Burnout: know when you've reached your limit

1.5 min read

Burnout is the feeling of being exhausted after having deployed too much energy or resources in relation to our capacities and limits.

Burnout can feel like this

"Last year, I realized that I had less and less interest and motivation to go to the barn. I had lost the pleasure of taking care of my animals.”
“For some time, I had been having various health problems: headaches, back aches, stomach aches, repeated colds and insomnia. I told myself it would pass.”
"I started to change. I didn't recognize myself anymore. I became more impatient and aggressive. Everyone irritated me. Even my children irritated me. My associates told me I needed help, that I wasn't myself anymore, but I didn't want to see it.”
"I was tired and less and less productive. I was working more hours for less output. I lacked focus. I was forgetting things.”
"One morning, I found myself curled up in a little ball in the corner of the dairy, crying with discouragement. That's when I had to admit to myself that I was at the end of my rope."

If you are experiencing many of these symptoms, seek professional help. The longer you take to act, the longer it can take you to rebuild.

Burnout is a depletion of physical, mental and emotional resources that sets in gradually, even if it seems to happen all at once. Don't wait until you've reached your limit.

"Isolation is where mental health issues thrive. So make time to connect. Our burdens can be unbearably heavy when carried on our own, but if we all share each other’s burdens, they all become lighter."

– Shannon Ferrell
Source: DoMoreAg X conversation

From a Rooted in Resilience article by Pierrette Desrosiers, M. Ps., occupational psychologist, speaker, business coach and agricultural specialist.

Wellness