Burnout SOS: How to Get Your Life (and Sanity) Back
Burnout. The inevitable hangover of modern ambition. Once upon a time, exhaustion was a badge of honour, a sign that you were so important and so busy that your body had to physically shut down in protest. Now? Now, it’s officially a syndrome, stamped with the World Health Organisation’s seal of disapproval. And if you’re feeling like a used-up shell of your former self, you’re not alone—because, in this economy, who isn’t?
The numbers are bleak: Nine out of ten British adults reported experiencing high or extreme stress last year, according to a survey by the Mental Health Foundation. And let’s be real, that tenth person might just be blissfully unaware of their own stress levels. Burnout doesn’t just mean feeling tired; it comes with a delightful array of symptoms, from fatigue and headaches to digestive drama and immune system meltdowns. If left unchecked, it can graduate into chronic health issues, the kind that make you cancel plans indefinitely and stare at the ceiling wondering if you should take up herbal tea and yoga (you won’t, but it’s a nice thought).
Burnout isn’t just about work—it can creep in through family responsibilities, relationship dramas, or the sheer psychic weight of trying to be a functioning human being. The good news? You can recover. The bad news? It’s going to take more than a face mask and a Sunday-night bath. And with the start of February marking the moment when those well-intentioned resolutions tend to fizzle, there’s no better time to commit to sustainable habits rather than falling back into the cycle that got you here in the first place.
Step one: Admit you’re burnt to a crisp
This is not a phase, babe. You can’t power through it like a hungover brunch shift or pretend it’ll magically vanish once Mercury is out of retrograde. Burnout is your body waving a giant red flag and yelling, Please, for the love of all things holy, stop. Accepting it isn’t admitting defeat; it’s acknowledging reality. You wouldn’t gaslight a friend into thinking they’re fine when they’re clearly drowning—so don’t do it to yourself.
Step two: Become a sleep evangelist
Your body is in urgent maintenance mode, and that means rest—real rest, not just scrolling in bed until 2 a.m. If quitting your job and moving to a Tuscan vineyard isn’t an option (tragic, really), at least give yourself a fighting chance with proper sleep hygiene. Stick to a schedule, dim the screens, and maybe consider a bedtime routine that doesn’t involve a doomscrolling session through world news. Even if you can’t take a career sabbatical, prioritizing sleep will work small miracles on your system.
Step three: Say ‘no’ like you mean it
Burnout thrives on overcommitment. You’ve been saying ‘yes’ to things you don’t even want to do—work projects, social plans, favours for people who wouldn’t return the gesture. Time to Marie Kondo your commitments. If it doesn’t spark joy (or at least feel vaguely tolerable), it’s a no. Write down your actual priorities—like, what do you want?—and start making decisions that align with that list, rather than whatever guilt-trippy obligation lands in your inbox next.
Step four: Rebuild your life, one small habit at a time
When you’re burnt out, the idea of a ‘self-care routine’ feels like a cruel joke. No, you are not about to wake up at 5 a.m. for sunrise journaling and a 10-step skincare regimen. Instead, start with bite-sized improvements. Ten minutes of movement (a casual walk, interpretive dance in your kitchen—your call). A nutritious meal that isn’t just a sad piece of toast. Drinking water that isn’t exclusively in the form of coffee. These are the small rebellions against burnout, and they add up.
Step five: Seek guidance from a professional or mentor
Burnout isn’t something you have to navigate alone. Seeking help from a therapist, career coach, or mentor can provide the guidance and clarity you need to reset. A professional can help you develop coping strategies tailored to your situation, while a mentor—whether at work or in life—can offer perspective and wisdom that prevents you from making the same energy-draining mistakes. Investing in expert advice can be the difference between repeating the burnout cycle and breaking free from it for good.
Step six: Surround yourself with the right people
The company you keep can either pull you deeper into burnout or help lift you out of it. Surrounding yourself with a supportive, uplifting community is key to stepping outside of your stress bubble. Whether it’s joining a new social group like Club Coast, making time for meaningful conversations with old friends, or even just getting out of your own head with people who make you laugh, connection matters.
The final word: Redefine ‘success’
The goal isn’t to ‘bounce back’ to the exhausting hamster wheel that landed you here in the first place. It’s to reimagine a version of success that doesn’t involve running yourself into the ground. Your energy is a non-renewable resource—treat it like the precious commodity it is.
Burnout recovery isn’t about fixing yourself; you were never broken. It’s about learning to live in a way that doesn’t require constant survival mode. And if all else fails? Fake a minor Wi-Fi outage, take the day off, and start again tomorrow.
