Burnout at work: Stages, symptoms, prevention tips

Burnout can affect anyone, and it’s often hard to notice until it’s already a problem. By taking the right steps and offering support, you can help your team avoid burnout or help those who are already struggling find balance again. This article explains what burnout is, how it develops, the main symptoms and warning signs, and offers practical ways to prevent and manage it.

What is burnout?

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion that comes from ongoing or intense work stress. The World Health Organization calls it an "occupational phenomenon" with three main features: feeling drained, becoming more distant from your job, and being less effective at work.

Anyone can experience burnout. Recent data shows that 66% of U.S. employees have felt workplace burnout, and 72% report moderate to very high stress at work. Working too much is a major reason for this trend.

Stages of burnout

Burnout develops slowly over time, moving through five stages. Knowing these stages can help you spot and address burnout early.

Honeymoon phase

When you start a new job or project, you might feel excited and motivated. This early enthusiasm can lead you to take on more work and put in longer hours, sometimes without realizing the pressure building up.

Onset of stress

The initial excitement begins to fade, and you start noticing days when stress feels harder to manage. You may experience occasional anxiety, lower productivity, or difficulty sleeping.

Chronic stress

Stress starts to feel constant instead of just popping up now and then. At this point, you might notice:

• Persistent fatigue: Feeling tired regardless of how much rest you get

• Emotional changes: Resentment toward your workload or cynicism about your work

• Physical symptoms: Headaches, muscle tension, or gastrointestinal issues appearing more frequently

Burnout

At this stage, symptoms are serious enough to disrupt your daily life. You might feel totally drained, unable to handle work, and see your performance drop a lot. Getting help now is very important.

Habitual burnout

If burnout isn’t dealt with, it can become part of your daily life. Ongoing physical and mental health problems may appear, and getting better can take a long time and may need professional help.

Symptoms of burnout

Burnout shows up in many ways—emotionally, physically, and mentally. These symptoms often build up slowly, so it’s important to spot them early to get the right help.

Emotional exhaustion

A key sign of burnout is emotional exhaustion. This means feeling completely worn out and unable to handle daily demands. It often leaves you feeling overwhelmed and with little energy for work or personal life.

Depersonalization

Depersonalization means feeling detached or cynical about your work or the people you work with. You might feel disconnected from your tasks or see coworkers and clients as problems instead of people. This is a common sign of burnout, especially for healthcare workers.

Feelings of incompetence

The effects of burnout often erode a person's sense of accomplishment. Individuals may feel inadequate or question their abilities, even in areas where they previously excelled. This self-doubt can significantly affect their sense of purpose and overall motivation.

Physical symptoms

Burnout affects both your mind and body. Common physical symptoms include ongoing stress, headaches, and stomach problems. If burnout lasts a long time, it can even raise your risk for serious health issues like heart disease.

Notably, during the pandemic, 75% of workers reported experiencing burnout, with 40% attributing it specifically to pandemic-related stressors.

Anatomy of Work Special Report: The unexplored link between impostor syndrome and burnout

Burnout and impostor syndrome have historically been studied as two separate phenomena. In this report, we connect the dots to help leaders slow burnout and increase employee retention.

Get the insights

Signs of burnout

While burnout symptoms reflect internal struggles, burnout warning signs are external behaviors that suggest someone might be grappling with significant stress or overwhelm.

Others can often notice these signs, and they can seriously affect your relationships at work and at home. The American Psychological Association says spotting these behaviors early is key to stopping burnout from getting worse.

• Decreased performance: If you notice your work quality or productivity dropping, it could be a sign of burnout. People who are burned out may miss deadlines, make more mistakes, or pay less attention to details.

• Withdrawal: Pulling away from others is another sign. This might look like skipping team meetings, not replying to emails, spending more time on social media, or talking less with coworkers and family.

• Irritability: Burnout can make you more irritable or impatient. Things that used to be easy or unimportant might now make you angry or frustrated.

• Absenteeism: Taking a lot of unplanned days off, coming in late, or leaving early are clear signs of burnout. If this keeps happening, it can lead to completely checking out from work.

Burnout vs. depression

Burnout and depression can both cause tiredness and low mood, but they need different kinds of help. Here’s how you can tell them apart:

If you’re burned out, you might still enjoy things outside of work, and your symptoms often get better when you take a break. With depression, you feel sad and lose interest in everything, no matter what’s happening at work.

When burnout may indicate something more serious

Sometimes, long-term burnout can turn into depression or happen at the same time. If your symptoms don’t get better after you try to reduce work stress, or if you have thoughts of self-harm, it’s important to get professional help.

When to seek professional help

Reach out to a mental health professional if you experience:

• Symptoms that don't improve with rest or time off

• Feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness that extend beyond work

• Difficulty functioning in daily life

• Thoughts of self-harm or suicide

What causes burnout?

Just as there are many signs of burnout, there are also many causes. Usually, burnout happens when work stress becomes too much or lasts too long.

