I work in sales and the hours are brutal. By Friday I'm completely fried. But I also don't want to do anything on weekends - not even stuff with my kids that I normally enjoy. I feel guilty about it. My dad said I just need to "stop complaining and work harder" but something feels off. Should I actually talk to someone about this or am I just being soft?
Sales job will wreck you if you don't have strict boundaries. But if you're not even WANTING to step away from work mode on weekends, that's your body/brain telling you something's not right. Please actually see someone about this, not just assume it'll pass.
I had the exact same pattern a couple years ago - completely fried Friday nights but also just... nothing appealed to me. Turned out I had depression on top of burnout. Started medication and therapy and things shifted pretty quick. You don't have to white-knuckle through this.
The fact that you don't want to do stuff with your kids that you normally enjoy is the bigger red flag than just being tired. That's depression territory, not just burnout. Worth talking to a doctor about.
The guilt about not wanting to do stuff with your kids is real but it's also a symptom, not a character flaw. Fix the underlying thing and the guilt and the motivation usually come back together.
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Burnout usually means you're fried from work but you feel better once you're actually doing something fun. Depression means you don't feel better even when you're doing stuff you love. Sounds more like the second one based on what you described.