Reframing Burnout: 7 Perspective Shifts

Reframing how we understand, address, and prevent burnout.

Reviewed by Tyler Woods

Key points

• Burnout isn’t a sign of personal weakness or failure but a signal for change.
• Broader organizational and systemic factors can contribute to burnout.
• Success and well-being can coexist when we build sustainable recovery practices into work and daily life.

While stress is a natural and typically productive response to our environments, burnout is the result of prolonged exposure to stressors with no active recovery or release. Left unchecked and unrelieved, chronic stress can evolve into burnout, but what if the way we’ve been thinking about burnout is part of the problem? What if burnout is not just an individual problem but a reflection of the environments, values, and systems we are living and working within? Perhaps it’s time to challenge common assumptions about burnout and reimagine what it means to live and work sustainably.

Here are seven ideas that can help shift the perspective on burnout:

1. Burnout shouldn’t have to be the price we pay for success. For many high-performing professionals, it is almost as if burnout is considered an inevitable part of the job. In an article for the Harvard Business Review, burnout researcher Kandi Wiens writes that “burnout has become the new baseline in many work environments.” The unfortunate truth is that many people now expect to eventually feel burned out, however, success shouldn’t come at the cost of our health and well-being. This calls for a need to build supportive environments and sustainable practices where success and well-being can co-exist.

2. Burnout is a signal we need to slow down, reassess, and reprioritize. In this fast-paced and ever-evolving work landscape, we are often urged to do more, be more, and excel no matter the cost. In many ways, hustle culture is still praised and celebrated as the only way to get ahead. We see exhaustion being worn like a badge of honour. And all too often, symptoms of burnout—like chronic fatigue, cynicism, and emotional detachment—are only addressed once they become severe, making it harder to recover. Being self-aware and listening to what your body is telling you can help mitigate long-term consequences. You can explore some of the common signs and symptoms in my post, “5 Stages of Occupational Burnout: Assessing Where You Are.”

3. Burnout is the curse of the strong. Many people think of burnout as a sign of personal weakness or failure. But the reality is that burnout is not a skill deficit. It is not just about the work or a lack of boundaries. Burnout is the curse of the strong. It strikes the hardest workers in every room. Those people who are diligent. Those who care deeply. People who experience burnout are trying to carry the weight of the world with their two hands and rarely ask for help. The people who don’t care, those who cut corners, or those who are okay with others carrying the load—they are not burning out.

4. Time spent outside of our values contributes to burnout. In my work with thousands of people all around the world, I have come to learn that it is not just the volume and time in work that leads to burnout; it is the time spent outside of our values that is also a contributing factor. When we spend time living and working outside our values, it erodes our soul. We feel disconnected from the things that matter most to us. For example, maybe you value being a present parent, yet you find yourself setting your children up on their devices every evening so you can just finish up a “few” emails. Or maybe you want to take your elderly parent to doctor’s appointments, but you can’t because your schedule doesn’t have any flexibility. When this happens over and over again, this low-grade resentment can start to build, making us more susceptible to picking up all of the irritants around us. When we live in alignment with our values, we are able to guard ourselves against burnout while creating lives that fulfill us.

5. Active recovery practices are needed to support our well-being. When we rely on quick fixes, we only delay the onset or inevitable return of burnout because we are not addressing the root causes. So often, we see people stepping away from work—whether it’s for days, weeks, or months—to get the rest and recovery they need to bring them back to baseline, yet once they reintegrate back into work, they regress into the state of burnout they were in before.

This highlights the importance of having sustainable micro practices built into our lives and routines to keep us well every day, not just when we feel exhausted and depleted. We need to find environments, behaviours, and habits that allow us to recover and cope in real time. In my post, “10 Active Recovery Practices to Keep You Well While Working,” I share some research-informed practices that can keep us well while we do the good work. These practices that support work-life integration and our need to rest and recharge serve not only to prevent burnout but also to cultivate our highest and most authentic potential.

6. Burnout isn’t just about personal self-care; it’s also an organizational responsibility. When it comes to addressing burnout, the focus is often placed on the individual. How can we “fix” them? What can they do “better”? The reality is that burnout is not only about the individual; it can be a sign that systemic changes are needed within an organization. We see factors like excessive workloads, poor management, and lack of resources and support contributing to burnout levels.

Telling people that personal resiliency and self-care will simply remedy the situation is not the solution. In my post, “6 Ways to Prevent Your High-Performing Team From Burning Out,” I suggest ways teams and organizations can address six key areas to create an environment that supports the emotional health and psychological safety of employees.

7. Burnout isn’t limited to the workplace. While occupational burnout is very real, accepting it as the only definition can limit its scope and impact on our health and well-being. For many people, the life that we navigate outside of work is often more complicated than the tasks within our professional practices. Our personal responsibilities, such as caregiving or managing household demands, are also accompanied by a tremendous amount of invisible and emotional labour. Non-work burnout is an equally valid experience, yet it is not uncommon for people experiencing it to blame themselves for their challenges and hide these struggles from others.

Final Thoughts

As burnout remains a complex and multifaceted challenge, it’s important that we rally around our colleagues, teammates, and loved ones experiencing it. I hope some of these perspectives spark meaningful change in our conversations about burnout and help us move toward more systemic and sustainable approaches to preventing and managing burnout.

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