r/burnedout

I am a corporate professional in my early 30s and for the past couple of years I have noticed something that I cannot shake off.

Every Monday feels like a reset button that nobody asked for. The week flies by in meetings, commutes, and deadlines. By Friday I am exhausted but somehow relieved. Saturday I have a hundred things I want to do — exercise, cook properly, spend real time with family, maybe read — and I end up doing almost none of them. Sunday afternoon the dread creeps back in. And then it starts all over again.

I have tried fixing this. Gym membership — gone after three weeks. Diet — lasted maybe ten days. Meditation app — opened it four times. Each time I tell myself this time will be different. It never is. And I genuinely do not understand why.

I do not think I am lazy. I think something more fundamental is broken — in my routine, in my foundation, in the order I am trying to fix things.

Has anyone else felt this way? Did you figure out what was actually going wrong — not the surface stuff like needing more discipline, but the real reason?

Would love to hear honest experiences from people who have been through this. What broke the cycle for you — or are you still in it?

i’m so tired of this world , i don’t have energy to do anything. i’m disinterested in everyone and honestly my childhood self would’ve been really disappointed if she had known that the world would turn out to be like this as an adult .

As someone who has experienced burnout from work, I’m researching what people genuinely need when looking to escape- not a typical vacation but something restorative. Imagine a cabin wellness retreat with saunas, communal kitchen, and optional meditation/yoga activities.

I have a few questions and I’d love your honest answers to these:

What amenities do you look for when searching for a wellness retreat/getaway to recover from burnout?

Would sharing a kitchen/lounge with a few other guests feel connecting — or stressful?

How long would you actually need to feel like you’d properly decompressed?

29F. I'm a teacher and this year I'm a building sub because of the flexibility. But if I don't work I don't get paid and financially I can't take many days off.

I am so burnt out. I want to cry and scream when I see the school. I have a short fuse, I want to cry all of the time, these kids are so horrific at the end of the year. I teach high school and they are as bad as first graders.

Most days my anxiety is so high. I have GAD and panic attacks but this is beyond that normal baseline anxiety.

At the same time I'm also so detached and numb. It is a very confusing mix. I feel lightheaded some days too. I just wanna fucking quit but I can't.

Burnout has clearly become a huge issue and it would be great to talk about how we cope and share ideas with each other on what works best for us.

I hear quite a bit about going analog - how do you do this when work requires you to be constantly online and up to date?

What’s your favorite activity to help you relax?

Any products or services you find helpful?

Desperately wishing I could go back to the 90s!

50M been in this particular role for a year, at this company 7 years, in this industry for 12 years. I love the science of my field but I really hate this job. Everyday is a struggle to go to work. I dislike my bosses. I am starting to not care about self and health and personal stuff.

Scared of starting over too. Just want to be done with it all.

I’m 28F and had severe brain fog from age 18 to 28 that progressively worsened. I tried everything: clean eating, cold showers, social media detoxes, brain games, fish oil, memory pills, fixing iron and vitamin D, drinking 2L of water daily, speech lessons, strict sleep schedules (7.5 hours nightly for years), and intermittent fasting. Nothing helped.

The brain fog affected my memory, speech, and processing. I couldn’t keep a job longer than 10 months because I struggled to follow conversations and forgot things easily managers had to email instructions since I couldn’t process verbal ones. It also damaged my friendships: I’d forget important things friends told me, lose words mid-sentence, mispronounce common English words (despite it being my native language), and came across as “dumb.”

Three months ago, during a routine checkup, my doctor noted my resting heart rate on the higher end of normal range and suggested daily brisk walking. I’d been mostly sedentary and never did much moving around besides house chores and the rare hike. I started with 10 minutes and worked up to 30 minutes daily. At the same time, I also started building small wellness routines instead of trying to “fix” myself overnight. I used tools like journaling, breathing exercises, light mental activities, and mixing physical + brain activities together through apps like Soothfy, which helped me stay consistent without feeling overwhelmed. Since then, my brain fog has completely disappeared and I mean completely. I breathe deeply instead of shallowly, think clearly, remember conversations, and have laser-sharp focus it feels like my brain is finally getting enough oxygen after being starved for many years. I only noticed improvements after consistently brisk walking for 1 month and ensured I was always nasal breathing while walking. Please try brisk walking 30 minutes for at least a month it will be a game changer!!!

