Tired of Being Tired? The Burnout Solution You Need - Episode #88

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The Peace & Prosperity Podcast is a bi-weekly conversation with Jason Phillips, LCSW, licensed therapist and confidence expert in Raleigh, NC, discussing all things related to self-love and self-confidence, and how we can improve ourselves personally and professionally. 

Ever said “I’m fine” when you were actually falling apart? That was Jason—managing a clinic and completely burned out without realizing it.

Burnout isn’t just stress—it’s ongoing exhaustion that drains your energy, motivation, and joy. It’s fueled by habits like perfectionism, people-pleasing, and trying to do it all alone.

The good news? Recovery starts with one small change. You don’t need a total life overhaul—just a simple, intentional step in the right direction.

In this episode, Jason shares how to spot burnout early and build sustainable self-care that actually works. Listen now and start your path to peace and prosperity.

To stay connected with Jason and learn about coaching, connect with Jason on social media:
 
 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jphillipsmsw/
 
 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/jphillipsmsw
 
 Visit Jason's website for a consultation:
 
 Website -https://www.jasonlphillips.com
 
 To book Jason to speak to your team or organization:
 
 https://peaceprosperitycoaching.hbportal.co/public/660d8068c9d2d600253b215b/1-Inquiry

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, this is the answer.
This is the solution.
Sometimes we know we're tired,we know we're stressed, we know
we're irritable, we know we'renot being a good person to
ourselves, but we don't knowexactly what we need and what to
do about it.
So those are some of thereasons why, when you're taking
care of yourself, it does helpfor so many different reasons.

(00:22):
It does help for so manydifferent reasons you can pour
into yourself All right.
So now we're talking about whatis burnout, and I'll say this
one thing about burnout likemyself, I didn't even realize I
was burned out, like when I wasin management running the clinic
.
It wasn't until somebody askedme hey, mr Phillips, you good,

(00:45):
everything all right.
What do you think I said?
Of course, I said yes because Iwas not understanding what I
was going through.
I didn't realize I was lookingtired, I was fatigued, I think
just something about me seemedoff.
Now they recognized it.
But the first couple of timespeople asked me, now they
recognized it, but the firstcouple of times people asked me,

(01:05):
I said no, I'm good, and Ilegitimately thought I was good.
So that's why we're going totalk about how do we define
burnout.
What is it?
What are the signs, what doesit look like?
And then what are the causes ofburnout?
And then we'll get into some ofthe self-care tools to know how
to manage it.
Now the thing about it we wantto look at the differences

(01:26):
between being burned out andbeing stressed out.
Do y'all know what thedifference is?
Because being burned out isdifferent.
So when you look at thedifference between burnout and
stress one, the stress can besituational, meaning it's
something that doesn't lastforever.
It's short term.
Maybe you're dealing with somedeadlines or some external

(01:50):
pressures, you're putting someexpectations on you.
For that moment You're stilloverwhelmed, you may still be
irritable, but it doesn't lastforever.
When you are in burnout, it'sgoing to be a state of emotional
.
When you are in burnout, it'sgoing to be a state of emotional
, physical, mental fatigue andit's going to last longer and

(02:11):
the feelings are going to bemuch more intense.
With burnout, you may findyourself really just dreading
going into work, feelingunproductive, feeling like man,
I can't get anything done.
So some of the differences aregoing to be in the intensity and
the duration, like how, how baddoes it feel and how long does
it last?

(02:31):
All right, now let's definewhat burnout looks like.
How do I know?
Again, one you're going to beexhausted, like you're like man,
I am whooped.
And this isn't just a tirewhere again you can take that
weekend off or you can take acouple of days and take a little

(02:51):
trip.
No, I'm talking about you needa long break because the fatigue
is really starting to set in.
Also, you're going to findyourself being real cynical.
You're that negative Nancy,that Debbie Downer, you're not
your normal upbeat, you knowchipper self.
And then, lastly, you're goingto feel like you are very
inefficient, like why can't Iget anything done?

(03:13):
You may say things like oh, myhouse is a mess, or my to-do
list is so long, or I used to beable to multitask all of these
things.
Now, just the slightest thingon my list, it starts to stress
me out and you feel like I don'teven know where to start.
That's where it's more thanjust stress.
You're talking about thatchronic exhaustion again, the

(03:37):
inefficiency, and you just needa break because now you're being
pessimistic.
So now we talked about whatburnout is.
Let's talk about why self-careis important.
It's something that, believe itor not, if you're taking care
of yourself, it can prevent youfrom being burned out.
One self-care.
When you're pouring into you,you're going to have healthy

(04:00):
boundaries.
You're going to avoid or beable to manage those unhealthy
work environments.
Sometimes we can't just pick upour job and move like we want to
, or sometimes we can't just sayyou know what, you're fired and
we get a whole new boss.
I wish it worked that way, butoftentimes it doesn't.
Well, what we can do is we canlearn to advocate for ourself.

