19 Signs of Burnout in Women That You Need to Know
Signs of burnout in women aren’t the same as men.
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Instead, it’s about recognizing the early signs of burnout. That always starts at the emotions for us high-achieving women.
When you experience burnout, your body is letting you know that it’s had enough.
You more than likely missed the emotional symptoms of burnout that started first.
The first step is to look at areas of your life that are taking more than they are giving.
Usually this is wher eyou’re over-giving and depleting your energy.
Let’s take a look at the 19 signs of burnout in women that you need to know.
This post is all about signs of burnout in women.
As a Healer of twelve years, I’ve seen burnout come up for every single one of my clients.
I’ve worked with women who make an average salary to millions of dollars a year. The same pattern always repeats.
Women work too hard for too little and for far too long. But, let’s talk about why.
When addressing any issues, we need to isolate the root cause to be able to heal it.
For burnout, it’s feelings of inadequacy. When it feels like what you’re doing isn’t enough, there’s a bigger problem.
It’s that you feel less than, or not enough. It all comes back to you.
It doesn’t matter how skilled you are, or how well you do a job. Your emotions have a baseline energy of, “It isn’t enough.”
This will drive you to work harder.
You’ll experience control issues anywhere it feels safe to express them. If it’s at work and you’re in a leadership position, you may be very stern with how you want things done.
If you’re in a subordinate position, you may be very hard on yourself, giving little grace for mistakes.
When you can’t control your work environment, you’ll control your home environment.
I see this a lot with women who are spiraling in burnout. They will control their partner, children, friends. The house will need to be spotless for example.
These are nervous-system issues that stem from burnout.
A sense of ineffectiveness will weigh on you. It’ll be difficult to let yourself rest, or slow down.
You’ll keep a busy schedule that makes it impossible to take a break.
The reason this happens is because you subconsciously don’t want to slow down. Slowing down means you may feel what’s beneath the surface.
And feeling something heavy is what you’re trying to avoid.
Like I said at the start, it all begins with feeling.
Here are 19 signs of burnout in women:
Over-giving
Over-giving has to do with three resources: time, energy and attention.
It’s over-giving when you give them to something or someone that gives you less in return.
Common signs of over-giving are feeling resentful, overthinking and anger.
It makes the energy exchange unequal, which causes resentment in women.
But let’s be honest about why this is true.
The vast majority of people are in transactional relationships. We give and we expect something in return, even if we don’t communicate it.
Giving can become one of the unhealthy coping mechanisms we use to feel better about our choices.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting something in return. Where this goes awry is when you don’t acknowledge it.
It’s the “pretending” that’s exhausting.
To shift out of this, begin with small things. Try volunteering at a soup kitchen. Or giving a small amount to someone in need.
You can give someone time or advice when they need you. These are all free ways that have little to zero attachment aside from feeling good.
Overworking
The key difference with overworking is that you’re putting in energy from a place of lack.
You’re not only getting the job done, but you’re doing it with more energy than you need to.
And that energy is usually mental. If your overworking is stemming from overthinking, it may be time to step back.
Same is true if you’re overworking to prove yourself, or what you’re capable of.
Common symptoms of overworking are:
- Working before or after your scheduled work hours
- Thinking about work when you’re off the clock
- Checking emails or voicemails outside of work hours
- Worrying about work when you aren’t there
Lack of Creativity and Inspiration
Emotional health is the foundation of creativity because emotions are colorful.
Embracing every emotion you have is what allows you to be creative.
Artists have mastered this. They take their pain and turn it into art. It’s an expression of how they feel.
When you find yourself feeling uninspired, consider sitting with how you feel. Then decide what you’re going to create with the feelings that come up.
It may just be the next big work of art!
Chronic Exhaustion
Exhaustion falls into four camps.
There’s mental exhaustion which is from stress, overthinking and ruminating.
The way out of mental exhaustion is through taking action. Action moves the energy out of your mind and into your body.
Then there’s physical exhaustion which is from overdoing. You’ve pushed yourself to your physical capacity.
