Being stressed is a common part of life. At some point, everyone feels stressed. However, not everyone experiences burnout. Burnout is best defined as physical and/or mental exhaustion due to overwork and/or stress.

Often times, in the mix of things, it's difficult to distinguish between stress and burnout when you're pushing yourself to the limits in every way possible. If you find yourself sleeping more than usual, getting sick easier, having less motivation to complete tasks, and having a more pessimistic outlook on life, you may be experiencing burnout.

When stress becomes burn out, you find yourself feeling trapped and less motivated to push yourself to get things done that you need to get done. Feeling stressed doesn't influence your ability to get those tasks done but burnout often does.

Burnout is often caused by lack of recognition in school or the workplace or underestimation of abilities and/or workload.

Burnout is most common for those who claim to be perfectionists and who expect too much of themselves.

Burnout is also caused by lack of satisfaction at the workplace or in academia.

When stress becomes burn out, it's imperative that you take the proper steps to get out of it before it influences your life and work or schoolwork. Common self-care strategies that can be used to get yourself out of burnout include taking a short break from the activity you have to complete, separating yourself from those in the workplace or on campus, and just giving yourself a free moment to breathe.

Maintaining proper nutrition is important in reducing stress and maintaining self-care. It is also important to strive in finding satisfaction in your current place in life, in the workplace, and in academia. Push yourself but learn the difference between being a little stressed and being burnt out.