From Overwhelmed to Empowered: Simple Steps to Regain Control and Inner Calm
November 11, 2025
Most of us have experienced feeling tired after work and wanting to crawl straight into bed. But if this feeling is of constant extreme exhaustion that is negatively affecting your everyday life, then this may be a sign of burnout.
With the rise in being easily accessible through text messages and emails, it is becoming harder to find a work-life balance. Burnout in working young people appears to be increasing, with 2 in 3 young people aged 18-24 years being unable to switch off from work and 58% of Gen Z reporting burnout from work in 2021.
It is important that people are able to identify the symptoms of burnout, be able to ask for support when experiencing burnout, and know how to support themselves. By doing this, we can stop the culture of being overwhelmed and become empowered by our work and our time.
How Do I Know If I Am Experiencing Burnout?
Many people can believe they are just stressed rather than burnt out, but these are two different states. Stress is a natural response to situations that is typically temporary; the individual experiencing stress is typically able to still engage in the activity. Burnout is a state of extreme physical and/or mental exhaustion; the individual experiencing burnout typically becomes withdrawn, experiences mental health struggles, and feels hopeless. If you are experiencing burnout, you may:
Experience hopelessness
Those who are struggling with burnout can often struggle to see themselves getting better. It can often feel like you are going to remain in a constant state of exhaustion forever.
Feel too tired to complete day-to-day tasks
Burnout is an extreme exhaustion, and most of your energy is used for work. Once a person who is experiencing burnout gets home, they will most likely find themselves unable to complete their day-to-day tasks, such as showering, brushing their teeth, or making dinner.
It is likely that if the person remains burnt out for a long period of time that they will also struggle to complete their work.
Feel more emotional, such as teary or irritable
When a person is burnt out, it is like they are running on fumes. They are using what little energy they have on the things they “have” to do and are unable to support their emotional well-being.
When we are tired, a brain region called the amygdala, which supports emotional processing, is affected, and this causes heightened emotional sensitivity. This means those who are experiencing burnout and are exhausted are more likely to feel emotional, sad, or irritable.
The Difference Between Burnout and Depression
The symptoms of burnout and depression can appear very similar. Both are most likely to cause a sense of hopelessness, make the individual feel more teary, and lead to intense exhaustion. However, there are some clear differences:
The main difference between burnout and depression is what causes them. Burnout is typically caused by external factors such as work stress, and people are often able to identify the reason they are burnt out. Typically, once this stressor is resolved, a person is able to recover from burnout.
On the other hand, depression is caused by a range of factors such as genetics and chemical imbalances. Many consider depression from a “diathesis-stress” model perspective in which a combination of internal factors (eg, genetics) and external factors (eg, a family death) causes depression. Typically, individuals with depression receive professional treatment such as medication and counselling.
Impact Of The Cost Of Living on Burnout
The cost of living crisis has had a significant impact on mental health in the UK. As prices increase faster than income does, people have to find cheaper products or buy less. This can lead to intense stress and financial worry.
Additionally, when money is tight, people are less likely to spend money on things they enjoy; this can contribute to burnout. It has been found that fewer people are spending time with friends or participating in their hobbies due to money struggles.
If people have no break from work where they can focus on things they enjoy and socialise, then this is going to increase the likelihood of burnout.
Ways To Recover From Burnout
Recovering from burnout isn’t a quick and easy task; it requires you to truly rest and reset, support your nervous system, and be mindful. This is easier said than done, and when feeling burnt out, it can feel like the most impossible thing in the world.
However, there are ways to recover from burnout, and it doesn’t have to be a permanent state of being. Here are some ways to support your recovery from burnout:
Rediscover your inner child
The young adult stage can be an incredibly difficult time; there is no more set pathway of education and responsibilities, friends are all at very different points in life, and many aren’t sure where they want to be. It can be easy to fall into the trap of constantly working to progress the way we think we should, but this can actually have the opposite effect.
A study in 2023 found that the saying “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” might have some truth to it. The researchers found that having a good work-life balance and participating in activities we enjoy can actually make people more successful.
Try to find activities you loved as a child and rediscover doing things simply to do them and have fun, rather than to reach an end goal.