Mental exhaustion can also cause physical exhaustion. Overthinking makes your body more tired. Get some extra rest to recover from physical exhaustion.
Next is emotional exhaustion. When you’re mentally, and physically maxed out, the emotions take a hit. This also stems from a triggered nervous system.
My recommendation here is to get out in nature. And to do anything you can to relax your body. From here, your mind will calm down.
Journaling is great for this.
The fourth is spiritual exhaustion. In truth, the spirit can never tire. Spiritual exhaustion is the total of the other three forms of exhaustion.
Constant exhaustion creates a lack of faith, and a loss of hope. That’s the truth behind spiritual exhaustion.
When it gets to this point, a healer, mentor, coach or even a therapist would be great for more support.
Emotional Numbness
Emotional numbness actually stems from denying your own needs over a long period of time.
I’ve seen this a lot with business owners who in the season where business growth is priority.
It takes a lot of emotional labor to support others. Caretakers, parents and even business owners know this well.
Anyone who is in a position of supporting someone else is holding space. You’re not only holding space for your own life but for someone else’s.
This is burdensome and it can cause too much stress.
One way to keep emotional numbness at bay is by honoring how you feel. Incorporate tending to your own feelings into your self-care practice.
This creates even more space for you to help yourself and others.
Irritability
Irritablity comes from two things.
One of them is when you feel resenteful. Resentment starts with irritability. And that irritability is from choosing to not share how you feel.
Again, we return to feelings. When you are aware of them, and express them, you set yourself free.
Irritability also comes from denying what you need. You can only know what you need if you know how you feel.
Once you know how you feel, you can make moves to create that type of life. Knowing how you feel gives you ultimate power.
With irritability, you’ve probably been working long hours while having no social life.
This goes back to over-investing and over-giving. Both of which create even more irritability.
I know a lot of people who don’t believe in balance. I don’t believe in balance as doing less or more.
Balance is more about emotional balance and stability. It’s choosing what to invest your energy into.
When you make these choices with awareness, you are choosing how to invest your energy.
This is how you keep your power and avoid resentment.
Feeling Detached
Detachment is an interesting thing. We’re told we should be detached and that attachment is bad. I agree.
We’re also told it’s impossible to detach to some things, like taking care of your children. I also agree.
But, detachment isn’t either of those. It’s emotional detachment.
And a nervous system that says, “what will be, will be.” It’s being at peace with any outcome.
That’s a deep and personal level of trust in yourself, and the creator. Or Universe.
Emotional Overwhelm
Emotional overwhelm comes down to one thing and one thing only.
It’s emotional exhaustion from emotional overload.
You’ve taken on how other people feel. And you care too much.
My advice to you is to care less.
Careless means, “not concerned or worried about.”
If you can control it, by all means, do something about it. If you can’t, let it go.
Difficulty Concentrating
I see focus as something different than most. It doesn’t mean your distracted or procrastinating.
It means you’ve got scattered energy.
When you take some time out to collect your thoughts, you are reintegrating your energy.
Time away from social media, and the computer calms your nervous system.
As your system relaxes, your energy comes together.
Then you’ll know what to do, when to do it and how.
Cynicism
I noticed that the more I grew my business, the more cynical I became.
It’s because joy left the process. As I built systems and protocols, it sucked me dry. The more systems I implemented, the less creative I felt.
As an artist by nature, and trade, this caused a lot of stress.
But, I’m grateful it happened because it made me look at what I value. Turns out, I don’t care about being a millionare.
The goalpost has changed. Now I care about spending as much time with my dog (my family) as possible.
I care about helping others, and seeing them succeed.
Freedom to me is being able to go to the Thursday Farmer’s market near the beach.
I see personal failure different too. I don’t see this as failing in business.
I’m creating an intentional business that has different markers for success. Markers that aren’t financial.
All this to say that cynicism is a sign that joy has left the building and the process.
My business flows with more ease now. I make money in a way that doesn’t suck me dry.
Headaches
Getting a headache is one of the many physical signs of burnout.
