The Digital Era Is Burning You Out

A lot of people are experiencing burnout these days. From turbulent current events to ambient stress, a deep state of exhaustion almost feels like a given. Here at Brave, we talk to overwhelmed, stressed, and just plain tired people every day and have noticed some patterns in the factors that compound their feelings of burnout.

In this blog, we break down what burnout is, signs you might be experiencing it, and factors that might be making your burnout worse.

How Do You Know if You’re Burned Out?

Burnout is a state of deep mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion, usually caused by long periods of uninterrupted stress. It's the misalignment between what you have to do and what you want to do. If you find yourself putting on a happy face on the outside, but feeling like you just can’t do it anymore: that’s burnout!

The difference between burnout and “just tired” is that deep sense of exhaustion that a nap doesn’t fix. Daily self-care rituals (like naps) are certainly helpful, but to really reset your system, you need to re-align your actions. For a lot of people, that means making changes to what they “have to do.” For some people, that’s their job, their relationship with their family, or perhaps how they’re managing a chronic condition. In these scenarios, talking through your options with a therapist is incredibly helpful! However, there are other factors at play that can compound the feelings of stress and burnout. Here’s what we’ve seen in our clients:

1.     White Collar Jobs Are Forcing Us into Uncharted Technological Territory

White collar jobs as we know them (working mostly at a desk, on a computer) are a relatively new phenomenon. That means everything we do—from the technology we use to how we interact with each other—is something we learn on the fly. (Who else remembers how awkward those first few months of Zoom were back in 2020?)

With no blueprint or map to guide our way, we often discover the troublesome parts of our jobs only after we begin to have problems (think: learning the importance of ergonomics only after experiencing neck pain). Plus, the interconnected nature of our world means we never really leave work at work, especially when we have Slack and email on our phones, or our offices double as our dining room. All of these factors together are a lot to handle—even for the most competent, experienced people. In fact, feeling generally overwhelmed isn’t a sign of personal failings or inability at all. It’s part of being human. And for most humans, it makes their burnout worse. 

2.     Social Media Scrolling Is Undermining Your Attention Span

With the advent of social media and the rise of the TikTok in the last few years, life is more connected and fast-paced. The trouble with the constant connection is that our fragile human brains don’t handle constant inputs particularly well. It's becoming more and more difficult to avoid being sucked in by the eternal feed of videos, music, information, and images. This makes burnout worse on for a few reasons.

First, the challenges in focus stemming from “phone addiction” can make otherwise neurotypical people feel like they have ADHD. ADHD is a mental disorder in which your brain functions differently; it requires a medical diagnosis and not everyone who thinks that they have ADHD actually does. However, when your attention is pulled in so many different ways, the feeling of distraction, lack of focus, and struggling to remember things absolutely resembles many symptoms of ADHD. The endless scrolling can certainly mimic trouble with executive dysfunction that many people with ADHD also struggle with. And it’s never fun to feel like your brain is suffering in out-of-control ways, whether you have ADHD or not.

If you feel distracted, overwhelmed, and unfocused, re-evaluate your relationship to media. Reduce use, talk to your therapist about how to determine when it’s a coping mechanism and what to do about it that’s more positive. And if you think you have ADHD, talk to your primary care physician about the steps you need to take to get a diagnosis and begin managing symptoms.

3.     We Don’t Need to Know Everyone’s Values and Opinions at All Times

Another symptom of our interconnected, social media-driven world is hyperawareness of everyone’s opinions. It’s not just politics––although that’s a big one for many people, and with good reason. Even friendships are under stress. There is simply so much pressure to respond to someone’s opinion, form an opinion, understand an opinion... the list goes on.

Ten years ago, our relationships to other people’s perspectives would be more manageable because it would happen in the context of a relationship rather than a screen. Today, you can be bombarded with your cousin’s options about vegetarianism or gun control or their experience with a car rental company when you’re trying to wind down for the evening. These might be meaningful conversations to have, but not at bedtime. And over time, being constantly bombarded by all these options can make your burnout feel ever more all-encompassing, especially when it's not an appropriate time.

To Beat Burnout, Embrace Change

Overcoming burnout means taking stock of your current scenario and prioritizing what you need to be healthy. Based on the factors above, that could mean re-evaluating your relationship to social media, and your habits around how you use it. Or, it requires revaluating their relationship to their job.

For example, many nurses are deeply attached to their job and identity as a nurse. But, their job is also a huge source of stress. The conversation then becomes an exploration of your options: in what other environments can you work in? What changes can you make to make your situation more sustainable? How am I feeling? What can I control? What are you scared to let go of? These are tough conversations that a therapist can help you work through.

Overcoming Burnout Is Brave

Did you see yourself reflected in this article? We wish it wasn’t so! Burnout is incredibly difficult to manage on your own; if this is you, give us a call. Our team of therapists is here to listen, support, and help you kick burnout to the curb. We look forward to hearing from you!