Mo Ford is an experienced coach, facilitator and consultant. She is the founder of Live and Breathe Coaching, which offers services supporting individuals, groups and organisations to communicate with courage, create spaces where people can be their authentic selves, and prevent burnout.
How can you tell if you’re heading for burnout, and what can you do about it? Burnout is a complex and systemic issue that can’t be solved just by implementing a few quick fixes. The good news is that it’s possible to build our awareness of what leads to burnout and identify the tools, routines, and boundaries that might help us prevent and recover from it. Taking time out to reflect on what we need here and now, whether those needs are being met, and how we can offer our nervous systems a reboot when we’re feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and stuck can be incredibly helpful. In this article, I describe some warning signs that may indicate you are heading toward burnout and offer six steps to help you hit the reset button.
What is burnout?
In today's fast-paced world, burnout has become increasingly common, yet it often sneaks up on us gradually. Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion resulting from prolonged exposure to high levels of stress and overwhelm, often linked to demanding work expectations and schedules. Unlike regular tiredness, burnout doesn’t resolve with a good night’s sleep or a weekend off; it requires deeper intervention, such as resetting our routines and re-regulating our Autonomic Nervous System.
It’s important to note that burnout isn’t an individual failing; it’s a systemic issue rooted in social and working structures that weren’t designed with human well-being in mind. Many workplace cultures prioritize productivity over well-being, creating environments where burnout becomes almost inevitable. However, while we work toward broader systemic change, there are several practical steps we can take to prevent and address burnout.
Recognising the warning signs
The earlier we catch burnout, the easier it can be to address. Key signs of burnout include:
Tiredness that doesn't improve with rest
Difficulty initiating or completing tasks, even ones you usually manage easily (Executive Dysfunction)
Increased irritability with colleagues, loved ones, or situations you typically handle well
Starting to feel disconnected or less invested in work or activities you’d usually care about
Experiencing more intense emotional responses than usual
A growing sense of being overwhelmed by your workload
Questioning your purpose
Developing a sense of anxiety or shame about falling behind with tasks
Understanding your nervous system's role
Our Autonomic Nervous System plays a crucial role in how we respond to stress and burnout. This system can get stuck in one of two states when we’re experiencing burnout: hyperarousal (fight-or-flight) or hypoarousal (freeze or shutdown). In hyperarousal, we might feel anxious, restless, and unable to switch off. In hypoarousal, we might feel numb, disconnected, and unable to get motivated. There are two branches of the Autonomic Nervous System: the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems. The Sympathetic branch is responsible for our “fight-or-flight” response, while the Parasympathetic branch activates our body's “rest and digest” mode. We can learn to stimulate a Parasympathetic Nervous System response by building routines that incorporate simple tools and exercises, allowing our systems to reset. This isn’t about avoiding or suppressing uncomfortable feelings but rather about overriding an Autonomic Nervous System stuck in overdrive or shut down due to a perceived threat, one we’re more likely to handle when we’re in a grounded, balanced state.
Hitting the reset button: Practical steps
1. Assess and adjust work-life balance
Take time to honestly evaluate your current work-life balance. Are you consistently working beyond your contracted hours? Are you able to maintain boundaries between work and personal time? Identify areas where changes are needed and begin working towards them, even if in small steps. You might want to think about your working environment, especially if you work from home – are you able to create separation between your working and relaxation spaces? You may need to get creative with this if space or resources are limited. Consider whether you need support to make changes to your work-life balance. Who might you need to ask to advocate for you, offer accountability, or decide what to do if you’re stuck in a chronically unhealthy working environment?
2. Learn diaphragmatic breathing
Deep, diaphragmatic breathing is a powerful tool for stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system. Practice breathing deeply into your belly for just a few minutes several times daily. It may sound simple, but getting good diaphragmatic breath techniques into your muscle memory when you don’t need them will help you tap into them quickly later if you’re feeling overwhelmed.
