The First Signs of Burnout

I don't think burnout begins when you're exhausted.

I think it begins much earlier. One of the things I've noticed over the years is that people rarely tell me they're burning out. They usually tell me they're busy.

And at first glance, that sounds completely normal. Most leaders are busy. But every now and then, if you keep talking, something else emerges. They'll say things like,

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I sat staring at an email for twenty minutes before I could decide whether to send it."

Or,

"I just can't seem to think as clearly as I used to."

That interests me. Because I don't think they're describing a lack of time. I think they're describing a lack of clarity.

We've been taught to think of burnout as the moment you can't get out of bed anymore. I'm not convinced. I suspect it starts much more quietly.

• Simple decisions become harder.

• Conversations become more draining.

• Things you've done a hundred times suddenly require far more effort than they should.

From the outside, nothing has changed.

You're still showing up, still performing, still getting through the day. But inside, every decision seems to cost a little more than it used to.

I've been wondering lately whether we quietly accumulate something like decision debt. You keep drawing on tomorrow's mental capacity to get through today.

It works... Until it doesn't.

Maybe that's why so many capable people tell themselves they're "just busy." Perhaps "busy" is simply the word we use when we haven't yet recognised what's really changing.

I'd be interested to know whether you've ever experienced that. Not the exhaustion. The feeling that thinking itself had somehow become heavier.