The message was brief. “Dr. Waldron, would you call Mrs. Jones back about her labs?”
I was puzzled. I didn’t remember ordering any labs for Mrs. Jones. As far as I could remember, she was seeing a specialist and just had surgery for colon cancer. Maybe they had ordered the labs. But if so, they certainly should have followed up on them.
I opened the chart and looked in the lab section. Quickly my eye went to my patient’s kidney function and stopped. Her kidney function had declined a huge amount in the last week.
I called her and then her kidney specialist. Over the next half hour, her situation came into view. Because of her colon surgery, she was losing a lot of fluid, enough that she couldn’t keep up. This, in turn, was making her kidney function a lot worse, along with dropping her potassium level.
To take care of it, she would need IV fluids – once or twice a week – to keep up with the fluids she was losing. Without that, her kidneys would shut down completely.
In a sense, Mrs. Jones was dealing with kidney burnout—a situation where they were putting out more than they were taking in and suffering as a result.
As I was thinking about this, my mind went to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is “Dead” because it has such a high level of minerals and salts that very few, other than a few microorganisms, can survive.
The reason for this is that the Dead Sea has no outlet. The Jordan River drains into it, carrying fresh water, and then sits in a basin. Some of the water evaporates, and what remains are the salts and minerals in the water.
Over the thousands of years since the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, this inland body of water has become one of the saltiest places on earth. It is a body of water that is neither useful for irrigation nor a place where plants and animals can thrive.
Neither situation is healthy, yet this is exactly how most people live their lives, typically gravitating towards one pole or the other. Either they fill their schedule to the maximum, leaving no time for quiet reflection, or they resist any efforts to get them to invest their time and talents and avoid these sorts of activities.
I want to spend a little time thinking about burnout. What causes it, and how we can avoid it?
Everyone has Limits
I Samuel 30 tells the story of David returning to Ziklag. Upon his arrival, he discovered, to his dismay, that the Amalekites had invaded Philistine territory, burned the town, and taken captive all the people who were present.
David and his men had been gone three days and were already tired from their journey to and from Aphek, where King Agag had mustered his forces. Despite this and their anguish at the loss of their family members and material possessions, David consulted God and decided to pursue to the Amalekites out into the desert.
They had only gone as far as the Brook Besor when a third of his men gave up. Scripture tells us they were “too faint” to cross the brook. They were physically and mentally exhausted. Even if they had been able to hold things together for another day, they would be useless in battle.
So it was that David left them behind and continued to pursue the Amalekites, eventually defeating them with the four hundred men who were able to persevere. Here, we come to the interesting part. The men who had won the victory looked down on the men who had been faint. They said those faint-hearted men could have their families back, but all the spoil would be reserved for those who had won the victory.
In response, David said, “Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.” (I Samuel 30:23,24)
David did not wish to penalize those who had tried but did not have the strength to make it through to the final battle.
Perhaps this speaks of the grace we ought to extend to others who don’t have the strength or energy to continue for a season. Maybe it lets us know that we should extend that same grace to ourselves.
What is Burnout?
There are different definitions for burnout, but it all comes down to a state of physical, mental, or emotional exhaustion related to too much stress over an extended period of time. We tend to think of this stress as work-related. There are too many projects going on at once, not enough help, or an employer who has high expectations.
Stress is stress, and it all adds up. Even if work isn’t stressful, if you have a newborn baby at home, a family member with dementia, or many church responsibilities, you can still reach the place where you have little left to give.
It is as though you are in a vehicle traveling 90 mph, and you push the accelerator a little harder, and nothing happens. In response, you push the gas pedal even harder, and a screeching noise comes from the engine. Suddenly, the dashboard lights up with funny lights, and the car starts to slow down.
The question is, how can we avoid burnout and what should we do if we realize that we are heading towards it?
