the 3 types of burnout.

The last few weeks of the year are always the most exhausting, but the past two weeks were especially tough. I used to think burnout was simple: You work too much, you get tired, you need a break.

But in his book, Feel Good Productivity, the author Ali Abdaal points out that not all burnout is created equal. He refers to 3 different types of burnout, and knowing which one you're experiencing changes the way you can get past it.

The first is overexertion. This is the obvious one. You're doing too much. Your to-do list is too long. You're saying yes to everything. Even the things you love start to feel like a burden because there's just too much of it all.

The second is depletion. This one's sneaky. Your workload might actually be fine, but you're not recharging properly. You're scrolling instead of resting. You're filling your downtime with noise instead of actually letting your brain recover. You're robbing yourself of the rest you need by overstimulating your mind when it needs to recharge.

The third is misalignment. This is the worst one. You're working toward something that doesn't align with what actually matters to you. The hours might be reasonable. The work might not be hard. But it feels empty because deep down, you know this isn't what you want to be doing.

Here's what hit me during the past few days: If you're not accounting for what exactly is causing your burnout, it becomes very difficult to fix it. If you're depleted, taking on less work won't help. If you're misaligned, no amount of vacation will make the work feel meaningful.

So this week, if you're feeling that end-of-year burnout, ask yourself which kind of tired you actually are. Are you doing too much? Not resting right? Or working toward something that doesn't matter to you?

See you next Sunday,

Arteri