Table of Contents
- 1 6 SIGNS TO KNOW IF YOU ARE EMOTIONALLY DRAINED
- 2 1. You dread going to work.
- 3 2. You feel anxious, overwhelmed, or pressured on the job.
- 4 3. The people around you drain or annoy you.
- 5 4. You’ve lost motivation for your daily duties.
- 6 5. You stop caring about excellence.
- 7 6. You get sick more often or have unexplained physical symptoms.
6 SIGNS TO KNOW IF YOU ARE EMOTIONALLY DRAINED
1. You dread going to work.
Rather than feeling excited or happy to get up in the morning and begin your workday, you feel a sense of dread or anxiety. The thought of going into work almost makes you physically ill.
This is a huge sign of emotional exhaustion with your job. When you feel completely resistant to even show up at the office, you know that something is wrong.
2. You feel anxious, overwhelmed, or pressured on the job.
While you are working, you never feel on top of things.
It constantly feels like you’re racing against the clock or some deadline.
Or perhaps you feel on edge because of expectations about your performance.
You don’t feel secure or confident that you are pleasing your boss or meeting specified goals.
You might feel overwhelmed because you have more on your plate than you can realistically handle, and you don’t have the support you need.
Or you haven’t figured out how to delegate or say “No” to requests for your time.
3. The people around you drain or annoy you.
If you don’t surround yourself with people you respect and like, then you are bound to feel exhausted and unhappy.
When you feel unappreciated or disrespected, it creates a wave of negative feelings that can impact your work performance and overall feelings about your job.
If your boss is difficult, if you have staff members who don’t pull their weight, or if you deal with clients who treat you badly, then you’re expending emotional energy just trying to deal with these personalities.
4. You’ve lost motivation for your daily duties.
When you’re emotionally drained, you find that very little excites you anymore.
You just don’t feel much motivation to focus on your projects or tasks, except the negative motivation of being reprimanded or losing your job.
Even activities that you once found enjoyable now feels like a struggle.
You have to force yourself to get tasks done, and sometimes you do it so half-heartedly that it doesn’t meet the standards you set for yourself or the expectations of your employer.
5. You stop caring about excellence.
If you were one someone who always demanded excellence from yourself and those around you, then your lack of caring about it is a huge red flag.
You might still get the job done, and maybe others don’t notice the things falling through the cracks, but YOU notice and can feel yourself slipping.
You just don’t have the energy to push yourself anymore.
6. You get sick more often or have unexplained physical symptoms.
Our bodies have an interesting way of revealing what’s going on in our emotional worlds.
If you’re feeling emotionally and mentally drained, your body will respond with a weakened immune system and physical symptoms that have no medical diagnosis.
You may get so tired and run down from your work that you catch frequent colds and viruses, have regular headaches and intestinal problems, or you get the classic stress-related ailment — an ulcer.
Sleep disorders, like trouble falling asleep or waking up in the middle of the night, are also signs of emotional distress.
You might also slip into depression or an anxiety disorder that makes it nearly impossible to function at work.
