Stage 4 · Lesson 2 of 7

Early signs of burnout

Burnout builds slowly, so the early signs are easy to dismiss. Watch for: dreading Sunday evenings or the start of each day, needing more caffeine to function, small tasks feeling huge, getting irritated with people you normally like, losing interest in things you used to enjoy at work or university, getting ill more often, and working longer hours while getting less done.

Another sign is feeling you cannot take a break because everything will fall apart. Write your own early warning signs next to your stress signs from stage 2. When two or three appear together for a couple of weeks, act: reduce load, ask for help, and talk to someone.

Common trappushing harder when you notice the signs, which speeds burnout up.

A question to check yourself and an AI practice session come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it

Resources for this stage

Start with

GuideFree
Mental Health at Work (WHO fact sheet)
World Health Organization
What WHO says about work, stress and burnout, and what employers should do

Practise

Insight Timer
Free sleep and wind-down recordings for your evening routine

Keep handy

NHS Every Mind Matters
Practical NHS tips on sleep and on managing stress before it becomes burnout

Also worth your time

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle (Emily and Amelia Nagoski)ReadPaid
Why stress needs to be completed in the body, and how to do it, with research behind it

Struggling right now? If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line: Find a helpline (any country), Umang (Pakistan), Tele-MANAS, 14416 (India).