5 Signs You’re Burned Out, Not Lazy

There’s a difference.

Commercially licensed by Eugene Dudarev via Flickr

In my life, I’ve been both extremely lazy and extremely stressed out. Both of these conditions have one common symptom: low productivity.

Contrary to a popular belief, I think laziness does exist. I just don’t think it’s a bad thing. Our entire economy is built on making things more convenient for people. Automobiles and smartphones have enabled us to take care of virtually every human need while sitting on our butts, and we love it.

Burnout, on the other hand, is a silent killer. It disguises itself as laziness. But, under the hood, it’s your brain manually overriding the controls, telling you that you’re doing something very wrong.

Here’s how I distinguish between burnout and laziness.

1. Your energy levels are okay, but you have to force yourself to work

This is the biggest mystery of stress: it doesn’t necessarily deplete you of your energy. At least, in my case.

I’ve had periods of genuine laziness. Life was good, but my energy levels were low. In these cases, I could usually track my lack of energy to some physiological need, like excess sugar or lack of sleep.