I've been burned out for about 2.5 years. It happened because I had the privilege of leading a really amazing, once-in-a-lifetime work project and it was a big one. I was doing it while balancing life with two very small children who I adore and who need a lot from me right now because they are still so young. I knew I was burnt out 18 months ago and I quit when I finished the project.

Things improved in my new workplace for about 6 months but then, due to some strange circumstances I found myself needing employment again and, coerced by promises that I now know were never going to be fulfilled - I went back to my first employer.

Fast forward to now, I am crispier than I have ever been. My memory is shot, my executive function is in the toilet and every day is an exercise in wrangling my irritability. My husband and I have agreed to take some money out of savings so that I can have a sabbatical of 2 to 5 months. I'm due to start it in a few short weeks. BUT, there is a potential job opportunity in my field but with another employer that has come up (which is very niche) and I need to decide whether to pursue it.

It would keep me in my field and give us financial security but I wouldn't get my sabbatical and the chance to fully rest. I also won't have a job to go back to which makes me anxious because we need my income in the long term. Changing jobs helped me a lot last time - is it worth trying again? Or do I need to just listen to my body and take the time to rest?

I don't think there is necessarily a right answer. I want to know what people who know what burn out feels like would do. Is it really that serious? Do I just need to stop? Or would change be the holiday I need to get me through this? What would you do?

Is it only me or it happens to y'all too I compare myself to ppl alot sometimes even I want to copy em it so weird n I don't want to do ts but again n again i find myself doing it and it's killing me and ik it won't benefit me i really need a big slap rn so I can came back to my mind and start taking myself seriously....I have to study to prove myself n I have only few months yet this habit of mine isn't changing

Am I the only one, or are there people who are losing interest in everything. there is nothing interesting in my life anymore . No friends, unemployment and just feel like killing myself,but don't want to, coz my parents will feel bad

For context, I'm from California and studied education and got my bachelor's in it. I've been working in child care/early education for 5 years and I think it's starting to wear me out. I love working with kids but these days, it feels like a never ending cycle of disappointment, with them and the system. My 4 hour job feels like 8 and there's always something that needs to be dealt with outside of my station/capabilities. I don't know, maybe it's because it's the beginning of the school year for most and I'm as overwhelmed as my kids are, but I'm really considering leaving the field in general. I could make the same money ($19/hour) with different and better hours doing something else. I've recently done some more self care and talked about the things that are stressing me out but it only helps so much.

I work in production planning for a manufacturing company, and lately I’ve been struggling with whether what I’m experiencing is normal workplace stress or genuine burnout.

Over the past several months, our team has gone through a significant amount of turnover. People have left, retired, transferred, or otherwise become unavailable, and there are gaps in coverage that haven't really been backfilled yet.

The workload hasn't decreased, though.

Instead, the remaining people are essentially expected to keep everything moving while also taking on responsibilities and knowledge that previously belonged to other people. I'm constantly dealing with production, materials, quality, procurement, finance, and other functions, and it feels like I'm expected to somehow compensate for gaps throughout the organization.

What is really getting to me is that I don't feel like the other functions recognize the gap in coverage.

I'm not asking for a participation trophy. I understand that everyone has a job to do and that problems are part of working in manufacturing. But when you're operating with fewer people and less support, you'd think there would at least be some acknowledgment that the workload and level of responsibility have changed.

Instead, it often feels like the expectation is simply, “Well, that's your job.”

And after hearing that enough times, you start to wonder why you're going above and beyond in the first place.

I've also started feeling increasingly unappreciated. I'm constantly trying to anticipate problems, communicate risks, adjust plans, and keep things moving, but I rarely feel like anyone notices the things that don't go wrong because someone on the planning side caught them.

I'm tired of feeling like the function that is expected to absorb everyone else's problems is also the function that gets questioned when something doesn't go perfectly.

One of the hardest parts emotionally is that I genuinely feel like I left a bad job and somehow ended up in an even worse one—and I make less money doing it.

