Subtle Signs of Exhaustion We Ignore Every Day – Exclusive Excerpt

Discover the subtle signs of exhaustion and how burnout affects your decisions, energy, and daily well-being. Find simple solutions for better balance.

On days when everything feels hard to handle, even though the tasks are simple, we are dealing with accumulated fatigue, which ends up affecting how anyone manages decisions. Exhaustion does not appear suddenly; it builds over time and can go unnoticed. Emily Austen, the author of the book Smarter, recently published by ap! (ACT and Politon), discusses in her book, SMARTER: 10 Lessons for a More Productive and Less Stressful Life, the slow onset of burnout and how it affects everyday life.

The excerpt below invites the reader to do a simple exercise and answer a few questions that will help identify burnout and discover ways to eliminate it.

Do you never feel like socializing? Do you find it hard to decide what to eat for breakfast or what to wear?

Exhaustion caused by decision fatigue means we do not care enough to make any kind of decision that could lead to major changes, such as moving to another country or suddenly quitting our job.

Have you recently behaved like an angry, irrational person for no real reason?

This is a clear sign that you are dealing with exhaustion. You no longer have any tolerance for anything, and your actions are based on panic and adrenaline rather than logic and analysis. This is often a way of counterbalancing the numbness you feel, you need more intense actions to generate stimulation, which can then lead to reckless or completely uncharacteristic behavior.

Do you generally feel tired?

If you constantly feel tired, no matter how much you sleep, if your body aches, you have headaches, a general sense of fatigue, and a feeling of heaviness throughout your body, this is a clear sign that your body is not functioning at full capacity.

Do you often find yourself panicking and obsessively worrying about minor things, sometimes things you may not have even done?

A constant state of stress or anxiety is not normal. It becomes overwhelming, destructive, and exhausting, and you end up no longer being able to “see the forest for the trees.” Nausea, restless sleep, crying, and loss of appetite are all symptoms of prolonged worry and anxiety.

EXHAUSTION (BURNOUT)

I’m sorry to tell you this, but if you answered “yes” to at least two of the questions above, it is very likely that you are experiencing exhaustion. Exhaustion makes mornings feel impossible.

So, what are you going to do about it? Keep going until you collapse? Stop altogether? Post your score on TikTok? Sure, all of these might work in the short term, but let’s talk about smarter, long-term ways of coping with the world we live in. We don’t have to swing between extremes. In this book, I hope to share what I’ve learned over more than a decade of struggling with exhaustion, to save you from spending tens of thousands of pounds by presenting both good (and bad!) solutions I’ve invested in, and to offer you something that resembles hope. A light to show you that it doesn’t have to be this hard. That, in fact, we all have more options when it comes to outcomes than we are told. You are strong, brave, and capable. Self-acceptance is essential for success; it is how you will be able to harness your potential without losing your inner light.

One of the most important ways to identify and avoid exhaustion is to clearly understand the tendencies and patterns in your routine. Just as a food journal provides an honest and revealing perspective on our eating habits, the same methodology works for other habits as well. Given that habits are defined as behaviors that are repeated regularly and tend to occur subconsciously, this is an important starting point. You need to clearly know what habits you currently have so that later you can positively influence them with awareness.

Try using this simple template and start by noting your habits as they occur throughout the day, along with the time they happen.

Recognizing exhaustion early is the first step toward a more balanced life. Learn to observe your habits and prevent burnout before it overwhelms you.

ap! (ACT and Politon) is one of the most important players in the Romanian book market. Specializing in high-quality nonfiction, the publishing house has brought to the local market a series of authors who have made waves worldwide, such as Tim Ferriss, Robin Sharma, Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Steve Harvey, Gino Wickman, and many others. At the same time, ap! (ACT and Politon) is the Romanian publisher under whose imprint the largest number of audiobooks have been released locally. Launched in 2014, the publishing house has brought over 300 audiobook titles to Romania, many of them bestsellers that have traveled around the world and changed thousands of lives.

ap! (ACT and Politon) believes in continuous development and brings Romanian readers titles that cover a wide range of topics, from personal and professional development to business, entrepreneurship, spirituality, and wellbeing. The publisher’s titles are available in both classic format and as eBooks, MP3s, or audiobooks, allowing readers to enjoy reading at any moment in their lives.