‘How long can someone endure burnout?’ Man shares years of constant exhaustion

SINGAPORE: Feeling tired after a long week of work is one thing. Feeling completely drained for years is another.

A man recently took to Reddit to share his experience of living with what he believes is long-term burnout, and he had one question for others who might have gone through something similar: How long can a person actually keep functioning like this?

“I’m actually curious how long someone can endure burnout,” he wrote in a post on the r/asksg subreddit on Thursday (Mar 5). “I have felt burnout from work for a few years already. In fact, it has been so long I’m starting to question myself if I’m even truly burnt out but I know I am because I can’t rest.”

According to the man, even when he takes leave and stays at home, proper rest still feels out of reach. Instead of feeling refreshed, he often ends up feeling “jittery” and “restless,” as though his body simply refuses to slow down.

He also admitted that staying focused at work has become increasingly challenging. To keep himself going throughout the day, he said he relies heavily on snacks and “loads of coffee,” a habit that slowly led to weight gain over time.

Eventually, he said the toll on his health began to worry him. “I realised I’m 40 and I can’t let my health deteriorate too much but I already don’t have time during the day so I end up waking up at 5 a.m. to go to the gym to burn the calories, which makes me even more exhausted,” he wrote.

“You can always make money, but not health and time.”

In the comments section, several Singaporean Redditors urged the man to leave his job. 

One wrote, “If my work starts affecting my sleep and my family life, I’m out of the door, bro. Life’s too short to deplete my health for other people. You can always make money, but not health and time.”

Another chimed in, “Learn to leave the work. Just accept you can’t handle it. I schedule my runs on Friday and Sunday evenings. If weekday, run. My run is a 4 km route plus push-ups and sit-ups because I got reservist. Hope it helps.”

A third commented, “If it’s already affecting your sleep and you don’t have any financial commitments, just leave.”

A fourth added, “If possible, sleep is better than working out if you are lacking rest. Also, aim for less caffeine and stick with 1 cup to improve sleep.”

In other news, a Singaporean woman hired as an HR staff member shared on Reddit that her job scope has significantly expanded in just over four months.

“It honestly feels like I’ve become the saigang person for everything,” she wrote. “I barely have time to actually do HR work anymore.”

Read more: Hired for HR, ended up doing admin? Employee claims job scope quietly expanded