How do I know if I'm experiencing burnout or just having a bad week?

There's a real difference, and it matters. A bad week feels heavy in the moment—you're tired, maybe frustrated—but you can usually trace it to something specific. You had three late nights, a difficult conversation, or a project that consumed you. Burnout is quieter and longer. It's when that heaviness doesn't lift, when you wake up and the exhaustion is already there, before the day has even asked anything of you. You stop recognizing yourself in your own life. Small things feel impossible. You might notice you're cynical about things you once cared about, or you're moving through obligations without feeling connected to them. The psychological marker is this: burnout isn't just fatigue—it's emotional depletion paired with distance from what matters to you. If you've noticed this pattern for more than a few weeks, that's worth taking seriously. It's not weakness; it's your inner life signaling that something needs to change. Start by naming what's actually happening, without judgment. Then ask yourself: What would it look like to reclaim even one small thing that feels like *me*? Sometimes the path forward begins there.