true meaning is. I did have an idea though, I just thought it was something the cool kids use to say when they are tired.
Generally, being tired is part of being burned out but definitely not synonymous to being lazy, although, it can be associated with having depression or anxiety but that’s for another story.
What does being ‘burned out’ mean?
A burn out is an unhealthy state of a person’s overall well-being — mentally, physically, and emotionally.
The usual culprit of being burned out is prolong and excessive stress due to over working and thinking. It’s common with people who are workaholics — pushing themselves to whatever goal they are trying to achieve in a very fast pace; using all their energy at the start without thinking about being drained before they even finish.
The feeling of being burned out can reduce your over all productivity and can drain your energy.
Although a few factors can play apart in this, including but not limited to the following:
- Always being on social media
- Lack of exercise
- Regular consumption of unhealthy food
- Staying up late
- Over thinking
- Being surrounded by negative people
The difference between being burned out and being lazy
When I was growing up, I figured out a skill that I have. I can do most things, especially school works, in a fast rate and still produce quality work — I see it as both a blessing and a curse.
I’m sure this isn’t something exclusive to me but what it did, and continuously doing to me is promoting an ‘I can do it later’ mindset. Procrastination arose from something that was supposed to be a gift.
I’m still growing, learning and trying to be better but it’s something I really struggle to overcome.
The repercussion of this is not being used to working for a long time. Hence, being burned out quite easily.
Now, I may look at it that way as I stated above, but as I was self-reflecting, I realized that it was just laziness rather than what the term ‘burned out’ entails.
I was just looking for more excuses to prolong doing my responsibilities. And I see this term being tossed around as well without the work it should come with.
I’m not trying to undermine what people feel, if you’re tired without doing anything, without the work, without the hustle, without the stress, I can take a guess what it is but this isn’t an article to figure it out.
Some common telltale signs that you might be experiencing a burn out are:
- Feeling stressed out with even the little things
- The things you enjoying doing doesn’t give you the same feeling
- The work you once enjoyed, you find mind numbing and repetitive
- Being exhausted all the time
Living a well-balanced life
The negative effects of being burned out can affect many, if not all, aspects of your life — work, family, romantic relationships. Also, since a major part of being burned out is stress, it doesn’t just affect people emotionally, it also affects our health.
Stress is related to many significant diseases like:
- Heart attacks
- Diabetes
- Depression and anxiety
- Gastrointestinal problems
It’s important for a person to have visions, set goals, and work hard towards them but it’s also important to sit down and enjoy life — whatever may it be to you, either it’s bird watching, having a couple of drinks with friends, or just spending a day with yourself.
Don’t use the term ‘burn out’ as an excuse to not do something, an excuse to be lazy. It doesn’t always have to be all or nothing — most of the time, you can take it nice and slow until you get the hang of it.
“Sometimes making a progress includes taking rest days.”
Almost anything will work if you unplug and plug it again, including you. Working and keeping the momentum are important but when the sacrifices are your mental and physical health, it would just cost you more in the long run.
