Most people are familiar with the concept or feeling of burnout, and it’s something I hear about frequently in my work. Interestingly, I most often hear it from people who, from the outside, seem to be doing exceptionally well. They are scientists, physicians, engineers, technologists, researchers, executives, and other highly capable professionals. They are smart, conscientious, accomplished, and used to solving difficult problems. They are often the people others rely on when something important needs to get done. And that can be part of the problem.

When you are accustomed to performing at a high level, your instinct when things become overwhelming may be to work harder, become more efficient, push through, or simply find a way to handle it. You may even be very good at doing exactly that—for a surprisingly long time. But burnout isn't necessarily a sign that you aren't resilient enough. Sometimes it's a sign that the demands have exceeded your available resources for too long.

The World Health Organization defines burnout as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions: exhaustion, increased mental distance or cynicism toward one's job, and reduced professional efficacy. Importantly, WHO distinguishes burnout from a medical condition and defines it specifically in the occupational context.

This distinction is important because burnout can sometimes feel like the result of overwhelming demands and stress across multiple areas of life. If you’re experiencing burnout more broadly, there are a variety of approaches that may help, and these concerns are best addressed with the support of a therapist or physician. This article, however, will focus specifically on how to make better use of your time both at work and outside of work to reduce work-related stress.

Why "Just Take a Vacation" Isn't Enough

A lot of advice about burnout starts with some version of: Take a vacation. Get some rest. Practice self-care. These are true. Getting sleep, taking time away from work, and self-care absolutely matter, but they’re often not the solutions. This is exemplified when you return from vacation, feel fantastic for about 24 hours, and then the exhaustion comes rushing back.

A vacation can give you a break from the demands, but it doesn't necessarily change the demands waiting for you when you return. If the underlying problem is an unsustainable workload, unclear priorities, insufficient resources, constant interruptions, a lack of control, or a role that has gradually expanded beyond what one person can reasonably do, a week away won't solve it.

This is especially important for high-functioning professionals, who often try to overcome this through intelligence, effort, and sheer determination. But eventually, it comes to a head. The real questions are:

• How can I change the work conditions that are continually depleting me?

• How can I recover better?

What you do at work - Change the equation

Stop thinking your job is to do everything you're asked to do

One of the biggest mindset shifts you can make is to recognize that your job is not to say yes to every request. Your job is to determine what matters most. High performers often accumulate responsibilities because they are capable of handling them. Someone asks, "Can you take this on?" You think, I probably can. And because you can, you do. Over time, however, your role can become a collection of everything you've agreed to do rather than a deliberate set of priorities.

Instead, ask:

• What are the few things that have the greatest impact?

• What is uniquely mine to do?

• What can someone else do?

• What can be delayed?

• What can be done adequately rather than perfectly?

• What should I stop doing altogether?

This is where prioritization becomes a form of burnout prevention. You don't need to do less of everything. You need to spend more of your limited energy on the things that matter most. This is also a time to ask, “Am I working at the right level?” If you’re being told to be more strategic, less transactional, and to get out of the weeds, you’re not working at the right level. This is a sign that you need to develop and delegate.

Delegate before you are desperate

Delegation is often presented as a productivity technique. For people at risk of burnout, it is also a sustainability strategy. If you are the person who always knows how to do something fastest, it can feel easier to do it yourself. But every time you do that, you are reinforcing your own dependence on doing the work. Delegation means accepting that someone else may do something differently—or even less efficiently at first—in order to build their capability and create capacity for you. For help on how to delegate, here is an article and worksheet to get you started.

Reframe your job description

Many people don't actually have the job they were hired to do anymore. Their responsibilities have accumulated over time. A new project here. A new stakeholder there. A team grows. A process changes. Someone leaves. A new initiative launches. And suddenly the role that once felt manageable has become a job that would require three people. If this sounds familiar, it may be time to renegotiate the job itself.

Start by identifying the work that is both high-impact and high-value for you. What are your most critical and impactful deliverables to the organization? Hopefully there’s overlap with what you want to be spending time on. Also worth considering is how you want to grow and how to play to your strengths? Then look at everything else.

Some responsibilities may need to be delegated. Some may need to be deprioritized. Some may need additional resources. And some may simply need to stop. This is a conversation to have with your manager—not as, "I'm overwhelmed and can't do this anymore," but as: "If these are our highest priorities, here's where I think I can have the greatest impact. To do that well, I think we need to rethink how we're allocating the rest of the work."

That is a leadership conversation and may feel awkward at first. But these conversations demonstrate to your boss that you’re thinking at a higher level, understand prioritization and decision making, and are willing to partner with them to get the most important work delivered efficiently.

