New York City is filled with ambitious young professionals. This can really be inspiring, as there’s drive, creativity, and passion all around. However, it can also feel hard to keep up, which can lead to pressure to keep going, even when you need a pause. Pushing yourself can feel maintainable at first, but burnout can slowly start to creep up on you–and can be hard to notice.

Here are some signs that it might be time to hit the brake pedal a little, so you can keep your fire going:

Learn more about our services

Not “feeling like yourself”

Sometimes the first sign of burnout is simply not feeling like yourself. You can tell that’s something off, but you can’t quite put a finger on what the feeling is, or where it’s coming from. When we constantly drain our battery without also recharging it, it can be exhausting, and we can lose our spark. You might not feel as happy or social, or simply “feel off.”

Feeling tired all the time

Another big sign of burnout is feeling drained or like you don’t have any energy no matter how much sleep you get. Sometimes burnout can also affect our sleep, keeping us up at night, which can lead to exhaustion.

Disengaging from usual activities

When we’re mentally exhausted, we often also aren’t feeling as up to our usual activities, whether that’s a sport, club, social event, or even wanting to get groceries or cook dinner. If you catch yourself saying “no” to more activities outside of work or school, or your usual activities don’t bring you as much joy, this can be a sign of burnout.

Lacking motivation

Burnout can also reduce internal drive. If you’re pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion, it can take away the joy that your work once brought you. If you notice yourself not wanting to show up to work or school anymore, you might be worn out.

Changes in mood

If you find yourself having more mood swings than usual, or feeling on edge or irritable, it might also be time to allow yourself to rest. Lack of sleep and a constant feeling of being stressed, can impact mood.

Reduced productivity

Burnout can also make us less productive, or efficient. We might have less focus and ability to do a good job, if our body is on overdrive. It can seem counterintuitive, but sometimes pushing yourself too hard can make the quality of the work decrease.

Final Takeaway

The first step to preserving your drive without pushing yourself to burnout, is noticing the signs of burnout.

Once you can recognize the signs, you can know when it’s time to slow down a bit, whether that’s saying “no,” setting boundaries, or making more time for self-care, like therapy, mindfulness, or activities that bring you joy.

These signs might also look different for you than someone else, so it’s important to pay attention to what you have felt before, or seems relevant to you personally.

Thinking About Starting Therapy?

If you’re considering therapy, we’d love to support you.

Submit a contact form or email us at hello@gluckcollective.com to get started.
Feel free to explore our services menu and specialties to see if we click.

At Gluck Psychology Collective, we offer in-person and virtual therapy across NYC for anxiety, burnout, relationships, life transitions, trauma, self-worth, and identity development.

It is our goal to make therapy as affordable and accessible as possible —we are in-network with Aetna and offer reduced rate therapy as well.

If you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Let’s talk about it.

connect with us