3 years ago I sustained a spinal cord injury, i’m incomplete c6 asia C and for the last few years I’ve been going to physio about 4x/week plus working with kinesiologist and swimming. Legit doing all I could!!! I have seen results and I have 80% sensation everywhere and I can walk with a harness. My body is slowly taking more weight its sooooooo slow!

Honestly I wouldve gave up years ago, my biggest motivation is my 3 year old. I was 2 months post partum when I got injured. I feel so sad that my husband has not been much support, we get family support for help with my daughter. But I stopped asking him for help because he whines and makes it a huge thing when he helps me with stuff.

I feel so isolated and I feel hurt that he hasn’t been there for me. I want to leave but I feel like what if I won’t have custody of my child because I’m unable to take care of her myself? My family live in a different province and I want to move back there. I don’t know how much longer I can stay here, mentally it’s making me depress.

Hey everyone,

I’m currently working as a Manager in a BI/Data reporting role and feeling completely burned out. My current project has become extremely stressful — constant escalations, weekend work, and nonstop pressure to handle support issues. It’s starting to affect my health and mental well-being.

What makes it confusing is that my previous project went really well, so I know this isn’t about capability. This specific project/environment just feels unsustainable.

I have around 7 years of experience in Power BI, SQL, DAX, Power Platform, Databricks, and enterprise reporting. Over time I moved into management, but now I feel like I’d rather move back into a hands-on IC role instead of constant firefighting.

Financially I can afford a short career break since I don’t have EMIs or kids depending on me, but I’m still worried because the market feels rough right now.

Has anyone here taken a career break because of burnout? Did it help, and how hard was it to get back into the market afterward?

TL;DR: Burned out from constant escalations/weekend work in a BI Manager role, considering quitting and taking a short career break to move back into a hands-on IC role.

(Used ChatGPT to help rephrase this because my brain is exhausted right now.)

I’ve been out of the tech world since being laid off in 2023. Since then, I’ve submitted thousands of applications - only for jobs I’m qualified for. I have a BS degree in Computer Systems Technology and an MBA concentrated in Cybersecurity. In addition, I have ~10 years of relative tech experience in customer success, account management, project/program management, and strategic partnerships.

Day in and day out I apply for roles. Not just looking for remote roles, but also local companies. I don’t mind commuting or working in an office. I’m really not aiming for the stars here. I’m just trying to land something stable so I can enjoy my life and not feel like I wasted time and money earning 2 degrees that got me nowhere.

But at this point I’m beat. Every company that has interviewed me since 2023 has taken me through multiple rounds of interviews only to tell me they went with someone else. I’m so tired. I’ve lost every ounce of self worth I’d had. And I’m starting to have thoughts of self harm.

Why is it this hard? I could understand if I had no degrees, or not as much experience. But I have all of that and yet no one will give me a chance… I can’t do this anymore.

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Im 22 male by the way, undiagnosed but I do have so much in common with people with ADHD, I know some of you may say that this is depression or something, but I had this kind off problems since childhood and genuinely felt different from other kids.

I’ve been stuck in this cycle for almost 10 years now,

I’ll suddenly get a huge burst of motivation and convince myself I’m finally changing. I wake up early, work out, do chores, learn new things, plan my future, and genuinely feel hopeful for once. That phase usually lasts anywhere from 2 weeks to maybe a month.

But the second something goes wrong I miss a routine, have a cheat day, fail at something small, or lose momentum , everything completely spirals. I stop caring, doom scroll for hours, binge games or shows (sometimes an entire season in one day), and basically shut down for weeks or months.

Then comes this deep sadness where I feel emotionally exhausted and disgusted with myself that make me feel “I can’t live like this anymore”, and the cycle repeats again.

The last few months is different, that motivation doesn’t even feel real to me anymore. Every time I feel it, a part of me already knows it’s temporary and I’ll end up back here again, sometimes I get burst of motivation but it's not enough to push me through the cycle again, I feel like something broke me.

It’s been around 2–3 months since my last productive phase, usually it's like clock work 2weeks of motivation 1-2months of burn out and sudden motivation spikes,and this time I genuinely feel tired inside. Not lazy. Just emotionally worn out.I want to do things to enjoy things but its not here anymore, just going day by day, nothing.

