The apostle Paul said, ‘Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord’ (Romans 12:11). But sometimes our zeal to serve the Lord (and others) wears us too thin. Or to shift the metaphor, there’s nothing left in the tank and our capacity to serve runs dry. We experience burnout.
Faithful Christian living always bears a cost. It involves denying self and cross-carrying (Luke 16:24). The life of love for God and our neighbour—which sums up all God desires of us (Matthew 24:37-40)—looks outward rather than to our own concerns. Yet we are human, limited in our strength and capacity. It’s wise to be alert to this reality so that we can continue to serve for the long haul.
We all face a range of responsibilities in our lives: work, church, caring for family members and friends of various ages and stages, and a host of other things. And we know that the demands of these responsibilities entails a level of stress. We may think that feeling stressed is always bad. But the stress response of our bodies is, in fact, a good thing—it’s what enables us to get things done. It’s like the accelerator that revs us up for action. But our bodies also have a braking system that calms our physiological responses and enables us to recover. Recovery is very important, because it helps ready us to face further challenges. So, stress is not necessarily a problem, but chronic stress—living life with a foot stuck on the accelerator—certainly is.
Think of it like this. Imagine a swimming pool. You’re standing in the pool, and the water level represents the baseline level of stress you’re living with. If the water reaches your knees, and you then face some significant challenges, the water level might rise to your waist, but overall, you’ll feel like you’re able to manage. But what if the water is up to your chin? And then some major stressful events come your way? Well, the water level will rise, and you’ll feel like you’re drowning. That’s what it’s like to live in a state of chronic stress. And it’s not pleasant.
Common Signs of Burnout
There are some common signs that stress might be chronic and is taking a toll. You find it hard to get to or stay asleep. Your emotions are more fragile—perhaps you’re more anxious, irritable or teary. You may be more sensitive to criticism, or find it harder to concentrate and be productive. Or maybe you feel the impact in your body with things like muscle tension, headaches and digestive problems. Overall, chronic stress has repercussions for our physical and mental wellbeing. And it can result in burnout.
The three traditional symptoms of burnout are:
- Emotional exhaustion – you lack energy and feel like you having nothing left to give.
- Depersonalisation – you might usually be warm and empathic, but now you don’t want to deal with others and can become negative and cynical.
- Lack of accomplishment – you’re ineffective and unproductive, whether in a work setting or a context where you are a carer.
Recent research has highlighted two further symptoms:
- Social withdrawal – you detach yourself from others at work, home, and other contexts.
- Cognitive impairment – you find it harder to think clearly, concentrate, or remember things.
Anyone can fall prey to burnout, but those with certain personality traits are more prone. Perfectionism, being self-conscious, and being more reactive to stress and the judgments of others are significant. Being conscientious, competent, self-disciplined, and motivated to achieve also heightens risk.
So, what can we do?
The first thing is to make sure that we allow our bodies to recover. We need down time after we face demands, to allow our body’s in-built recovery network (it’s called the parasympathetic nervous system) to do its thing. Some talk in terms of needing ‘slivers, slices, and slabs’ of recovery time. A ‘sliver’ is a very short break, gazing out the window or getting up and walking around for a few minutes. A ‘slice’ is taking the time to chill out after a demanding task, perhaps getting out in nature, listening to some relaxing music, or such like. A ‘slab’ is a more substantial period of winding down—making use of weekends and holidays.
Another strategy to avoid burnout is to draw upon resources that build or strengthen our capacity in the face of demands. We may not be able to stop the amount of water (i.e. stressful events) entering our swimming pool, but what if we enlarge the swimming pool so that the water level remains relatively low in the face of these added demands?
Many factors have a bearing upon our capacity. Taking good care of our bodies, adopting a healthy mindset, paying attention to beautiful things that God has created, and staying well-connected in supportive relationships can be of real benefit.
In short, prioritising recovery and ensuring that capacity-building activities are a regular feature of our lives can help us continue in faithful service without burning out.
To learn more about burnout and how to prevent it, hear Valerie Ling at our August Spotlight Session
‘Press On: Building Resilience and Mental Wellbeing’ is a course for individuals and groups to assist in maintaining wellbeing as we continue in Christ’s service.