To get started with diaphragmatic breathing, put one hand on your abdomen, a little below the belly button. Take a deep breath in, and imagine you’re blowing up a balloon in your belly as you inhale – you’re aiming to feel your abdomen expand as you breathe in and relax as you breathe out (you might want to imagine gently letting the air out of the balloon as you exhale). Notice what your shoulders are doing - if they’re coming up to meet your ears when you breathe in, you’re working too hard! Encourage your shoulders to stay relaxed and fairly still as you breathe. If you get frustrated and find yourself breathing too hard, stop and reset. Try breathing in, very gently blowing out your breath until your lungs feel totally empty, and then letting the breath come back in when it needs to. Take a moment to ground yourself (try pushing your feet into the floor if you can), and start again.
3. Build your support network
Don't try to navigate burnout alone. Reach out to trusted friends, family members, or colleagues. Sometimes, simply sharing your experience can help reduce its power, and others might offer valuable perspectives or practical support. Working with a coach, mentor, or therapist can also help you to develop new perspectives and strategies to support your well-being and work-life balance. If you try taking support from one professional or a particular modality and find that it doesn’t work for you, try not to be discouraged. The important thing with professional support is the relationship. Some people won’t be the right fit for you, but others will be (it’s a bit like dating!). Don’t give up too soon.
4. Connect with nature
Spending time outdoors has been shown to reduce stress and improve wellbeing. Whether it's a lunch break in a nearby park, a weekend walk, a holiday, or a retreat, prioritize time in nature as part of your reset strategy. When we’re feeling tired and having trouble getting started (especially in the winter months and/or when working from home), it can be helpful to get plenty of natural light. Getting outside in the mornings can be a great kick-start to your day, even if it’s only for a few minutes.
5. Reflect on purpose and goals
Burnout often disconnects us from our sense of purpose. Take time to reflect on your goals and what brings meaning to your work and life. Sometimes, our goals, plans, and circumstances aren’t serving us anymore, though we may not have had the opportunity to slow down enough to spend time thinking and feeling about what the most up-to-date version of ourselves might need. Are your current circumstances aligned with who you are and what you need now? What adjustments might help restore this alignment? What’s in your sphere of influence, and what might you need to take support with in order to make changes?
6. Create your resource list
Develop a personalised list of resources that help you feel calm, energised, joyful, or connected. This might include activities (like walking or painting), people (friends who make you laugh), places (a favorite café), or practices (meditation or journalling). You may also want to include suggestions of your favourite sensory inputs (things you like to look at, smell, listen to, touch and taste). Keep this list readily available for times when you're feeling overwhelmed and can't think clearly about what might help. You may even want to put together a kit with some physical resources or reminders of things that you find calming, inspiring or energising.
Moving forward
Recovering from burnout is a process, not an event. Be patient with yourself as you implement these changes. While the tips above can help prevent and address burnout, they're not a cure-all or a way to address systemic issues. Developing routines and resources that help you to prevent burnout tends to be an easier process than recovery and can help to offer time and space to reflect on whether your needs are being met by your current circumstances. If and when you have the capacity, you may want to consider how you might contribute to conversations about workplace culture and advocate for structures that better support wellbeing.
By recognising the warning signs early and taking proactive steps to reset, we can begin to break free from a cycle of burnout and create healthier ways of working and living.
Remember, you’re not alone in tackling overwhelm and preventing burnout. Reach out to your support networks, and if you’re looking for some reflection and strategising time with a coach, please get in touch with me. I offer individual coaching, group workshops, and retreats. You can book a free exploratory call with me here.
Read more from Mo Ford
Mo Ford, Embodied Communication Coach and Facilitator
Mo Ford is an Embodied Communication coach, facilitator and consultant. She has two decades of experience in supporting people to overcome complex challenges, move past trauma, and express themselves authentically. Mo experienced a well-being and communication crisis in her twenties, having significantly injured her voice. The support and cutting-edge tools she encountered while recovering from this led her to train as a practitioner in performance psychology, embodied communication, breathwork, and other trauma-skilled, somatic approaches. Mo works with individual clients, groups and organisations with a social mission, offering support to help them re-regulate their nervous systems, communicate with courage and prevent burnout.