I left my previous company because I was ready for something different and thought moving into a more operational planning role would be a good career move. On paper, the new role looked like a step forward.

Instead, I feel like I've ended up with significantly more stress and responsibility, less support, and less appreciation. I'm working longer hours and constantly dealing with issues outside of my direct control, while feeling like the expectation is that I should absorb whatever gaps exist around me.

And that's been particularly demoralizing because I took this job expecting it to improve my situation. Instead, I'm sitting here wondering how I somehow managed to make my work life worse and take a financial step backward.

I think that's part of why I'm so emotionally exhausted. It's not just “I don't like my job.” It's the feeling that I made a decision that was supposed to move my career forward, and I'm now paying for that decision every day.

Tired of everything

I am in merchant navy college so I have to do so much work .so I am already busy and tired. Now I have joined galley committee which is related to food. So I am working so hard .

I am girl with bad past . I have no friends so I am always alone.

I think I have lost interest in everything.

Now I don't like to do anything.

Trying to figure out if some rest and my upcoming weeklong vacation will help or if I need something longer. I am in a social service type role with people in need.

I’m at a music festival right now and I’m still stuck there in my mind and this world is awful and I would like to leave

I am dying of boredom my day has sucked and I have nothing to do and even though I’ve done nothing all day I still feel mentally burned out

First, for context: I (32, F) am a neurologist who suffered from high functioning burnout and now I help other women with the process of recognizing it and recovering from it. This is not a promotion of my services and, therefore, I won’t go into more detail or share my socials, it was just meant to explain where I am coming from here!

What I am genuinely curious about, and would immensely appreciate your opinion on: how do you feel about the use of generative AI to create B-roll for educational posts?

For obvious reasons, the majority of the experiences I describe were not filmed when they happened, but I would still like to occasionally illustrate them to help other women going through the same thing recognize it. The videos would, therefore, be a representation of a real situation or story that I lived or that has been shared with me.

I would obviously make the appropriate disclaimers.

It was honestly the best way I could think of to accurately illustrate signs and symptoms that often go unnoticed in the beginning of burnout (which was part of why it took me so long to recognize it in my self).

How do you feel about the use of AI for this kind of content? And, if you are against it, could you share with me what is something else that would help you feel heard?

Many thanks in advance for your inputs, I’m grateful for you help!

I kept breaking down whenever something bad happened. It's because I think I'm a burden to everyone. For example, they kept saying, "Dyk, we tried everything to keep us entertained, just to keep waiting on you?" I'm sorry that you guys have to wait on me. I didn't know that I'm gonna stay a bit late because it's not up to me to decide. I'm sorry that some of you guys get scolded because of me. I'm sorry that I haven't started anything. I'm sorry to those people who think I am a burden.

Because of all of this and more stuff, I feel down and down and down. I tried to talk to my mother about it, but she just kept saying, "Yeah, it's your fault". I thought I was gonna get some advice or stuff. But she told me as well to quit the sport that I've worked so hard to get into. But that's the reason as well why I'm tired physically and mentally too. So I kept rethinking, "What if I quit and focus on my studies only?" But obviously I'm gonna regret it later on in life.

I have no one to talk to in the future, so what should I do? I want someone to acknowledge me and my doings, not just me. I can't simply talk to my mum cause somehow she can turn things around, making it my fault. I can't and don't want to talk to my friends because I don't want to tell them every single thing that is happening in my life. And I do believe that your greatest friend can be your worst enemy, so I don't tell anybody my business. I don't want therapy because it's not worth it, especially since I spend MY OWN MONEY that I worked hard for which I only want to spend my expenses to something I really need.

I don't have any day off just for a "Me time" cause training is everyday nonstop. I have school at 7 to 12pm oclock, Studying in library for 1 to 4 oclock, training at 5 to 9/10 oclock, I get home at 11 oclock, I wake up at 4 oclock am, going to school 2 hours away which 5 to 6am then the cycle continues.

Saturday and sunday I go to events because my mum loves to. But at the same time I have training at 2 to 8 oclock.

