This post contains some of the best burnout quotes.
What Is Burnout?
It was psychologist Herbert Freudenberger who first coined the term “burnout” in the 1970s.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines burnout as an “occupational phenomenon” that is “. . . a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions: 1) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; 2) increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and 3) reduced professional efficacy.”
Related: How To Build Resilience At Work? Top 19 Ways To Build Resilience And Prevent Burnout
Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)
The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was devised in 1981 and is used in occupational health. It is the most commonly used tool to self-assess.
Burnout Quotes
1. “As with many chronic conditions, burnout is a very sneaky adversary and can slowly but stealthily find its way into your life when you are much too busy to be watching for it.” – Eva Selhub, MD
2. “Burn bright, not out.” – Hamza Khan
3. “Burnout by neglect results from a long history of being overlooked, ignored, or lacking guidance, which over time leads the person to feel increasingly more helpless and inadequate. As expectations are not clearly expressed and support to accomplish tasks isn’t given, the person experiences more feelings of insecurity and incompetency.” – Eva Selhub, MD
4. “Burnout is no longer a syndrome experienced solely by overly compassionate caregivers; it’s become a syndrome that strikes young, competitive, and motivated people across career fields.” – Hamza Khan
5. “Burnout is the symptom; stress is the source.” – Hamza Khan
6. “Burnout isn’t like a headache or a sore muscle that can be treated with a pill or a massage. It isn’t something that happens because you have a rough day, nor is it having to do a difficult thing as part of your obligations (even if it is distasteful or downright degrading). Rather, it’s more complex and a reflection of something more chronic and insidious that requires deeper care and support” – Eva Selhub, MD
7. “Burnout starts out slowly and gradually increases. A sinister affliction, it often goes unnoticed in its early stages.” – Hamza Khan
8. “Burnout typically affects those of us trying to be all things to all people.” – Harriet Griffey
9. “I know burnout is an unavoidable risk and a sometimes-inevitable consequence of striving toward your goals.” – Hamza Khan
10. “If someone asked you what burnout is, you would probably offer up an example of someone highly overworked and trying like crazy to keep up with unreasonable demands, with no time to “refill the tank” with rest or relaxation. And you would be absolutely right. But burnout can manifest in a number of different ways and can result from a myriad of different circumstances. It’s important to be familiar with the “flavors of burnout” so you can adequately assess whether you are experiencing burnout.” – Eva Selhub, MD
11. “In reality, burnout as a phenomenon has probably existed at all times and in all cultures.” – Hamza Khan
12. “It’s almost as if burnout has become the “new normal” for you and a part of your everyday life, however unpleasant that may be.” – Eva Selhub, MD
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13. “Many individuals who experience burnout in their lives have done so before, sometimes many times, and one way or the other, they seem to have been able to extricate themselves from it through some combination of self-care, setting limits, taking breaks, and a variety of good coping techniques like meditation, seeking social support or mentorship, or getting out in nature.” – Eva Selhub, MD
14. “So many of us are trying to have it all and ignoring our body’s signs of burnout.” – Caroline Dooner
15. “Sometimes too much of a good thing is literally just too much, and burnout soon follows, even in a job you may have previously loved.” – Eva Selhub, MD
16. “That’s the problem with burnout: it tends to creep up on us unawares. We do manage, often by burning the candle at both ends, to stay on top of impossible schedules for sustained periods of time.” – Harriet Griffey
17. “The medical consequences of burnout are huge and widespread.” – Eva Selhub, MD
18. “The twisted thing about burnout is that most people don’t realize they’re burning out until it’s too late.” – Hamza Khan
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19. “The word “burnout” seems to be experiencing the same fate as the word “trauma,” which was intended to denote a deeply distressing or disturbing experience or a physical injury but has since been applied to everything from torture to rude baristas at Starbucks.” – Eva Selhub, MD
20. “There is a significant risk of burnout for people who are under-challenged in their work, expected to do dull, mindless, repetitive tasks without variety, and those who see their work as meaningless.” – Eva Selhub, MD
21. “We are living under a collective delusion that somehow, burnout is essential to modern success.” – Arianna Huffington
22. “We live in a culture that doesn’t really understand or respect burnout. We all soak in this belief that exhaustion is weak and that we all need to just buck up and be a little bit less lazy.” – Caroline Dooner
23. “What most of us are expected to do, and expecting ourselves to do, leads directly to burnout.” – Caroline Dooner
24.“You are not your burnout. This may seem like an esoteric word game, but it has real implications: When you can actually see that you are separate from your emotional or physical experiences, the possibility of shifting your relationship with those experiences and loosening their grip on you begins to open up.” – Eva Selhub, MD
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25. “Millennials—and the companies that advertise to them—are facetiously glorifying burnout, and the results are not good.” – Hamza Khan
26. “The truth is that burnout can happen to anyone with or without medical issues, and the key is to catch the warning signs before physical or psychological problems arise or get worse.” – Eva Selhub, MD
27. “There is such a thing as being too close to something. This includes your own experience of burnout, and actually one of the first steps toward shifting away from burnout is really to start to put the tiniest bit of distance between you and it.” – Eva Selhub, MD
28. “This is the hard truth of overcoming burnout: You have to be willing to encounter it face-to-face, look it in the eye, and say “I see you, but I am not you, and I am going to make myself stronger and more resilient so you cannot overtake me. I deserve better.”” – Eva Selhub, MD
29. “This withdrawal from others is also often the case when people are experiencing burnout.” – Eva Selhub, MD
30. “True enough, burnout has been with us for quite a while, but that only makes it more recognizable and, in some ways, inexcusable that we continue to foster it (wittingly or unwittingly) in our organizations, companies, and culture.” – Eva Selhub, MD
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