In particular, you may be at risk of burnout if you have:

• Little to no control over your workload

• Little to no recognition of a job well done

• Unclear job expectations

• Unreasonable or overly demanding job expectations

• High-pressure work environments

• Too much work, specifically when it leads to less time to do the things you enjoy outside of work

The good news is that good leadership can help prevent or fix many causes of burnout. If you manage a team, you can use this knowledge to make a difference.

Who can get burnout?

Burnout can happen to anyone who works too hard or too long, regardless of whether you love your job or work from home. It also affects areas beyond work; new parents and caregivers frequently report burnout symptoms.

Certain groups face higher burnout risk:

• Remote and hybrid workers: Difficulty separating work from personal life

• Healthcare professionals: High emotional demands and long hours

• Caregivers: Constant responsibility without adequate breaks

• Perfectionists: Tendency to overcommit and avoid delegation

Unfortunately, burnout has been steadily rising since May 2020 and we have now hit a critical threshold. As it currently stands, people and organizations are being set up for failure, since high burnout leads to lower morale, more mistakes, and a lack of engagement with work.”

Anatomy of Work Special Report: The unexplored link between impostor syndrome and burnout

Burnout and impostor syndrome have historically been studied as two separate phenomena. In this report, we connect the dots to help leaders slow burnout and increase employee retention.

Get the insights

How to avoid burnout

One of the most impactful things you can do as a manager is support your team by understanding how to avoid burnout and recognizing it before it happens. By using a variety of tools, strategies, and meaningful conversations, you can help protect your team from burnout.

1. Plan ahead

It’s easier to stop burnout before it starts than to fix it later. Plan ahead to manage your team’s workload by:

• Frequently checking in on their capacity. Use capacity planning and resource management to proactively address burnout. Conduct periodic assessments to gauge workload distribution and support risk mitigation before stress points escalate.

• Set clear and realistic goals. This helps avoid confusion and overwork. Encourage your team to focus on tasks they can achieve and that match your main priorities.

2. Use a workload management tool

Talking to your employees is critical, but you can also plan ahead by reviewing their workloads.

Workload management tools give you a bird's-eye view of everyone's tasks in one place. That way, you can get a sense of if anyone is overloaded and redistribute that work if necessary.

3. Ask about capacity during 1:1s

Set up weekly or biweekly meetings to talk about work priorities and encourage taking breaks for balance. Use these meetings to show how their work fits into bigger goals, which can boost motivation and focus.

• Encourage participation in a support group or professional network to build resilience.

• A review of team processes and workloads can support continuous improvement, helping you pinpoint inefficiencies and improve overall productivity while keeping burnout symptoms at bay.

How to find work-life balance

Great managers address and prevent burnout. But even if you're an individual struggling with burnout, there are two steps you can take to reduce the impact: reversing burnout and building resilience.

Step 1: Reverse

The best approach to reversing burnout depends on your situation and personality. Try combining multiple strategies for the best results:

• Scheduling breaks: Schedule short breaks throughout the day, five minutes to make coffee or walk around the block, to avoid toxic productivity. Disconnect from technology during these breaks to give your mind time to relax.

• Setting boundaries: Set a consistent time to log off each evening and turn off notifications on weekends. Juliet Funt, author of A Minute to Think, recommends setting physical boundaries too; place work items in a drawer at day's end. As she says, "Tuck them in and let them slumber while you do."

• Taking time off: Even a day or half-day away from work helps you relax and recharge. When you take time off, confirm with your supervisor that you'll be offline, or set clear boundaries about your availability.

• Taking care of yourself: Prioritize self-care by getting enough sleep, spending time with loved ones, and doing activities you enjoy. Consider mindfulness practices like yoga or meditation to combat stress.

Step 2: Build resilience

Burnout can happen to anyone, and just because you beat burnout once doesn't mean it can't creep up on you again. To prevent that from happening, take the following steps:

• Build your work relationships. Burnout often happens when you're isolated at work while under pressure. Build relationships so you have friends to turn to for support when stress mounts.

• Align work with goals. When you understand what your work contributes to, it's easier to prioritize effectively. This clarity helps you offload less critical work when pressure builds.

• Balance your work life with your personal life. Dedicate time to interests outside of work, reading, seeing friends, being creative, or doing a sport. Think of it like diversifying your investments, but in this case, you're investing in your interests.

From burnout to balance

Burnout can fly under the radar. Given enough time, these symptoms can accumulate and affect your team members' well-being. The best way to ensure your co-workers aren't burning out is to spot it before it happens.

When you have visibility into your team's capacity, you can redistribute work before anyone becomes overwhelmed. Tools like Asana help you see everyone's workload at a glance, so you can make informed decisions about task assignments and timelines. Ready to take the first step toward preventing burnout on your team? Get started with workload management today.

Anatomy of Work Special Report: The unexplored link between impostor syndrome and burnout

Burnout and impostor syndrome have historically been studied as two separate phenomena. In this report, we connect the dots to help leaders slow burnout and increase employee retention.

Get the insights

Frequently asked questions about burnout