Learn to negotiate instead of automatically saying yes

You don’t have to say yes to every request. Sometimes the best option is to negotiate a trade. Other times you may need to negotiate delaying timelines to drive more important projects forward. Sometimes you just need to say no. Ultimately this is an exercise in prioritization and this is some of the most important work as a leader.

Create a weekly "work smarter" block

If you’re already in the hole, you need to make a plan to get out of it. And if you’re at the edge, you need to avoid falling in. This is going to require dedicated thinking and time. My suggestion is to dedicate two hours a week to figuring this out. No excuses, no interruptions, no distractions. If you never create time to improve the system, you will spend all of your time operating and putting out the fires inside it. So set aside a small, recurring block of time to ask: How could I make this easier next month than it is today?

Use the time to:

• automate a repetitive process

• eliminate unnecessary meetings

• create a template

• clarify a confusing process

• document something someone else could take over

• develop someone on your team so you can delegate more

• identify a recurring problem and solve it at the source

• or simply remove something that doesn't need to be done

Think of this as maintenance for your career. The goal isn't to squeeze more productivity out of yourself. It's to reduce the amount of unnecessary effort required to do your job. As you become more efficient, you can use the time for continued improvement whether that be on developing a vision or strategy for your team, learning a new skill that will make you more eligible for the next step in your career, or continuing to prioritize and be forward thinking.

What do to outside of work - Actually recover

For professionals in technical fields, work can become more than something you do. It can become part of who you are. That identity can be incredibly meaningful. But when your work becomes too closely intertwined with your identity, stepping away from it can become surprisingly difficult.

You may technically be off the clock while still checking email, thinking about the experiment that didn't work, replaying a difficult conversation, planning tomorrow, or mentally solving a problem. Your body may be at home. Your brain is still at work. Recovery requires creating some separation.

Don't just stop working. Do something that helps you recover

There is a difference between not working and recovering. Scrolling through your phone for two hours may technically be leisure. But if you finish feeling just as mentally depleted, it probably wasn't particularly restorative. Recovery looks different for everyone.

It might be:

• walking your dog

• exercising

• cooking

• gardening

• painting

• playing an instrument

• dancing

• reading

• spending time with friends

• being outside

• birdwatching

• having a cup of tea and doing absolutely nothing

The important question isn't, "Is this a healthy activity?" It's: "Do I feel different afterward?" Pay attention to what actually changes your state.

Start with your body

When you're highly stressed, trying to think your way out of stress isn't always the most effective place to start. Sometimes the easiest way to help your mind settle is to start with your body. Movement can be particularly useful, but it doesn't have to mean an intense workout. If your normal exercise leaves you feeling energized and restored, keep doing it. But if you're already depleted and your "recovery" workout leaves you more exhausted, that's useful information too.

On some days, recovery might look like strength training or a run. On others, it might be a walk, stretching, yoga, swimming, or simply getting outside. The goal isn't to add another performance metric to your life. The goal is to help your nervous system shift out of work mode.

Give your brain something different to do

People who spend their days solving complex problems can find it difficult to simply stop thinking. Sometimes what helps is not an absence of stimulation, but a different kind of stimulation.

• If you spend all day analyzing data, try something tactile.

• If you spend all day in meetings, spend time outside.

• If your work is highly cognitive, try something physical.

• If your work is highly social, spend some time alone.

This is one reason hobbies can be so valuable. They give your brain a different problem to solve—or, sometimes, no problem to solve at all.

Experiment with mindfulness

You don't have to become a person who meditates for 30 minutes every morning. A mindfulness practice can be much simpler.

Try five minutes of:

• focusing on your breathing

• doing a body scan

• noticing what you can see, hear, and feel

• practicing gratitude

• or simply sitting without trying to accomplish anything

For people who spend much of their day anticipating, analyzing, planning, and solving, that can be a surprisingly useful skill. If you’re new to this, there are numerous apps that you can use. I like Insight Timer - it’s free, has thousands of tracks, and let’s you customize based on the time you have and what you want to focus on.

Delegate at home, too

Burnout doesn't necessarily stop when you leave the office. For many people—especially parents and caregivers—the second shift begins when the workday ends. There may be meals to prepare, children to manage, errands to run, appointments to schedule, household responsibilities to coordinate, and an endless stream of decisions to make.

If you are trying to prevent burnout, look at this workload with the same lens you use at work.

• What can you delegate?

• What can you simplify?

• What can you stop doing?

• What standards can be relaxed?

• What responsibilities can be shared?

You don't need to be the project manager for every part of your household. And if you are part of a family or partnership, "helping" isn't the same as sharing responsibility. The goal is to create a sustainable system, not to have one person continue carrying the mental load while occasionally receiving assistance.

If you're interested in exploring this in more depth, here are some additional resources on burnout:

• Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

• Rise by Patty Azzarello

• Resilient by Rick Hanson

• Being Well Podcast, Burnout: A Practical Guide for Normal People