At 23, I thought having a stable corporate job meant I was doing everything right. But over time, I started feeling trapped, not by the work itself, but by the isolation that came with it. Working from home sounded convenient at first, but soon it became my entire world.
Most days, I had zero real conversations — just work calls, meetings, and silence. In my free time, I used to scroll social media and compare my life to others’ “perfect” moments. I stopped going out, had no consistent exercise, and rarely saw sunlight. Slowly, my energy, motivation, and happiness began to fade.
That’s when I realized I wasn’t just tired, but I was emotionally burned out. And I knew I wasn’t alone. Many of us are silently fighting this same battle behind screens. Here’s how I recognized it and began healing from it.
What’s causing this emotional burnout
I was so happy when I found out that I had landed a work-from-home job. In the beginning, it felt like a dream, so much comfort and flexibility.
I was glad that I didn’t have to go to the office every day, which could save all that travel time.
But slowly, I realized that I am lacking human interaction, which is very important.
Not everyone faces the same problem I do, but in my case, I don’t have any friends to hang out with after logging out, and I’m usually alone. Here are the main causes that I started noticing, which I would like to share.
- Lack of Human Connection: I spent most of the time in my room staring at the screen, either a laptop or a mobile, or a TV, and speaking to people on work calls, not a real interaction. There’s a big difference between professional conversations and genuine ones — and that’s exactly what I was missing. It made me feel even more isolated. Whenever I saw people spending time with their friends or loved ones, I couldn’t help but wish for the same — to have someone to talk to, to hang out with, or simply to share a moment. But that never really happened for me. I’ve never had any real friends, and that loneliness started weighing on me deeply. In this blog, I want to share how I began dealing with it — and I hope you’ll read through till the end.
- No clear work-life balance: When home became office, it’s difficult to switch off from work. Even after the completion of work, I used to go and do office work on the laptop, because I had nothing to do. It just impacted my health. The line between my professional and personal work just slowly disappeared.
- Lack of physical activity and sunlight: Since most of the time I stayed indoors, I didn’t go out frequently, was not exposed to sunlight, no fresh air, which affected my sleep cycle, mood swings, and caused low energy levels.
- Constant Comparison on Social Media: After work, I just scrolled social media, when we see someone’s perfect life, we feel more alone, and we overthink about our lives, which can impact on mental health.
After realizing these causes, I started to understand how easily emotional burnout could sneak into everyday life. It didn’t happen overnight — it built up slowly, in small, unnoticed ways. The tiredness, the loss of motivation, the constant urge to escape into screens — they all began blending into my routine. That’s when I started noticing a few clear signs within myself that something wasn’t right.
Signs I Noticed in Myself
- Constant Fatigue: Even after full sleep, I used to feel tired; it was not a physical tiredness, I just used to feel that my mind was not rested properly.
- Loss of interest: Everything that once I loved or was interested in or was once excited about, I felt they were no longer enjoyable. Everything started to feel dull and repetitive.
- Emotional Numbness: I was not happy or sad-I just felt blank, like I had no emotions, I felt like I wasn’t attached to anything.
- Social Withdrawal: I stopped reaching out to people and even ignored calls sometimes. The thought of talking to anyone felt exhausting, even though I secretly craved connection.
- Irritation and Overthinking: Small things started to bother me more than usual. I overthought every conversation, every mistake, and every post I saw online.
How I started to heal
Healing is not easy; it won’t happen overnight. You have to be patient to see the results. I have followed a few steps to heal myself.
- I started going for a walk every morning, and was exposed to a few minutes of sunlight.
- I reduced screentime before going to bed and replaced it with journaling and reading.
- I reminded myself that connection is important. I began conversations with the family member or a colleague.
- I learnt to be kind to myself, instead of comparing myself with others, and to focus on my improvement instead of perfection.
- I started to create something for myself. I started writing a blog to express my feelings and thoughts, and connect with others who are going through the same kind of emotions.
- I started to take care of my physical health, started eating healthy, and started exercising. I started making schedules for what to eat, what to do. These things made me busy, and when I saw changes in my body, I felt motivated, and it helped me to think positively.
Conclusion: Healing Is Slow, But Possible
As I look over the past few months, I realized that emotional burnout doesn’t disappear overnight. It heals through small moments of awareness, effort, and kindness towards yourself. I started to heal when I started going out journaling, and maintained consistency in following the steps. Consistency is the key to the result. I believed that and worked on that daily.
Healing isn’t about becoming a different person; it’s about returning to yourself.
So, if you’re reading this and resonating with my story, remember: you’re not alone. Start small. Heal slowly. You deserve a life that feels light again.
Disclaimer
This is just my personal experience and not medical advice.