Bouncing Back From Burnout: What is Burnout?

Burnout is a common issue faced by creatives and solopreneurs (solo entrepreneurs) who often work long hours, play multiple roles in their business, and face high-stress levels. This series of articles will define Burnout, Identify the Burnout Cycle, discuss Burnout Recovery, and Self Care for Solopreneurs.

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. This can lead to feelings of cynicism, detachment, and a reduced sense of accomplishment.

To understand burnout, we must also understand the stress and the impact of stress on the body, mind, and creative spirit. Stress is a common experience that arises when we encounter challenges or threats in our lives. Stress is our bodies’ natural way of responding to challenges that we encounter daily. A natural response prompts us to take appropriate actions to address these situations. Stress can affect us in many ways, whether related to finances, career, health, relationships, environment, or other factors. Stress can cause feelings of anxiety, hopelessness, fear, nervousness, overwhelm, or panic.

However, it is important to note that stress is not always negative. Eustress, or positive stress, can be motivating and energizing, helping us to achieve our goals and aspirations. On the other hand, chronic stress can harm our physical and mental health. Chronic stress is experiencing high levels of stress for extended periods of time. Chronic stress left unaddressed can lead to burnout. Burnout is characterized by three dimensions:

Exhaustion: This persistent fatigue is both mental and physical. This can lead to consistently feeling overwhelmed — there is more to do than you have the energy to give.

Depersonalization: This is a feeling of indifference or apathy. In other words, you start to feel numb. Some folks might get a case of the “F*** It’s,” which is hard to manage when you are responsible for managing your business and income.

Reduced sense of accomplishment/performance: This tends to manifest when you feel your work is insufficient to the point that you feel incapable of completing tasks you need to get done. Your creativity may wane, and it can become harder to concentrate.  

Here are some common ways that solopreneurs experience burnout:

BODY: heart beat faster, muscle aches/headaches, faster and shallow (chest) breathing, elevated blood pressure, restlessness, tiredness, change in appetite.

MIND: inability to focus on single tasks (feeling scatterbrained), confusion, indecisiveness, lack of focus and mental clarity (brain fog), insomnia.

CREATIVE SPIRIT: lack of passion, decreased creativity or desire to create, avoiding/procrastinating tasks, perfectionism, self-doubt, isolation.

Therefore, adopting healthy coping strategies to manage stress is crucial. This series of articles will continue to break down and explore the Burnout Cycle, Burnout Recovery, and Self Care for Solo Entrepreneurs.

If you are currently struggling and need urgent support, call 9-1-1, your local emergency mental health services, or go to your nearest Emergency Department for urgent services. Here are additional resources to keep on hand—Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255, Find Your Local National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI) resources here.

If you found this article helpful or had any other questions, feel free to engage in the comments below. Also, if this is your first time meeting me, Hi Beloved — I am Ashley C. Whiteside, LMSW, Founder, Curator, and Clinician of Altruistic Ash, and I co-create safe healing spaces for Black & Brown folx to heal in community together. I am fueled by my charge: to help Black Femmes achieve embodied authenticity by providing a safe space to transform pain and hurt into pleasure, power & healing. I offer therapy/counseling, group programs, and monthly community educational events. You can find out more about my current offerings here.