Understanding Burnout
Burnout leads to both physical and emotional depletion. The problem with burnout is that even if a particular stressor causes it – say, a situation at work or a family health problem – it will affect numerous other relationships.
People dealing with burnout often exhibit symptoms consistent with depression and anxiety. They may become withdrawn, lack motivation to be involved with church and family activities, or get angry quicker than people who are not dealing with burnout.
There is even a suggestion that burnout can lead to the weakening of our immune systems. This could lead to more colds and viral infections.
Identify Early Signs
We need to know ourselves. There are signs that other people can see in our lives and how we relate to others that we don’t necessarily identify as a problem.
People who are on the edge of burnout feel hopeless. They may hide it from their coworkers, but often, their family members realize that something is wrong. You used to have a sunny disposition, and now you are discouraged, not only about the present but also the future.
You might lack motivation and have low energy levels. In a sense, you are going through the motions and just doing enough to get by – both at work and in your home. This is likely related to your feelings of hopelessness.
You may find that you are more irritable than you used to be. Little things bother or aggravate you, and you find yourself smothering angry retorts.
It is important to realize that you are heading down this road for several reasons. First, you are not the only one who suffers when you are burned out. Your family must deal with you and your “grumpiness.” Also, the longer you go without taking care of things, the harder it is to get back to a place of balance.
As a physician, I see people all the time who “didn’t have time” to get something taken care of until they could no longer ignore it. At this point, it will take a major procedure to set things right. It would have been easier to correct if they came in with the first symptom.
Make a Priority List
Everything in our life has a priority level. People who do not prioritize end up feeling scattered as they try to do everything at once. This is a recipe for disaster. To me, it makes sense to divide our tasks into four buckets:
- Things that need to be done relatively quickly
- Things that need to be done but can wait a bit
- Things that we’d like to do, but don’t need to
- Things that we should let go of.
Here might be a good place to mention that just because something needs to be done does not mean you need to do it. Sometimes, someone in your home or workplace could help with one of the tasks on your to-do list.
Once we have made our priority list, we need to do something about it. If you simply assign a priority to everything in your life but continue to try to do everything, it won’t help your situation at all.
The point of this exercise is to figure out what things you can eliminate from your schedule, so you have more space to breathe.
Make First Things First
One of the things that happens when we are overwhelmed is that we stop doing self-care. We grab unhealthy food on the go, stop spending time in prayer and devotions, and quit exercising.
Doing these things takes time, and that is exactly what we think we don’t have when we are living on the margins of our energy. Self-care is extremely important but often gets assigned a priority of zero and is seldom included in a day’s activity.
As we begin to replenish our spiritual nourishment, we must also make sure we take care of our physical health.
Take Time Apart
After feeding the multitudes, Mark 6:46 tells of Jesus, “And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.” Even Jesus had times when He needed to be alone without distractions.
It is easy to focus on the prayer aspect of this passage, and that is important, but let's focus on the solitary aspect of this experience. Jesus even left His closest followers behind during this time of seeking God’s face.
There are times when we need to escape from the pressure of human interactions and find a peaceful place where we can be alone.
Put Down Technology
Part of making rest time truly restful is to eliminate sources of distraction. Phones and electronic tablets are exactly the types of things that can keep our minds from achieving the peace (shalom) that we both desire and need.
Digital burnout is a new term that is being used to describe people who feel apathetic and exhausted from spending hours each day staring at screens. Many workers spend seven or eight hours a day looking at computer screens and then get even more screen time after work.
The funny thing is that the most productive workers are often people who use old-fashioned things like paper calendars and leave phones out of meetings. As wonderful as phones are, they are also immensely distracting for most of us.
So often, we have time away that is simply not restful. The reason is that we continue to receive texts and emails and can still access social media. If you are not someone who can put his phone away and ignore it (it takes a lot of willpower to do this), then leave your phone in another room and create some distance. This will seem stressful, but we can focus on recharging ourselves by creating a screen-free zone.