(04:22):
We can learn to speak up and bemore assertive and not so
passive.
We can learn to assess what doI need?
Those are some questions thatyou want to be asking yourself
on a consistent basis, becauseonce you know what you need,
then you can know oh well, thisis the answer, this is the
solution.
Sometimes we know we're tired,we know we're stressed, we know

(04:47):
we're irritable, we know we'renot being a good person to
ourselves, but we don't knowexactly what we need and what to
do about it.
So those are some of thereasons why, when you take care
of yourself, it does help for somany different reasons.
You can pour into yourself.
Now we talked about what burnoutis, what it looks like, what

(05:09):
are the causes of burnout, whydoes it happen?
One too much workload, there'sunrealistic demands on our plate
, we have so much to do with,not enough manpower, not enough
time, or the deadlines are justtoo short, and sometimes you
don't have any control over that.
Another reason you're burnedout, though, is because you've

(05:32):
said yes too much, you'veovercommitted.
You know how it is when you getthat promotion or you get the
new position and you startsaying yes to everything.
Yep, sign me up for this, signme up for this committee.
Oh, I can help out on thatproject.
Have you really looked at whatyou already have going on, not
just at work, but in yourpersonal life too?

(05:53):
Do you have capacity to do allof the things?
Because that's what you'resigning up for?
And then, another reason why weended up being burned out is
because we feel like I have todo it all, I have to be perfect,
we have the expert role, or wehave that do it all yourself

(06:15):
mentality, and we bring thatfrom the old workplace into the
new workplace.
As much as we want to point thefinger and say this is the
reason or it's my boss's fault,the onus can still fall on us
too, so we can't avoidaccountability for causing our
own burnout and you're like, wow, you know what?
I think you're a little bitstressed because I'm getting the

(06:37):
vibe that you don't like thisclient, or I'm getting a vibe
that you're not able to show up.
Just on how you're talkingabout it, you might find
yourself dreading.
Going into work, you will findyourself being super tired,
overly fatigued, and you'regetting good rest, but you're
still waking up feelingexhausted.
Or when you do go to sleep,you're tossing and turning.

(06:59):
Either your mind won't shut offor, when you wake up again, you
don't feel like you got anysleep.
And then there are thebehavioral signs as well.
So when you're burned again,you don't feel like you got any
sleep, and then there are thebehavioral signs as well.
So you, when you're burned out,you sometimes feel like I can't
take a day off, so you continueto show up when you don't need
to.
Yeah, I had a colleague onetime.
She showed up to work supersick and what did she do?

(07:22):
She got other people in theoffice sick, when what she
should have done was say youknow what, let me take some time
for myself, let me take care ofme so that I can show up as a
better version and a healthierversion for the people that I'm
working with.
And then there's cognitivescience too.
Now, what does that look like?
You're forgetful, you'reoverthinking things and it's

(07:43):
hard for you to concentrate.
It's like the slightest thingthat requires any mental energy.
You feel like, oh my gosh, herewe go again.
Am I going to get through this?
Like you're just off feeling alittle nervous and ultimately
you're not feeling like yourself.
Now, what can you do about it?

(08:03):
We talked about assessing whatyou need, but one of the main
things that I want you to do forburnout is execute on the
things that you know you shoulddo.
What happens is we tend to wait.
We wait until the perfect time.
We get into this analysis,paralysis, we start to overthink
okay, I'm going to start myroutine on the first of the
month or at the top of the weekor the top of the year.

(08:24):
This is what I'm going to startmy routine on the first of the
month or at the top of the weekor the top of the year.
This is what I'm going to getinto it.
Or if we're going to the gym,it's like well, what do I wear?
What do I work out on?
What body part do I hit?
Do I do cardio?
Do I do weights first?
And you become so exhausted byall of these questions that
you're like you know what, byall of these questions that

(08:49):
you're like you know what, I'mnot ready.
You stress yourself out evenbefore you start the process of
healing from the burnout.
If this is you, you're notalone, but this is why we have
to talk about it, so we can workthrough it and not use this as
other excuses for us not to heal.
This is what I would suggest.
If you are like okay, jason,you are definitely talking to me
on this.
I want you to start small.

(09:11):
What is one thing not a zillion, not five, not 10, not even
three?
What is the one thing that youcan take action on that can
better your personal life orbetter your work situation?
What is the one relationshipwhere you can set a clear
boundary on that's going to helpyou long term?

(09:34):
What is the one thing at workthat you can delegate to someone
else or that you cannot committo because you already have a
lot of things on your projectlist that's not overcomplicated.
I actually want you to simplifyit so that you can feel better
about yourself and, overall,just be a healthier version of

(09:55):
you too.
All right, thank y'all.
Peace.
Thank you all for listening toanother episode of the Peace and
Prosperity podcast.
Again, if you are feeling like,hey, I'm experiencing high
functioning anxiety, don't beatyourself up about it.
It is okay.
We all experience anxiety fromtime to time and I gave you a

(10:20):
couple of things that you can doon your own, but don't hesitate
to reach out to a professionalto better manage what you're
going through.
Okay, and lastly, make sure, ifyou have not like share,
subscribe to the podcast andsend this out to a friend.
And if you want to hear certainepisodes or have certain

(10:42):
conversations, let me know.
You can shoot me a DM or justleave a review and I will
definitely follow up.
All right, y'all be blessed,peace.