Does anyone else relate to this? How do you stop treating your whole life like an cycle, and how do I restart when all it needs is just one thing off to all come crashing down. Help me...

I’ve been trying to understand this pattern lately — how burnout doesn’t always show up as a dramatic collapse. Sometimes it’s this slow, quiet heaviness that builds over time until even simple things feel harder than they should.

What’s strange is how the mind can recognize that life has calmed down, but the body still feels like it’s bracing for impact. It’s like the exhaustion lingers long after the stressful season ends.

I’m curious how this shows up for other people. What does “slow burnout” feel like for you?

One of my biggest stresses as a caregiver has been to get medications refilled when they're needed. Pharmacies sometimes take a week to get the meds in. Or the prescriptions need refills, and the requests take time to get back from the doctor. What I do now when I pick up a prescription is enter the name, quantity, and date into Chat GPT. I then ask it to send me a reminder to call for a refill a week before it runs out. That way the pharmacy usually has enough time to get it in. This saved me from a lot of fights with the pharmacist.

This might seem silly to most. But where do you go when you feel completely and utterly overwhelmed? Who do you speak to when you feel like you have no one at all to speak to? Where do you turn? what do you do? where do you go? I feel lost but at the same time I feel nothing. I feel like screaming from the top of my lungs but also feel silent.

Basically what the title says. I work as an elementary SpEd teacher in a behavioral Res-Ed school, and this afternoon while driving home, I realized I just don’t care anymore. I’m beyond tired, I don’t have the energy to do anything, and that unfortunately includes looking for jobs, or going back to school for a career change. I have no idea what to do, but I feel awful that I don’t care right now, but I also don’t have the energy to apply to anything else besides the 8 hours I’m at work.

I’m currently in the final stretch of my medical internship (House Officer life) and honestly?

I’m exhausted. My days are spent in a crowded teaching hospital making clinical decisions and my nights are spent either in hospital or buried in USMLE prep books. On paper I’m ‘successful but in reality I feel like I’m disappearing.

I’ve spent so many years focusing on the next exam or the next shift that I’ve lost touch with myself who used to had hobbies.

When I’m not at the hospital im usually retreating into my own world obsessing over tech specs for my workstation, messing around with video editing, or playing Age of Empires just to feel some nostalgia.

I want to talk Not about medicine but about the real world the things normal people do, to stay sane and the stuff they’re actually passionate about.

Or just how it feels to be a high functioning human who secretly feels a bit lost.

Sometimes I just want to die to stop myself feeling this much emptiness.

What to do to stop all this? No filters, genuine talk allowed only

I’m curious to know what anyone has done to help with their flare ups and if it is worse around your menstrual cycle. I have lived through this for a long time and not done very much about it. I would like to start doing something about it. I have followed what the doctors have said so far. Maybe there is something I’m missing? I have bad flushing/ urticaria. Sometimes I also have eyes darkening. I have had to use epi before.

I am a mom of a 17 year old kid and struggling to keep up with work and the house, I want things to be different. Too much is put on my kid. I want to be the best mom I can be and not quit on her just as she is experiencing the stressors of moving into early adolescence. Please let me know what strategies you have tried and I can follow through on it.

I have done meds (not on any currently), two rounds of rTMS, seeing a naturopath, waiting to see an allergist, and I am also seeing an internal medicine specialist next week.

Thanks :)

What part of the "operation" feels the heaviest right now—is it the professional grind, the digital noise, or just the general cost of existing?

In our 30s finding ourselves in a strange middle ground: old enough to remember a world before the constant hum of the internet, but young enough to be the primary labor force keeping the current machine running. It is exhausting to feel like you’re constantly "optimizing" every second of your life just to stay level.

I feel I am just only surviving and I am so exhausted.

Hi, I am a journalist in the UK who is currently writing an article on burnout, focusing on how this experience manifests for working class people, or people who are not in positions to leave their jobs. I would be interested in speaking to people who have experienced this, to learn more about how burnout feels, how it feels to be unable to slow down, and furthermore if you have been able to heal your burnout in other ways without leaving work/ affordable treatments. Any help would be greatly appreciated and thank you for your time!