Headaches begin for many reasons, the most common being stress.
I look at things from a spiritual lens. In this context, headaches stem from weight on the mind or mental stress.
If you’re not dealing with a physical root cause, check in with yourself.
You may find that once you relieve the mental reason, the physical one also disappears.
Insomnia
You’ll feel drained no matter what if you’re havig hard time getting enough sleep. Sleep is a core foundational pillar of feeling good.
A natural remedy to help you relax and get a good night’s sleep is magnesium. You can take it in powder form.
If you struggle with sleep due to stress, try a meditation app or a youtube video. Cut off phone, and TV use an hour before bed.
Turn down the lights. A hot bath always helps me, and a combination of all of these is a winning combo.
I also have a white noise machine that helps. Both my dog and I love this!
Frequent Illness
When you’re in a state of chronic stress, your immune system can suffer.
Everything in your body will hit a breaking point. If you don’t slow down, your body will create a way for you to slow down.
Recognizing when you’re starting to feel fatigued is the first step.
I’m not a fan of smart watches because I don’t like to be that accessible.
I am a fan of the Oura ring. It notifies you via app when your metrics are off.
It has alerted me to the potential start of illness before I felt any symptoms.
It’s an amazing tool for any woman, and stylish too!
Stomach Issues
When you’re stressed, digestive issues can come up.
We tend to clench our stomach muscles during stressful times. Meditation is such a wonderful tool for this.
The simple deep breathing into your gut relaxes your stomach and your mind. It’s an easy, free way to heal.
Mood Shifts
Daily stress can affect your mood and attitude to life.
When life is stressful there’s always a reason to look at what isn’t working.
But, what if you chose to look at life through the lens of what is working instead?
This simple shift can add positivity, gratitude and joy to any dark day.
Lack of Joy
If your personal life is lacking joy, more social interaction may help.
When people hear me say I’m an introvert, they almost always laugh in my face.
I’m actually a natural extrovert, but I became more introverted the last few years.
This tends to happen on the spiritual journey when you’re learning who you can trust.
One of the best things you can do to feel more joy in your life is to try new experiences.
Things that push you out of your comfort zone, or things you may never try.
For example, I set a goal to get rejected 1000 times this year. I’m doing things I would’ve never attemped before.
Although I’m early in the process, I haven’t been rejected once yet!
Highly recommend trying something like this!
Abuse of Power
This one is a little heavy but important to discuss.
One form of abuse of power is knowing what to do, but doing the opposite.
It’s also saying yes when you want to say no. It’s offering advice when you weren’t asked.
It shows up in many ways that all stem from overgiving, and over-doing.
So, if you’re feeling a lack of motivation, check in to see if you’ve given away your power.
Low Energy
Low energy can affect your physical health in negative ways. It causes you to feel bad about yourself.
And like many on this list, it stems from over-giving and over-doing. Put that energy into yourself instead.
There’s nothing wrong with helping others. And yes, we do need to meet our obligations.
There’s no way to do either one if you’re dealing with chronic fatigue.
Care for your health first, and your energy levels will correct themselves.
Decision Fatigue
Long-term stress can create decision fatigue. It happens when a lot of mental energy overwhelms the mind.
As crazy as this sounds, I try to think as little as possible. Instead, I move as quickly as possible.
I take anywhere from 1-3 minutes to make a decision and then I act.
At most, I’ll “sleep on it” but that only happens if I’m really confused, or it’s a big decision.
Some of the wildest decisions of my life happened after months of indecision. Then one day, I woke up and I changed everything overnight.
This is what happened when I moved to Utah. I woke up to notice that I’d need to move out from where I was living. That afternoon, I had a moving company booked.
Two days later, they arrived and picked up all my stuff and we headed two states away to Utah. I had never even been to Utah!
Take this as your sign that acting on it will relieve mental pressure and send you an adventure!
You can recover from burnout symptoms.
Taking better care of yourself on every level, every day of the week is the first step. You are worthy of your love and care.
Leave me a comment and let me know which of these stuck out to you the most.