Reconnect with nature
Connecting with nature can be great for our well-being. Spending most of your day in a workplace, then travelling by car or public transit, and then spending the rest of your night at home because you are utterly exhausted by your day, disconnects us from nature and can contribute to burnout.
If you live close enough to work, opt for walking instead of driving or public transport. When possible, keep a window open to allow fresh air into your workspace. Whilst it may be difficult to make yourself leave the house when you’re exhausted from work, try to step outside for a little bit of time each day, whether it is in your garden, on your front door step, or for a walk around the park.
Reconnect with nature and remind yourself of what exists outside of work.
Reclaim your time
Many people can find themselves working or thinking about work whilst off the clock; this is eating up your free time and burning you out.
If you find yourself talking about work on your lunch break, try separating yourself from work by going for a walk or reading a book.
If you find yourself working at home or researching strategies, remind yourself that it is important for you to have “me time” and that you need your energy. If you really find it hard to switch off from work whilst at home to reclaim your time, maybe make a list of what is on your mind so you have it written and then come back to it once you go back to work the next day.
Remember that your time is your time; it’s important that you find activities that energise you rather than contribute to burnout.
Consume less and make more
When exhausted from work, it can be easy to sit in bed and doomscroll on social media. However, whilst we are passively consuming, we are not connecting with ourselves. When consuming other people’s posts on social media, you automatically compare your life to theirs: “they’ve already bought a house”, “they’re married”, “they just got another promotion”. This doesn’t help you but hurts you.
Set a time limit on your social media use so you don’t spend the whole time scrolling and suddenly realise it’s time for bed. Find activities you enjoy, and remember you don’t have to be perfect at them. Try a messy activity, such as finger painting or air-dry clay, to make something and have fun with it. Learn how to sew or play an instrument. There are so many hobbies out there for you to explore; try to do more than you watch.
Remember that this isn’t about creating a perfect product or creating a new side hustle; it’s about allowing yourself to simply make and craft for pure enjoyment.
Seek support
It is often wrongly believed that going at it alone is a sign of being strong, but there is no weakness in asking for help.
There are people to support you, whether that be at work, at home, or via professional services such as counselling. You do not need to struggle alone and pretend that everything is okay; it’s okay to admit that it’s not and try to do something about it.
Focus on what is right for you
Many young people try to follow the path and options they believe they are supposed to want, rather than following what they actually want. Chasing a degree you don’t want, getting a stressful job you don’t want, and living how others want you to live will only wear you down and burn you out. Think about what it is that you want to do and allow yourself to change as you learn more things.
Practice mindfulness
When we think of mindfulness, many people instantly think of sitting in a silent room and meditating. Whilst this is a great form of mindfulness, it isn’t possible for everyone, and not everyone enjoys it. If you have a very busy life, here are some other ways to practice mindfulness on a daily basis:
- Make your morning beverage and breakfast without any media consumption, such as music or television.
- Slow down when walking to calm your nervous system.
- When feeling overwhelmed, try the grounding technique: name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste.
Allow yourself to truly rest
Many of us are guilty of saying we are resting and then thinking about our to-do list or finding something productive to do, like organising our computer files. Then, we’ve finished “relaxing” but feel no better than when we started.
To truly rest, you need to allow yourself to rest “unproductively”. This means not checking your emails or trying to finish tasks to tick off your to-do list.
Some examples include:
- Watching a movie with some snacks and not checking your phone or laptop.
- Doing a craft activity with your favourite music and no other distractions.
- Spending time with your family.
- Switching off the phone or muting notifications.
- Going for a walk.
- Researching something you find really interesting, but never get to learn about.
- Having a dance party in your room.
- Lying on the sofa and resting your eyes.
- Reading a book.
Final Thoughts
We are often told that we constantly need to be doing something or achieving something. This belief is harmful, and it creates a culture of burnout and overwhelm. Truly resting and reconnecting with yourself and your values shouldn’t be defined as a luxury; it is a necessity.
Take some time for yourself and remember that you deserve to feel okay.
If you are struggling with burnout and would like to talk to someone, Mindsum offers free initial consultations with a professional.