#63 How to spot the warning signs of burnout

I woke up this morning at 6am to the sound of my son Fin screaming.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed like I do every morning, except this time an electric lance of pain shot through my entire body and up my back.

My back had completely given out.

I’ve felt it threatening for a while now. daily workouts. Shifting literal tons of soil in the garden. Lugging a baby around for hours each day.

But you know what finally broke this camel’s back?

A new pillow.

That’s it. A damn pillow that shifted my sleeping posture into the slightest of twists.
Compounded over a few hours of sleep,
I woke up barely able to reach my knees.

And it hit me – burnout works exactly the same way.

It’s never the big sales target, the high-stakes client call, or the business emergency that pushes us over the edge.

I’ll recover soon with time and applied heat and liberal doses of moaning.
But burnout can take far longer to recover from,
and it affects everything from the quality of your work, your daily mood, and relationships,
which can ironcially, lead to further burnout.

So this week on Life by Design, I’m sharing how to spot the warning signs before you snap.

• Spot the warning signs you’re leading to total burnout (they’re not what you think)
• Identify what kind of burnout your suffering from,
• An emergency toolkit for reducing burnout

Plus subscribers get instant access to my emergency burnout toolkit…

How do I know if I’m close to burnout?

It’s well known freelancers are wearing a lot of hats.
Every job role falls on our shoulders.

We’re all carrying around invisible backpacks filled with tiny pebbles.

Each email you haven’t responded to?
🪨 Add a pebble.

Each decision about what to post on social?
🪨 Another pebble.

That client who keeps changing the scope?
🪨 Three more pebbles.

None of these things alone would break you. But together?
That backpack gets heavier and heavier until one day, you add a single grain of sand and the whole thing collapses.

It’s never the big rocks that break you. It’s the accumulated weight of all those pebbles you’ve been carrying.

The Micro-Stresses that lead to burnout in freelancers

I’ve been through burnout more times than I care to admit.
And every single time, it wasn’t the big project or the major deadline that did me in.

It was:

• Decision fatigue from 100 tiny choices
• Unfulfilling admin tasks that drained my soul
• Too many unclosed mental loops keeping my brain on high alert

These are the real culprits of burnout.
The silent killers of creativity and wellbeing.

Types of Burnout in creatives

back in 2010, BMC Public Health identified x3 types of burnout, you may be suffering from any, or all of these independently, or simultaneously.

Let me know if any of these sound familiar:

Overload Burnout

This type affects those who push themselves relentlessly, driven by ambition and pride in their work ethic. They exceed limits to meet goals but end up physically and mentally exhausted, harming their well-being.

Caused by:
Working too many hours, even if the work is rewarding, will lead to overload burnout.

I experienced this…
About every 4 months in my design agency, pushing too hard

Motivation Burnout

This form develops over time when workers feel their efforts are ignored or consistently face poor management. Eventually, they become emotionally detached and demotivated.

Caused by:
Working on things that have no higher purpose or meaning for you.
You could work hard, on skilled tasks,
but if you don’t receive validation (internal or external), or feel the work doesn’t align with your internal values, you will lost motivation and become burned out

I experienced this when…
Working at a larger design firm, I had good ideas but was unable to action them due to entrenched management. Slowly I learned to just give up and stop trying to improve things, which then led to Alignment burnout.

Alignment Burnout

Caused by boredom and lack of engagement, this burnout stems from feeling unfulfilled at work.
It often results from monotonous tasks, lack of recognition, or limited growth opportunities.

Caused by:
Even if you aren’t working particularly hard, working on unrewarding, pointless tasks that don’t challenge or develop your skills, will lead to alignment burnout

I experienced this …
I worked at a sign manufacturing company, basically filling out the same template every day.
money-wise it was a step up for me, but it didn’t require a graphic designer, or a creative. A monkey probably could have done it.

How to spot the warning signs of burnout

We all know how to spot client red flags which warn us about bad behaviour.
Well your body and mind are constantly sending you signals that you’re approaching the danger zone.
The problem is, we’re so busy we don’t notice them until it’s too late.

Here are the warning signs I’ve learned to watch for:

🚩 You react poorly to minor setbacks

That time I lost my shit because we ran out of eggs? Yeah, not my finest moment.
But it was a clear sign I was running on empty.

When small inconveniences feel like catastrophes, your emotional reserves are depleted.

🚩 You start blaming or resenting clients

“These clients just don’t get it.”
“Why can’t they make up their minds?”
“Do they think I have nothing better to do?”

