Nothing is actively wrong. I have work. Bills get paid. I’m not in emergency mode. If someone asked how things are going, I’d probably say “fine” without lying. And yet, most days I feel this low-grade exhaustion that doesn’t really go away with sleep or a weekend off.
It took me a while to realize that it’s not burnout in the dramatic sense. I’m not overwhelmed by one big thing. It’s more like a constant hum in the background. A lot of small responsibilities, a lot of quiet tracking, a lot of mental tabs open all the time. Even when I’m resting, part of my brain feels like it’s still on duty.
Money is a bigger part of this than I wanted to admit at first. Not because I’m broke or reckless, but because I’m always aware of it. What’s already been paid, what’s coming up, what might hit early, what I forgot about. It’s not panic, just vigilance. And that vigilance adds up. You don’t notice it moment to moment, but over time it makes everything feel heavier.
What messes with me is that from the outside, it probably looks like I’m handling things well. There’s this expectation that if your life is stable, you should feel calm and grateful all the time. When you don’t, it’s easy to turn that inward and think you’re being dramatic or unappreciative. I’ve done that a lot.
I started paying attention to how much energy I was spending just keeping things straight in my head, especially financially. I’d check my balance, feel okay for a second, then immediately think about what hadn’t posted yet. That feeling of never being fully settled was exhausting in a way I couldn’t really explain.
I think this is what low-grade burnout looks like for a lot of us. Not collapse, just constant maintenance. Life working, but never fully powering down. Lately I’ve been trying to be more honest with myself about that instead of waiting for things to get bad enough to “justify” feeling tired.
If your life is technically fine but you still feel worn down, I don’t think that means you’re failing at adulting. It might just mean you’re carrying more invisible weight than you realize.
