Rupert starts his day pinned under a mountain of calls, maneuvering through impossible deadlines and battling the gnawing dread of not being able to prove himself. The yearly bonus is just around the corner, and Rupert grapples with the signs of his body yielding—excessive mind fog, sore knuckles, and heavy eye bags. “Do more in less time,” his mind races.
Across his desk in the office, the seat has been unoccupied for the 7th time this month. Just as the workload is about to surge for the team, Samantha is nowhere to be found. Last week, she had created quite a spectacle when she lashed out at one of her subordinates, Matthew. “I know I shouldn’t have done it, I don’t know what got into me,” she confided in a friend afterwards. “All he does is complain, and I just can’t listen to anyone talking about problems anymore. Nothing seems to be going right, and I just want to sleep for days on end.”
Rupert and Samantha are classic examples of individuals experiencing burnout, with Rupert in its infancy phase and Samantha in an extreme and prolonged burnout phase.
It often starts with a fire, a peak in ambition, which, when channeled into unrealistic demands, or if left unrewarded, morphs into the dragon we keep feeding.
It is important to note that there is no causal relationship between passion and burnout. Being ambitious and striving for difficult goals is wonderful. It is the unachievable, unreasonable, and unrelenting ones that wear us down.
Before we even proceed with reading through the rest of the blog, let’s do a quick self-evaluation. Take this test by Hedepy Online Therapy and understand where you lie on the burnout syndrome spectrum. Read through the questions and, without giving much thought, answer with the response category that you most closely relate to.
Back already? If your test results raised any red flags, this might be a good time to schedule a 1:1 with your manager and discuss these symptoms, any ambiguous expectations, and the support you need to manage your workload more sustainably. If, however, the test results show no signs of burnout, brilliant! Keep taking good care of yourself, set healthy boundaries at work, and be on the lookout for any of these symptoms materializing.
According to a 2022 report from the American Psychological Association:
Considering the hybrid/remote shift that many organizations have adopted since the pandemic, it's natural to wonder: shouldn’t flexibility help reduce burnout?
On paper, yes. But in reality, when working remotely, the boundaries between work and life are prone to blur, with employees working beyond their stipulated working hours or taking calls during their personal time. Expectations grow murkier, and the absence of social connection leaves many people emotionally untethered. Add in the pressure to prove that you are actually working, and suddenly, flexibility begins to feel like a trap rather than a perk.
Let’s also talk about our relationship with digital technology. These days, most of us turn to Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube in our free time, not necessarily because we are rested, but because we’re too tired to do anything else. Or we are revenge procrastinating, a small rebellion for not being able to get to our phones during the day.
Going out in nature, picking up a hobby, or spending quality time with loved ones takes energy that many of us no longer have by the end of the day. This constant consumption—often passive and endless—adds to the mental fog. It deepens feelings of fatigue, disconnection, and even depression. Instead of recharging, we stay overstimulated, and the burnout dragon quietly unfolds its wings.
To combat this beast, first and foremost, we have to prevent work from bleeding into our personal lives. Sure, sometimes this is unavoidable. However, it should not be a frequent occurrence.
Credits: Image generated by AI
One of the simplest and most effective ways to keep burnout at bay is to be intentional about rest, not just once in a while, but at different levels. Think of it in three layers: micro, meso, and macro breaks.
Micro breaks are the tiny pauses you take during the day. A five-minute walk, stretching, grabbing a snack, fixing a quick meal, or just stepping away from your screen. They might seem small, but done consistently, they give your brain the space it needs to reset and refocus. Be protective of these little recharge moments.
Meso breaks are breaks you build into your week. An evening off with no work talk, a slow Sunday morning, or time set aside midweek to do something just for you, no productivity attached. These moments help you catch your breath and break the cycle of go-go-go.
Macro breaks are bigger—one solid break every month. Maybe it's a long weekend, a solo day trip, or just a full unplugged day at home. The point is to fully disconnect, rest deeply, and return with a bit more fuel in the tank.
A reliable support system. Someone you can vent to, laugh with, and lean on when things get heavy. It could be a teammate who helps you keep things in perspective or a friend outside of work who reminds you there’s more to life than deadlines. Surround yourself with people who bring calm, not chaos—the kind who don’t let you sweat the small stuff.
If you constantly overexert yourself, don’t highlight unfair treatment, or keep doing work far beyond your role without acknowledgment, resentment will creep in. That initial drive you had? It will fade. And before you know it, you’ll start sounding a lot like the grumpy Samantha you swore you would never become.
Unlike technology, humans are not endlessly scalable, and expecting otherwise is a deeply flawed and cruel notion.
We are built for rhythm, to understand, relate, assimilate, learn, and innovate, not to garble nonstop output.
Growth and creativity need downtime just as much as they need effort.
We have limits, and the sooner we honour them, the better we show up for work and for ourselves.
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