Am I on the burnout path? The 5 stages of burnout

For a while now, you’ve not been feeling yourself at all. 

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Physically you’re drained and exhausted, fatigued, have serious brain fog, struggle to communicate and concentrate fully, experience poor health, are possibly leaning on too much alcohol or sugar, and seem to have forgotten what real self-care looks and feels like. 

Mental and emotionally you’re stressed all the time, demotivated, irritable, struggling to relax and are disconnected, overwhelmed by even the smallest things, have so much self-doubt and are so critical of yourself. 


If you’ve said yes to quite a few, then you could be experiencing burnout.

Recognising the signs is the first step in stopping it in its tracks and regaining control. Awareness is crucial for both preventing and recovering from burnout. But that awareness doesn't always come easy or straight away when is ideally needed.

So firstly, 

“How do I know I’m not just stressed?”

With stress there is a sense of urgency and emotions are overactive. In small doses, it can motivate and push you forward. Stress is often due to short-term situations and you can recover from stress with certain management techniques. There are a few physical, mental and emotional signs, but they are things that you can recover from relatively quickly. 

“So how is it different to burnout?”

Burnout can creep up on you slowly, causing quite severe health problems and take much longer to recover from. It can also bring your average day-to-day activities and even life to a halt.

But burnout is not a weakness or a failure, it just means that something isn’t working for you, or you don't have the right tools and boundaries to manage certain aspects, or that you’ve been doing too much for too long and possibly without support.

Now you know the difference between stress and burnout, it’s ideal to look at the stages of burnout. You can generally put these in 5 stages. But remember, not 1 shoe fits all. 


Stage 1 = The honeymoon phase

In the honeymoon phase, you may have a new job/role and you're excited about all the new challenges and responsibilities. The sense of achievement and productivity brings a high level of energy and satisfaction. However, here is where you could pick up some negative or unuseful behaviours and unsustainable habits, like, overworking, not taking breaks, too much screen time, thinking about work in your personal time, saying yes to every task, helping when not needed, over socialising, lack of self-care prioritisation, etc.

So it's essential to begin implementing effective coping strategies to manage any stress or stressors early on. So enjoy this phase, but start as you mean to go on and be mindful of maintaining a healthy work-life balance to sustain your energy levels, good work and health!

Stage 2 = Onset of stress

As stress begins to creep in, some days become more challenging. Work is still rewarding and fulfilling, however, you’re feeling more stretched than normal and demands have started to exceed what you can cope with. You might start to feel tired, irritable, anxious, have more tension headaches or irritable belly, or start having issues sleeping. This is what personally, I call the Yellow Zone, my traffic light system. It’s a zone that needs addressing as it’s flashing and you can stay here awhile, but not too long.

So recognising early warning signs that your body is giving you allows you to take proactive and helpful steps to manage stress before it escalates. Here is a great time to try some stress management techniques to help keep stress at bay or learn how to close stress cycles.

Stage 3 = Chronic stress

When stress becomes a daily, persistent struggle, it's a sign that you're entering the chronic stress phase. Here, your nervous system is on constant high alert. Physical symptoms like more frequent ill health, i.e. headaches, stomach issues, and fatigue become frequent and emotional symptoms such as anger and depression might also occur. This is also the beginning stages of cynicism, resentfulness and hopelessness.

At this stage, self-care on a much deeper level is essential, like reaching out for support or addressing the core issues of what’s causing this frequent stress. Consistent self-care practices like addressing your work habits, routines, sleep hygiene and diet also need tending to, to reduce this ongoing stress.

Stage 4 = Burnout

Your burnout is at a critical stage where day-to-day functioning becomes nearly impossible and you feel like you’re in firefighter mode. This stage is characterised by severe exhaustion, a sense of failure, self-doubt, overwhelm, pessimism and detachment. On top of that, you struggle to see a way out. Simple coping mechanisms may no longer be enough, so seeking professional help becomes crucial. Due to this prolonged chronic stress, it could be harder, longer and more expensive to recover from. 

Stage 5 = Habitual burnout

When burnout becomes a consistent burden affecting all areas of your life, it leads to habitual burnout. Symptoms become long-term, are more embedded, become problematic and can result in severe physical and mental health issues like depression. This stage may stop you from working and can cause much damage in other areas of your life too, like relationships. There is no choice but to implement long-term well-being strategies and professional support and even consider some big life changes as soon as possible. Recovery will most probably be long, painful, difficult, challenging and expensive. 


It is truly scary how burnout can creep in slowly, then take over your entire life, and cause such long-term damage that is a real challenge to recover from. So, recognising the early stages before reaching a critical point is vital.

By understanding and addressing your burnout as early as possible, you can take control of your well-being and prevent burnout from taking over your life. 

So what’s coming up for you? Do you think you may be on the burnout path? Have you reached out for professional support?

Well, I would love to support you. I’m Bianca, a stress, burnout, and wellness coach. Having coached many clients through burnout and having suffered twice, I understand the complexities and challenges involved. 

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author. All articles published on Life Coach Directory are reviewed by our editorial team.

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