Signs of burnout you might be ignoring

Are you showing signs of burnout?

You’re still showing up. Still replying to emails, still getting the kids to school, still ticking things off the list. So surely you can’t be burning out?

The truth is, some of the most common signs of burnout are easy to miss, especially when you’re someone who just gets on with it.

You’re running on empty but you can’t switch off

One of the trickiest things about burnout is that it doesn’t always look like collapsing on the sofa. For a lot of people, it shows up as that wired-but-tired feeling, exhausted, but your brain won’t stop. You lie awake at 2am running through tomorrow’s to-do list. You’re drained, but rest doesn’t actually feel restful.

That’s your nervous system stuck in overdrive. Clinical psychologist Dr Claire Plumley describes it as your body getting ‘stuck in gear’, unable to move fluidly between that high-alert, high-energy state and genuine rest. When your system can’t come back down after a busy day, that’s worth paying attention to.

Your brain feels foggy and you’re not sure why

Struggling to take in new information at work? Forgetting things you’d normally remember? Getting thrown off completely when your usual routine changes? These are quiet but telling signs of burnout that often get dismissed as just being tired or getting older.

What’s actually happening is that under prolonged stress, your brain’s ability to think flexibly, learn, and problem-solve gets temporarily impaired. You might still manage the day-to-day tasks you could do on autopilot, but anything that requires real focus or creativity feels like wading through mud. The good news? This is not permanent. It’s a signal, not a life sentence.

You’re having ‘escape’ thoughts

Ever caught yourself wishing you could just catch a cold, nothing serious, just enough to have a legitimate reason to stop? Or fantasising about handing in your notice, packing a bag, or just disappearing for a week? These kinds of thoughts are actually one of the more overlooked signs of burnout. They’re your mind’s way of flagging that something has become too much, for too long.

So what can you do right now?

Start by just noticing. You don’t have to overhaul your entire life today. But recognising these signals as signs of burnout, rather than proof that you’re failing, is a really important first step. Your body isn’t letting you down. It’s asking for something.

If any of this sounds familiar, you’ll find a lot more in the Don’t Get a Therapist Yet podcast episode with Dr Claire Plumley, where we go deep into what burnout really looks like and how to start coming back from it. You can listen here: Wendy Castelino – YouTube