Prevent Career Burnout Before It's Too Late

According to Psychology Today, burnout is defined as “a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.” Though we tend to associate it with work, burnout has the potential to adversely affect other areas of life, including parenting, romantic relationships, friendships, and physical well-being. Common signs include cynicism, depression, and anxiety; physical symptoms such as fatigue, heartburn, headaches, and gastrointestinal issues; and behavioral challenges like substance abuse and overeating. Some estimates suggest that close to three-quarters (73.4%) of the current workforce currently experience burnout.

In their book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, Amelia Nagoski and Emily Nagoski point out that burnout is part of a biological cycle that our body experiences as a form of stress. They go on to point out that it is a condition that is hard to reverse once we're fully in its throes.

Luckily, burnout isn't an inevitable affliction. It's a solvable problem, and a proactive strategy is your best defense.

1. Set Realistic, Burnout-Proof Goals

Whether it's working too many hours, taking on too many responsibilities, or aiming for perfection, it's essential to understand that you can only do so much. Setting realistic goals is an essential preventative measure against burnout because it grounds professional ambition in achievable effort, directly counteracting the cycle of overwhelm. Unrealistic or vaguely defined goals create a perpetual state of insufficiency; you are constantly chasing an endpoint that moves faster than your capacity, leading to chronic stress and the draining feeling of never being "done."

Make a to-do list and prioritize tasks based on their level of importance and establish objectives that are specific, measurable, and time-bound (SMART). This ensures that your effort translates into clear wins, providing the necessary psychological rewards and momentum. This strategic approach also protects your cognitive resources by limiting scope creep and validating incremental progress, allowing you to sustain focus and productivity without sacrificing your well-being. If it still feels like “too much,” it may be time to delegate and/or talk to your boss and colleagues about your workload. (See Tip #3.)

2. Create a Work-Life Balance

It's easy to get caught up in the demands of work, but it's essential to take care of yourself outside of the office. This can mean setting aside time for hobbies, spending time with friends and family, or engaging in physical activity. Make sure you're taking breaks throughout the day to recharge and refocus. Consider adjusting your work calendar or schedule vacation time to prioritize your mental and physical health. Even a weekend day trip to a nearby beach town or charming hamlet can do wonders for recharging your psyche.

3. Communicate with Your Boss and Colleagues:

If you're feeling overwhelmed, it's essential to have open and honest conversations with your boss and colleagues. Explain how you're feeling and discuss ways to alleviate some of the stress. This could include adjusting your workload, delegating tasks, or taking time off.Communicate proactive concerns about impending burnout by framing the conversation around sustainability and resource management, not failure. Instead of declaring, "I'm burned out," initiate a brief, objective conversation with your boss, stating:

"I'm noticing that my current workload, specifically the [mention specific project or volume], is starting to affect my focus and ability to maintain the high quality I expect. Before this becomes a bottleneck, I'd like to discuss prioritizing my current tasks to ensure I can continue delivering on the most critical goals between now and the end of the month."

This approach positions you as a strategic partner managing risk and seeking solutions, allowing you to collaboratively re-prioritize, delegate, or adjust timelines before the situation becomes a crisis.

4. Practice Routine Self-Care

Self-care is not a reward to be earned. It is the foundational maintenance to ensure professional capacity. Burnout is fundamentally an issue of depletion, occurring when we consistently operate at a deficit by giving more energy than we replenish. Strategic self-care—which encompasses consistent rest, balanced nutrition, mental downtime, and physical activity—functions as mandatory recharging time. By prioritizing these non-negotiable activities, you protect your core energy reserves and maintain the cognitive and emotional fuel required for complex clinical and professional work, making self-care the most effective form of long-term performance management.

Self-care is crucial to preventing burnout. This could include activities such as yoga, meditation, journaling, or reading – anything that takes your mind off work and makes you feel most like yourself. Take time for yourself, and engage in activities that bring you joy and relaxation. Make sure to get enough sleep, eat well, and exercise regularly. These activities will not only help you feel refreshed and rejuvenated, but they will also improve your overall well-being.

5. Take Time Off

Taking intentional time off isn't a luxury; it's a fundamental necessity for preventing professional burnout and ensuring sustained high performance. When the brain is locked into a chronic state of stress, cognitive functions—like decision-making, creativity, and emotional regulation—decline sharply. Time away, even a long weekend, allows the nervous system to truly downshift from the constant fight-or-flight mode, enabling a full cognitive reset. This strategic detachment replenishes the mental and emotional reserves necessary for complex problem-solving and focus, ensuring that when you return, you are operating from a place of genuine energy and effectiveness, rather than simply dragging depleted resources across the finish line.

Don’t have any PTO coming your way? You may not even need a full vacation to de-stress. Implement mini-breaks throughout your workday. Stand up, stretch, walk away from your screen, grab a glass of water, or simply close your eyes for two minutes. These "micro-resets" actually do prevent accumulations of fatigue.

6. Seek Support

Burnout thrives in isolation, making the act of seeking support a critical proactive strategy. When we try to manage overwhelming professional demands alone, our perspective narrows, and the perceived size of the burden magnifies. Seeking external support—whether through a therapist, a mentor, or simply a trusted peer—provides the essential perspective and validation needed to re-evaluate the crisis. Support systems help distribute the emotional and cognitive load, offer actionable strategies for setting boundaries, and clarify what is yours to hold and what needs to be delegated or dropped. Viewing this as a strategic intervention, rather than a concession of weakness, ensures you build the necessary infrastructure to protect your mental health and guarantee long-term professional sustainability.

Though burnout is often whispered in moments tinged with shame and guilt, the reality is that everyone is at risk, regardless of their profession or level of seniority. Characterized by physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion, a lack of motivation, and decreased productivity, burnout is, it's crucial to recognize burnout as it approaches and take proactive steps to avoid it from becoming a chronic issue.

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Kristin Schuchman, MSW is a career counselor, business coach, and author based in Portland, Oregon who works with creative and mission-driven professionals. She writes resumes and coaches individuals seeking support for career indecision, next steps, work re-entry, advancement, starting a business, and work-life-balance. She offers a free 30-minute Zoom or phone session and presently works with clients in-person in Portland and remotely. You can find her books The DIY Website Workbook and Jump Start: How to redirect a career that has stalled, lost direction or reached a crossroads on Amazon.