Build Breaks into Your Day
There is a certain amount of work that must be done each day, and it often feels like too much for the allotted 24 hours. There is certainly no time to stop, stretch, and take a five-minute walk, or at least that's what we tell ourselves.
In reality, if you take a five-minute break every few hours to do something non-work related, you will come back refreshed and more ready to deal with the problems of the day.
Do something healthy during this time. Take a short walk or eat an apple. Chowing down a bag of potato chips or eating a couple candy bars is not likely to produce the desired results.
The problem is often with our own expectations. People who struggle with burnout often have extremely high personal standards and get frustrated when they not measure up to that standard.
Be Intentional about Rest
One of the messages of the Old Testament was the importance of the Sabbath. I have heard many people argue that in the New Testament period, we no longer need to practice the Sabbath. Didn’t Paul say that one day was like the other? Didn’t Jesus defend His disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath?
Regardless of what you believe about the importance of keeping the Sabbath, it is still important that we take time to rest. This is the real message that Jesus was conveying when He said that the “Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
Rest is not simply sleeping till 10 am and then doing nothing. Rest is actively making decisions that will help us recharge our depleted batteries. Go out for breakfast with a friend, take a hike, or take a good book and go somewhere without cell service and focus on something other than situations that are depleting you.
Jesus understood the human need for rest, this is why He told His disciples “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). This time of rest would give them energy for their next time of ministry.
Don’t Buy into Myths
People tell themselves all sorts of lies that can lead to pushing themselves too hard. I’ll list a few of them and some thoughts about each one.
“I’m the only one who can do this task.” This feels true. The other people in our home or workplace are not helping us the way we wish that they would. Sometimes, it simply feels easier to do the task ourselves rather than spend time teaching someone else how to do it. We need to remember that if we died, the people around us would figure out how to get things done. We can assign them some of the tasks today before we die.
“If I just get this job done today, tomorrow will be easier.” I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but each day has 24 hours, and somehow, they always get filled up. I have given up the idea that there is a time in my life coming up soon that will have nothing on the schedule. If a rest comes, it will come because I have made an effort to clear my schedule, not because by some random occurrence, one day, I happen to not have a single task in it.
“God will never give me more than I can handle.” God has promised many things. He has promised that when there is a temptation, He will give us an opportunity to escape it (I Corinthians 10:13). He has also promised that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). I do not read anywhere in Scripture that God will keep us from overfilling our lives. He has simply promised that He will give us opportunity to take a different path and will walk beside us on our way.
So often the heavy load we carry is because other people, or even we, ourselves, have put too many things on our task list. Suppose I choose to put too many patients on my schedule and I am feeling exhausted. In that case, it is time for me to take responsibility for what I have done, rather than claiming a mythical promise that God will keep me from overwhelming myself.
“These are all good things that I am doing.” Doctors face this a lot. We want to squeeze one more patient into the schedule and stay just a little later to answer another message because we feel responsible. We hate to think that someone might need to go to the Emergency Department because we did not take care of them when they needed help.
Just because the things in your schedule are “good things” that benefit other people and are building the kingdom, does not mean that you don’t need to cut back in one area or another. If you are feeling emotionally depleted, it is probably time to remove a few items from your to-do list.
Conclusion
There are other things that could be mentioned. Getting support from someone else, meditating on Scripture, and even taking a vacation are all things that can help.
When I read about some of the famous preachers of the past, I see in some of their lives a roller coaster. They pushed themselves to the max, got involved in large numbers of projects, and then had an emotional breakdown. They would take some time off and, a month or two later, launch back into the same activities. This cycle continued for their whole ministry.
Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light (Matt, 11:28-30). If we are at the point of exhaustion, we need to consider whether we have Jesus’ yoke or if we are laboring under the burden of our own creation.
Jesus knows our limitations. He wants us to have balance, living in such a way that we not only have strength for today but also for tomorrow, next week, and next year – till He comes again.
