6 Signs You’re Burnt Out, Not Lazy

There’s actually a lot of overlap between laziness and burnout that can make it difficult to differentiate between the two. Burnout is defined as “a negative state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive stress and an inability to cope with it.” To educate ourselves and better understand the nature of burnout, especially when we ourselves are at risk, here are a few tell-tale signs that what you’re experiencing right now isn’t actually laziness, but burnout.

DISCLAIMER This video is for educational purposes and is based on personal opinions. This video is not a substitute for professional advice, but for general guidance. Please do not take this feedback as an attack on your character. This video was meant to be a self-improvement guide for those of you who have been feeling a little stuck. We advise you to always listen to your intuition and always do what is right for you.

Writer: Chloe Avenasa
Script Editor: Rida Batool
Script Manager: Kelly Soong
VO:: Amanda Silvera
YouTube Manager: Cindy Cheong

References:

Korunka, C., Tement, S., Zdrehus, C., & Borza, A. (2010). Burnout: Definition, recognition and prevention approaches. Family & Community Health: The Journal of Health Promotion & Maintenance, 43(3), 311-318.
American Psychological Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – 5th Edition. APA Publishing; Washington, DC.
Leiter, M. P., Bakker, A. B., & Maslach, C. (Eds.). (2014). Burnout at work: A psychological perspective. Psychology Press.
Greenglass, E., Fiksenbaum, L., & Burke, R. J. (1996). Components of social support, buffering effects and burnout: Implications for psychological functioning. Anxiety, stress, and coping, 9(3), 185-197.
Cropanzano, R., Rupp, D. E., & Byrne, Z. S. (2003). The relationship of emotional exhaustion to work attitudes, job performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Applied psychology, 88(1), 160.

[Psychgo]

What would you do differently if you can start today fresh from scratch without any burden or responsibilities?

[yam]

This is like, the worst thing to have when you have responsibilities that have time frames, like work or school...

[milanlx]

that wholesome moment when people in a youtube video's comment section understand you more than your parents:

[angelbb]

This video really spoke to me. Before my burnout I was extremely motivated. I had just started a new relationship with my current partner and it was going amazing. I was also fully recovered from my eating disorder and my depression and self harm tendencies were going away. I was meditating every morning, frequently journaling, making my bed everyday, eating well and doing things that made me happy. I was finally cleaning my room and taking care of myself and even my parents noticed the drastic change. All of a sudden I started feeling so tired and demotivated. I stopped meditating and journaling, my room started piling up with dirty dishes and my clothes are everywhere in my bedroom floor atm. Im not cooking for myself anymore and just let my body starve cause I’m too tired to get up and cook. I’m crying everyday for reasons I don’t even understand, and I just feel so annoyed and numb. My exams were going on at the time that I was really motivated and I think that led to me stressing a lot, so now I’m here. I really hope I can crawl myself out of this pit again like I did before. I hope I find the motivation to take care of myself again.

[ariana.]

My parents don’t understand how hard I try to push myself but sometimes I just can’t mentally. Life just isn’t the same anymore and I miss when I was younger. This video helped me a lot❤️

[HAITANNIES]

i'm so burnt out that just hearing my mom call my name or hearing someone telling me what to do makes me so angry it could ruin my day. i just wanna sit and do nothing.

[FDiego-iwzw]

I’ve just been diagnosed with depression due to burnout. Understanding that it’s not my fault or a failure has been liberating. Being able to talk about it without being judged helps a lot. Let it all out, people.

[settratheimperishable]

I have now discovered that not only am I lazy, I am *also* burnt out. Neat.

[elijahcooke]

I cried during this video I used to be so passionate about playing my instrument getting school work done and making good grades but know I just feel detached from everything

[elvirabergquist]

me: *fits in with all the criteria*

also me: "nah lol i'm just exaggerating, i'm lazy with a tad bit depresso on top"

[natalieyys]

as a medical student, I'm glad that I came back to this video. I have been going through a packed crazy schedule. I started to feel extremely tired, lost my motivation to study. No matter how much I want to review my materials that I have learned, I just couldn't make myself to do it. I think i have been burning out for a while and yea, I am going to take a break from my school stuff by extending my exam time. It is important to do self care once in a while.

[kiyokomiyazaki]

Chapters ♡

0:19 what is burnout
0:52 you feel disconnected from everything
1:35 you used to be motivated
2:01 you used to be passionate
2:32 you've become moody and irritable
3:02 you've neglected your self-care
3:31 these changes happened gradually
3:56 five stages of burnout

[justsomerandomguy]

School: Have you ever had burnout?
Kid: No
School: Would you like to

[justinalexander]

It's even worse when after you come out of the burnout feeling, you think of all the "wasted" time and wonder why you couldn't do more with it. Thank you for this video, it really spoke to me and comforted me

[SpacePianist]

I seem to fluctuate between the third, fourth and fifth stages weekly. I can go from feeling fine, a little lost but functional to so unmotivated my body refuses to move. I hate having such perpetual burnout but it seems I can’t stop the work I’m doing or else I’ll fall behind in my schoolwork and miss opportunities that help me for my ambitious career of choice. It’s been going on for so long that I can’t remember what motivation feels like….
Anyway, thank you for helping me recognize my situation, keep up the great work

[crismarieb]

Definitely recovering from burnout. When Covid started my job moved to remote and we had to isolate so I took on taking care of my 3 year old at the same time. Being isolated, scared and doing 2 jobs at same time really took a toll on me.

[emilywillis]

Having an existential burnout has cost me everything.. my old passions, some friends, self worth and happiness.. I hope whoever reads this knows it's not your fault and you're not alone ♡

[ill_insect]

I’m on autopilot so often that whenever I’m doing something, it’s so automatic that I forget that I’ve done it and have to check multiple times to see if I have.

[wemawambui]

I feel encouraged to see i am not alone in this, i just want to cry😢...i feel seen and understood, i am happy to know i am not lazy, i was starting to beat myself alot for thinking i could actually be lazy, but i tried pushing myself but still thought i was just being lazy, having people around you who doesn't have the slightest idea of how much energy i am using to just stay alive makes it even harder...this video has helped me with my first step in healing... thank you for the video

[aura_studio_]

This video really saved me. I am moving to Europe next month, but instead of being excited and preparing for the move, I have been laying around doing nothing. I was also feeling emotionally quite unstable. I thought there was something wrong with me or that I really did not want to move, but now I realise I was just burned out due to the high stress of all these changes. Moving to a new country and leaving your whole life can be overwhelming and I guess I was not coping with it well. Psych2GO you are a saviour