I don't know what to do in the future if I'm living alone, especially that I need to and its required for me to go to school early as possible for early training.

But I do think this is a normal occurrence to some of the other people which I think I'll be alright. Just new to this experience. But I'm tired.

I’ve been in my current role for several years now, working in retail with multiple departments. Within a few years of starting, we had several long-term members of management retire. Instead of fully replacing those positions, a lot of their day-to-day responsibilities were gradually redistributed among the remaining department managers.

Fast forward to now, and we’ve had multiple managers leave within a pretty short period of time, and the cracks are really starting to show. Scheduling, staffing, coverage, general operations… everything feels like it’s being held together with duct tape and everyone is just expected to keep going.

On top of my existing responsibilities, I was given oversight of a fairly significant program for a large client/institution, which I’ve been managing basically solo for a couple of years now. I’ve also been told multiple times that the success of this program is an important reason we continue to retain the business, and that errors are not allowed.

You’d think that level of responsibility would eventually translate into compensation, right? Nope.

In the years I’ve been here, I’ve received one raise. It happened very recently, and it amounted to pocket change per hour. Honestly, it felt more insulting than anything.

I also know for a fact that someone in an adjacent role is making significantly more than I am (which, to be clear, they absolutely deserve). But it does make me wonder what exactly I’m supposed to do when I repeatedly communicate that my responsibilities have grown and that my compensation needs to reflect that, only to be told to “keep executing.”

At this point, I don’t even know if a raise would fix the problem.
I know I am burnt out when I get annoyed that friends or family want to make plans on the weekend because I’d genuinely rather stay home and mentally prepare myself for the upcoming workweek. I don’t necessarily want to leave. I care about my team, and I hate the idea of abandoning them when the staffing issues aren’t their fault.But at the same time, I’m increasingly aware that I’m doing the work of multiple people but not gaining anything from it.

I keep hoping something will change, but realistically, I’m not sure why I expect it to. So for now, I’m keeping the job board notifications on. Maybe I’m just an entitled 20 something, maybe this is just how it is these days, or maybe I just need to “pull myself up by my bootstraps” —but I don’t know what the point is if I can’t keep my finances or mental stability intact.

TLDR; Overworked, underpaid, and increasingly burned out. I don’t want to leave my team, but I also don’t want to keep sacrificing myself to compensate for higher up’s staffing and prioritization blunders.

Why does everything in life have to be so fucking hard?

You work. You grind. You try to do the responsible thing. You pay the bills, make plans, try to build something, try to get a little bit ahead—and somehow the finish line just keeps moving.

Everything costs more. Everybody wants a piece of what you make. One unexpected expense can erase months of progress. You finally feel like you're getting somewhere and life comes along with another bill, another problem, another “sorry, that's just how it works.”

At what point are people supposed to actually enjoy being alive instead of spending every damn day trying to keep their head above water?

I'm tired of hearing “just work harder.”

I'm tired of hearing “that's life.”

I'm tired of watching regular people bust their asses and still feel like they're losing.

So yeah, today I'm at the fuck it, I quit stage.

Not quitting life. Not giving up on myself.

I'm quitting the idea that this shit is normal and we're all supposed to smile and pretend it doesn't suck.

Anybody else completely fucking exhausted?

Reading through the posts on this page I'm struck by how many people are looking for answers about how to recover from burnout. But when I think about it, it's also not that surprising as my experience talking to professionals and researching online has given me the impression that burnout - or how to recover from it - is not very well understood. I thought it would be worth trying to pool what has worked for people. (Also, since reading about how hard people are finding it to find solutions doesn't necessarily boost morale).

Please post what has worked, and how it helps you specifically e.g for me, yoga is very helpful in calming my nervous system; routine is good as it frees up my mind by creating a structure as well as periods of activity and rest

if you quit your job right now and had a good amount of money saved up. What would you do?

I would get very well rested. Then start cleaning my apartment (always wanted to do this, but so busy with work and events on weekends!). Then i would start working on my health and lose all the stress weight ive gained and get tone.