The word “burnout” is being heard from all directions. It is being expressed as a reason for quitting, changing jobs, taking vacations, and as a way to express difficulties in life. I think everyone has heard it at least once, and I believe there have been times when you’ve wondered if you are experiencing burnout.
When I hear people talking about burnout, I often feel a deep sense of sympathy, but I also feel that there is little I can do to help. I can suggest various things to try, but those who are experiencing burnout often don’t seem to hear those suggestions. So, while contemplating what to do, I decided to write this.
“I have never experienced burnout.”
When I say this, people look at me with skeptical eyes and ask if I’m serious. But it’s true, I have never experienced burnout. To be clear once again, I have never experienced burnout, and I believe I know how to deal with similar phenomena to burnout and overcome them.
I usually prefer brevity, but for this story, I will write in a more elaborate manner. I hope that instead of reading this like a subject to memorize, you will understand burnout and hope that everyone can overcome it.
First, let’s talk about the time before the internet developed significantly. I remember the news from the 1990s and 2000s. There was a phrase that circulated among numerous sports players, artists, and professionals like a trend. It was called a “slump” or “mannerism.”
What I remember from the news is the stories of professional players like Park Chan-ho who fell into a slump where their skills didn’t improve. I also heard about the reason why the Air Force had more vacation days as they approached their military service. It was said that they fell into mannerism because they repeated the same tasks, and to bring vitality to their daily lives, they introduced more frequent vacations.
But now, the word “burnout” is mentioned even more frequently. Why is that? What is different between then and now, and is it possible that there are no longer slumps and mannerisms?
In the days of slumps and mannerism, the opportunities and teachings available in the surrounding were considered the limits of what a person could learn. It involved going to a good school, meeting good teachers, encountering good seniors, having a good mentor, and learning through the time spent with that person. You would learn what you needed from the one person you met during your journey. In other words, if you were in an environment where you couldn’t meet such people or if you didn’t have the means to learn (books, videos), you would remain stagnant. It was a time when even if you wanted to learn, there were no viable means to do so. Therefore, until a fortunate enlightenment came, you had to repeat similar actions in the same place.
But let’s think about the present. Now, if we want to learn something, we can find ways to learn it immediately. Through the internet, smartphones, or laptops, we can quickly find and learn what we desire. Just by watching courses on YouTube, we can attend classes at Stanford University, and through Coursera, we can acquire specialized knowledge that we want to learn. We can even earn degrees.
[Generated image from DALL-E-3]
I believe that’s where the problem arises. Even though there is a lot of information, it’s too much. My time, my space, and the knowledge I can acquire are limited. My brain capacity cannot keep up with the computing power available worldwide. It doesn’t even have the processing speed to handle it. There are numerous inputs, but my output is limited. I am aware of the existence of things in the world, but my brain cannot keep up with processing them.
If the previous era was about generating more output from smaller inputs, the current era is about producing optimized outputs from larger inputs.
Modern individuals, when they don’t produce greater output at work, blame themselves for not being able to handle the overwhelming inputs and strive tirelessly day and night. There are methods to improve at work and piles of tasks awaiting completion, but when they don’t achieve better results, they blame themselves for not being able to handle such workload.
So let’s think rationally again. Do we really think we can handle the inputs we have to deal with now? Of course, there are tasks such as automation and process improvement. However, let’s not forget that this is still a form of work. We seek improvement, we have an overflow of work, and if we want to perform it, we can continue relentlessly.
But what happens if we keep going without rest? I believe that’s when burnout occurs. Immersed individuals sometimes run without taking a break. They haven’t learned how to control it, and they haven’t learned that it’s important. They are in a daily rush.
Personally, I participate in ultramarathons and ride bicycles. These are exercises that maintain a strenuous state for hours. The best way to go the furthest for several hours is to run steadily before becoming breathless. If you sprint in the middle, you’ll immediately need to rest, and then you resume running when your breath returns.
I believe that the methods to overcome burnout and regulate a state where burnout doesn’t occur are similar. I study and work every day with an appropriate level of tension. I do it just enough to slightly catch my breath. If I become too exhausted and cannot continue the next day, the distance I can cover in two days becomes shorter. And if the state of burnout persists and I try to run in that breathless state, I will soon collapse.
The solution to the state of being unable to concentrate due to being immersed in burnout is simple. Rest or daydream. Organize your thoughts, and when your mind is overflowing with thoughts, try putting them into words. Most of the things that seem significant are actually trivial. This is how I transition from a breathless state to a normal breathing state. Only then can I have better thoughts, make better choices, and live a better life.
I also need to control the input I receive. If input exceeds my capacity to handle it, I end up overwhelmed, and my performance suffers. You can think of it like a CPU. When the CPU throttles, the processing speed of the tasks it used to handle also slows down. This is because there’s time spent on scheduling, marking, and processing the incoming input before it needs to be scheduled again. In the end, it requires a reboot. If I go beyond the available capacity I can handle, my existing performance also deteriorates. It’s crucial to control the incoming input while keeping in mind the level I can handle.
You may agree or have different opinions. However, I have often thought and pondered over how I managed to overcome and handle numerous tasks while feeling the pressure.
Some people have already heard such stories from me. I remember the people who received help, and I wanted to leave these words as a message. I sincerely hope that many people can overcome burnout instead of being consumed by it.