The Economic Theory of Burnout

Economic Theory of Burnout

Imagine your emotional energy is like your money. It is a finite resource, you only have so much of it. If you have more going out than you have coming in, your budget is not balanced. This might be ok if it happens rarely and you have some savings to dip into. If it happens consistently, you will begin to go into debt. And debt often compounds on itself.

Your emotional resources work the same way. Some things take emotional energy from you. Some things refill your emotional reserves. If you have more going out than you have coming in, your budget is not balanced. You are going to have to reach to your support systems, the equivalent of a savings account, to help make up for the difference. If this pattern continues even these extra supports will eventually be depleted. This is called Burnout. This emotional toll, like a low or negative account balance, means you have less emotional resources at your disposal to meet any incidental needs that come up. Incidental frustrations can pop up unexpectedly like incidental expenditures, like getting a flat tire. Depending on whether you have the resources in your account this could be a frustrating anecdote or a serious problem. When more is required than you have at your disposal you can face the emotional equivalent of an overdraft fee. Emotionally speaking this can be when something requires more emotional resources than you have and you react in a way that makes things worse. Maybe you yell at a loved one. Maybe you make a mistake at work and that tarnishes your reputation. Like financial debt, these problems can spiral and quickly become more than a person can easily come back from.

If you step back and take a look at your emotional life the same way you would look at your finances to make a budget, you may realize you have more things in your life that are taking away your emotional resources than things that are replenishing them. I am often struck by how many people I see in my practice who are very good with managing their financial resources but terrible with managing their own emotional resources. In a 2018 survey of 1000 corporate professionals in the United States, 91% reported experiencing an “unmanageable” amount of stress.

How do you Balance your Emotional Budget?

How do people fix an unbalanced budget? Two things: reduce expenditures and increase income. Make sure the amount coming in is more than the amount going out. Simple. You treat Burnout the same way. Interventions for Burnout typically fall under one of two categories: either reducing the amount of emotional resources being spent, or increasing the amount of emotional resources coming in.

Reducing Emotional Output.

Reduce the amount of stressors and things that take emotional resources in your life. Simply put, you have too many things on your plate and you need to take some off. This is the same as someone who has too many expenses and needs to spend less. You cannot fix your emotional budget without doing this. First and foremost, you have to say no to things. This can mean saying no to projects at work, no to helping out, declining events, or even ending relationships if they are taking more out of you than they are giving back. Saying no can also mean letting go of expectations you have for yourself that are causing more harm then good.

Increase Emotional Input

This is like increasing the amount of income someone makes to help them have a balanced budget. Emotionally speaking this means increasing the amount of things being done that recharge your emotional batteries. What recharges someone’s batteries cane different from person to person. Some common trends include: connecting with other people, taking care of yourself physically, doing values based activities like helping others, going to therapy or making time to do and appreciate things you enjoy.

Make Habits.

Reduce your output, increase your input. This is the core of fixing one’s financial budget and your emotional budget. And chances are it is not going to be just one thing. A budget doesn’t get fixed by changing one thing, but a collection of a few things that reduce your output and increase your input can collectively move the needle. And, you have to be consistent. If your finances were overdrawn and you made some changes one time, you would be in trouble again the next month. This needs to be done consistently until it becomes a habit. Now you are working with a balanced budget. But, if you are experiencing Burnout you are, in a way, in debt.

Save for a Rainy Day.

Living with a balanced budget is great, financially or emotionally. But if you have incurred a debt, just having enough input to cover your needs isn’t enough. You need to work off what you owe. Additionally, like any financial advisor or concerned parent might tell you, save for a rainy day. Financially most people know that it’s a good idea to have enough reserves on hand for when something unexpected happens. The same holds true for your emotional reserves. Even when people don’t feel burned out most people feel like they are just barely getting by emotionally. Have enough emotional input to build up your savings. Be ready so when that rainy day comes you are ready for it. This is called thriving; when our emotional input is consistently greater than our output.

Start Now.

The best time to start making better choices is yesterday. The second best time is today. A lot of people work themselves silly, getting by on the bare minimum amount of joy or connection that they can live on. As human beings we often tend to put off things we can enjoy until we’ve reached some milestone. I’ll take more time for myself after the new year, after I make more money, after the kids are a little older, or something like that. The thing is, you’re not guaranteed a tomorrow. This is your life, right here and right now. A major regret that older adults often endorse is waiting so long to start doing the things they enjoy in their life. So don’t repeat that mistake.

Balance your emotional budget now and start being a better version of yourself in all areas of your life.

If you are ready to see how therapy can help, please click on the link below.

Click Here