The word “burnout” gets used a lot.
People say they are burned out on work, caregiving, or even social media. In clinical settings, we use the term more precisely.
The World Health Organization describes burnout in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, characterized by exhaustion, mental distance or cynicism about one’s job, and reduced professional effectiveness.
(make a quote block) Burnout is not simply “being tired.” It is a state where your emotional, physical, and mental resources are so depleted that your usual ways of coping do not work anymore. Over time, this can increase risk for depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and physical health issues. (source)
This article offers a practical reset plan: how to understand burnout, how to realign your work with your values, and how to prevent relapse into the same patterns. If you are in Eastern Virginia and burnout has turned into significant mental health symptoms, your local CSB can help.
What burnout looks like in real life
People rarely wake up one morning and say, “Today I developed burnout.” Instead, it builds slowly.
You might notice that your patience is thinner. Tasks that used to feel manageable now feel impossible. You start dreading work-related emails, meetings, or calls, even when you used to care deeply about your job. You have trouble turning your brain off at night, or you come home feeling too drained to connect with the people you love.
Clinically, burnout shows up in three main areas:
- Exhaustion. Feeling emotionally and physically depleted most days, even after rest.
- Cynicism or detachment. Feeling numb, negative, or disconnected from your work, colleagues, or the people you serve.
- Reduced effectiveness. Feeling like you are not doing a good job, even when you are still working very hard.
These signs matter. They are not a sign that you “cannot hack it.” They are a signal that something in your workload, environment, or support system is out of balance.
For a clear, accessible overview of burnout as a workplace phenomenon, the World Health Organization’s FAQ on Burn-out as an Occupational Phenomenon is a useful starting point.
Step 1: Name what matters to you now
A reset plan begins with values, not with schedules.
Many people in burnout describe a quiet grief: “I used to care about this work. I still do. But I feel like I am disappearing in the process.” That gap between what matters to you and how your daily life actually looks is often where burnout grows.
A practical starting point is to list three to five core values that feel important right now. Common examples include:
- Being present with family or friends
- Providing excellent care or service
- Creativity and problem-solving
- Health and stability
- Faith or spiritual life
Then, look honestly at your current week. How much of your time and energy are going toward those values? Where are you spending energy in ways that directly conflict with them?
You do not have to fix everything at once. The goal is to see the mismatch clearly, so that any changes you make are aimed at repairing the connection between your values and your daily life, not just “doing less” or “working harder.”
Step 2: Map your workload and your energy
Next, it is helpful to get concrete about what you are actually doing. Burnout can make everything feel blurry. Writing it down can bring some order back into the picture.
On paper or screen, list your regular responsibilities for a typical week, both at work and outside work. Include:
- Core job duties
- Overtime, side projects, or “extras” you have taken on
- Caregiving roles (children, older adults, other family)
- Community or volunteer commitments
Then, next to each item, note:
- How much energy it takes
- Whether it aligns with your values
- Whether it is truly essential, negotiable, or optional
This kind of mapping exercise is similar to what many therapists do in burnout-focused treatment. It helps identify which demands can be renegotiated, delegated, postponed, or dropped.
You might discover that you are carrying tasks that no longer make sense, or that could be shared with colleagues or family members. You might also notice that energy-draining responsibilities, like constant email monitoring or back-to-back meetings, have quietly expanded without anyone naming the impact.
If you have a supervisor or manager, bringing a clear summary of this map into a conversation can be more effective than a general statement like “I am overwhelmed.” It gives you a starting point for discussing priorities and boundaries.
Step 3: Build a realistic recovery plan
A weekend off can help you catch your breath, but it is not a burnout recovery plan.
Sustainable change usually has both system and self-care components:
- Systems: Shifting workload, expectations, staffing, communication patterns, and access to resources.
- Self-care: Sleep, movement, nutrition, therapy, and meaningful rest, not just distraction.
On the system side, think in terms of experiments. For example:
- Reducing after-hours email by agreeing on response expectations with your team
- Limiting the number of high-intensity tasks you take on in a day
- Requesting support from an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) if your workplace offers one
On the self-care side, start small. Burnout often comes with a sense of numbness or hopelessness. That makes big changes feel impossible. Instead, you might:
- Commit to a regular bedtime most nights
- Add a short walk or stretch break into your day
- Schedule one weekly conversation with someone you trust
- Consider short-term therapy focused on stress, anxiety, or depression related to burnout
The Canadian Psychological Association’s “Psychology Works” fact sheet on Workplace Burnout gives a helpful summary of burnout signs and psychological approaches that can help.
If you suspect that burnout has progressed to clinical depression or an anxiety disorder, a mental health evaluation is important. Burnout is about the relationship between you and your work. Depression and anxiety can show up across all areas of life, not just the workplace, and often require more focused treatment.
Preventing relapse: building safeguards into your routine
Once you begin to feel a bit more like yourself, it is tempting to rush back into old patterns. That is one reason burnout can return.
Preventing relapse is less about willpower and more about building safeguards into your routine:
- Regular self-checks. Once or twice a month, ask yourself: “How exhausted am I? How cynical am I feeling about my work? How effective do I feel?” If those numbers creep up or down in the wrong direction, that is an early warning sign.
- Boundaries you can describe out loud. For example: “I do not check email after 7 p.m.” or “I will not take on additional shifts without a recovery day.” Vague boundaries are easy to ignore.
- Ongoing support. This might include therapy, peer support, faith communities, or trusted colleagues who know you are working to reset your relationship with work.
- A plan for high-risk seasons. If you have predictable busy periods (holidays, end of fiscal year, major projects), plan ahead for extra recovery time, clearer limits, and more support during those stretches.
These small safeguards can help you notice early when the old patterns are creeping back, so you can adjust before you hit the wall again.
How your local CSB can help
In Region Five, Community Services Boards are the public entry point for mental health and substance use services across Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton-Newport News, Western Tidewater, the Middle Peninsula, the Northern Neck, the Eastern Shore, and surrounding localities.
If burnout has led to significant anxiety, depression, or substance use, your local CSB can:
- Provide a mental health assessment
- Connect you with outpatient counseling or psychiatric services
- Offer skills-based groups focused on coping, stress, and emotional regulation
- Link you to other supports in the community
Region Five’s website describes the continuum of care available in the region, including crisis stabilization, outpatient services, and intensive supports. You can also use the CSB Locations page or the statewide CSB locator to find contact information for your local board.
If you feel that you might hurt yourself, or you are in a mental health crisis, you do not have to wait for an appointment:
- Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at any time.
- If there is an immediate danger to yourself or others, call 911 and state that you are experiencing a mental health emergency.
Burnout is not a personal failure. It is a sign that the way you have been working is not sustainable for a human nervous system.
A practical reset plan starts with naming what matters to you, mapping your workload honestly, and building both system changes and self-care into your routine. In Region Five, you do not have to do this in isolation. Your local CSB and Region Five’s broader continuum of care exist to help you move from burnout toward more sustainable, humane ways of living and working.