If these thoughts are running through your head, you’re not a bad person.
It’s not the client’s fault either.
You’re just burned out.

🚩 Your creativity has packed its bags and left

Remember when you used to have brilliant ideas in the shower? Now you’re lucky if you remember to use conditioner.

When your creative well runs dry, it’s not because you’ve suddenly become uncreative. It’s because your brain is in survival mode.

🚩 New tasks seem impossible to start

That proposal should take you 30 minutes, but you’ve been staring at a blank document for an hour.
When you can’t start simple tasks and even opening emails feel like climbing Everest,
your mental energy is critically low.

🚩 You’re tired all the time

Not just “I need a coffee” tired. More like “I could sleep for a week and still be exhausted” tired.
This isn’t laziness. It’s your body screaming for rest.

My wife tells me Dr have a medical name for this, abbreviated to “TAT”,
and it’s one of the most common complaints heard by GPs these days.

🚩 Mondays fill you with dread

Sunday night anxiety is real.
But when it transforms into full-blown dread that starts creeping in, you’re in the danger zone.

🚩 You’re wound like a tightly-coiled spring

Most freelancers just try to “power through” and keep going.
If it feels like just one more task is going to make you explode,
it’s time to make a change.

The Emergency Burnout Toolkit

When you recognize these warning signs, you need to act fast. Burnout doesn’t resolve itself – it only gets worse if ignored.
Here’s my personal emergency toolkit for when I’m teetering on the edge:

1 Clear your to-do list

I’m not talking about completing everything. I’m talking about literally deleting it.
Seriously. Just delete the whole damn thing.
The truly important tasks will find its way back. The rest? It wasn’t that important anyway.

This sounds terrifying, I know. But I’ve done it multiple times, and guess what? The world didn’t end. In fact, it gave me the mental space to figure out what actually mattered.

2 Say no to anything you can

It’s okay to cancel plans.
It’s okay to reschedule that meeting.
It’s okay to change your mind.

Your health is more important than fulfilling every micro-obligation.
And honestly, most people will understand / not care if you push a meeting or engagement back with a good excuse.

3 Cull your information diet

Your brain needs time to process.
If you’re pouring information in faster than it can process,
that uncomfortable “fizzing” feeling is basically burnout waiting to happen.

We live in a world where it’s practically impossible to be bored.
You have unlimited entertainment and education at your fingertips the moment your brain hints at being idle.
Social media is the obvious one.
These feeds are an endless desert of sand pouring into your brain,
spawning spontaneous thoughts and tangents and ideas in your mind.

But there are ways you can improve your focus.

If you’re getting fat, your partner may kindly tell you to lay off the donuts.
Quit social media for a while along with other “fatty” information.
Delete the app from your phone. you can reinstall it later.
But don’t stop there.

When your mind is already simmering, even good information becomes another burden.

Those 12 books on your nightstand? Put them away.
Those 7 podcasts in your queue? Delete them.
Consider not putting on during every break or pause in your schedule.

Make time to just sit with nothing and leave space for your mind to settle.

4 Schedule something completely new

Take a day for yourself.
Not to catch up on work – to do something entirely different.

If you live in the country, visit the city.
If you live in the city, escape to nature.

Try an activity you’ve never done before.
Novel experiences reset your brain in ways that rest alone cannot.

The Burnout Paradox

Here’s the thing about burnout that nobody tells you: it’s not about working too much. It’s about working on the wrong things.

I’ve had 60-hour weeks that left me energized because I was doing meaningful work.
And I’ve had 20-hour weeks that destroyed me because I was doing soul-sucking tasks that didn’t align with my purpose.

The key isn’t necessarily to work less (though that helps).
It’s to change up your daily routine to address which kind of burnout you’re experiencing.

It’s to recognize that your mental and physical health are your most valuable business assets.
Without them, nothing else matters.

My back will heal with time, heat, and liberal doses of complaining to my wife.
But burnout takes longer to recover from – and leaves deeper scars.
There’s no one off fix.

But you can spot the signs, address it now, and stay on top of it to avoid it happening in future.
Treat these tools like brushing your teeth:
a good-health habit to be maintained.

What if I’m already suffering from burnout?

Don’t blame yourself, burnout is an occupational hazard for creatives and marketing freelancers.
I’ve put together a free guide with 6 practical methods to deal with burnout before it deals with you.
Grab it here, as always it’s free for freelancers: