How to Handle Burnout and Overwhelm

Burnout and overwhelm are not exactly the same thing, though they are very closely 
linked. With burnout, you tend to enter a state of exhaustion, both mentally and 
physically. It is often the result of a lot of stress, being overworked, or just putting too 
much on your shoulders without taking a break. Overwhelm often follows closely behind 
or occurs shortly before you experience burnout, where you just feel like you have far 
too much on your plate, and aren’t sure how to keep up.

Both burnout and overwhelm cause a level of exhaustion, fatigue, and stress that make 
it hard to cope emotionally. Luckily, there are some solutions that can help you stable 
your emotions and find more balance in your life.


Look for Signs of Burnout and Overwhelm

Both burnout and overwhelm can sneak up on you, and cause a lot of confusing 
symptoms. It helps to first know what these signs are so you know where to start on 
your emotional healing journey. 

Some of the more common symptoms of burnout include being exhausted and severely 
fatigued, having headaches and muscle pain, and lack of focus and concentration. In 
addition to these signs, you might notice the following:

Poor quality in your work
Mood changes like irritability and anger
Significant change in your appetite
Significant change in your sleeping habits
A feeling of failure
Lack of motivation
Issues with friends and family
Increased illnesses and lowered immunity
Isolation from others
Procrastination


Let Yourself Feel How You Feel

When it comes to your emotional wellbeing, no matter what you are dealing with, you 
should always allow yourself to feel how you feel without judgment. This includes when 
those feelings are related to burnout. 

When you try to hide or cover up your real feelings, even if what you are feeling is 
extremely tired and worn out, it isn’t going to solve anything. Pretending you aren’t 
dealing with something on an emotional level, doesn’t make it go away. It’s like putting a 
Band-Aid on a bullet hole. You might not really see it, but it’s still there, and it’s not 
getting better on its own. 

Allow yourself to feel whatever it is you feel when you have burnout, and any other time 
in your life. The good days, the bad days, the challenging days, the exhausting days. 
They all deserve for you to validate your own feelings. The more you can do this, the 
easier it becomes to process your emotions, and actually prevent burnout and 
overwhelm in the future.


Incorporate Relaxing Activities Into Your Day

You might not be able to stop working or take a vacation when you have burnout, but 
you can certainly fit in some relaxing activities throughout your day. People with burnout 
often get that way by overworking themselves and not taking enough time off. Sure, you 
might not be able to take days or weeks off for vacation, but you can still find way to rest 
and you should. 

Nobody should be doing nothing but working during their waking hours. The body and 
the mind is not set up for this. You are not a machine and you shouldn’t treat your body 
like it is one. Instead, find relaxing things to do that don’t take up too much time or 
mental space. 

This might be reading a fun book, watching a movie with your family, going for a hike 
with friends, or just laying down on the couch in the afternoon to rest your eyes for a few 
minutes.

Control What You Are Able to Control

Instead of stressing about the situations in your life you can’t control, instead try to focus 
on what you can control. What in your life are you able to handle right now? What is 
completely in your control?

If you are self-employed and struggling with the stress of a slow business month, that’s 
not really something you have full control over. You can market your business, but really 
it is up to the customers or clients. But what you can control is improving your product, 
taking a break, hiring someone who has a specialty that would improve your business. 

No matter what you are dealing with, look at what is within your control, and that can 
take some of the pressure off your shoulders and help with your overwhelm.


Get Support From Others

Finally, make sure you are getting adequate support from the people around you. When 
you get to the level of complete burnout or emotional exhaustion, you might need some 
help from others. 

This could be someone to help watch your kids when you have work to do or you just 
need a break, or asking your boss for some time off. If you are self-employed, you might 
need to hire someone to help you pick up the slack. Or it might just be as simple as a 
friend coming over to talk and hang out for a couple hours. Doing this alone is going to 
make it a lot harder. 



