Burnout doesn’t start when somebody goes off sick.
It starts much earlier.
It can start with the person who keeps saying yes.
The manager who hasn’t taken a proper lunch break for weeks.
The employee checking emails at 10pm because they don’t want to look uncommitted.
The high performer taking on another project because “it’ll be quicker if I just do it myself.”
Or the person who knows they’re exhausted but keeps telling themselves:
“I’ll slow down when things calm down.”
Except things rarely calm down by themselves.
Here’s the uncomfortable bit:
Your workplace may be contributing to your burnout. But some of your own behaviours might be contributing to it too.
If we’re serious about preventing burnout at work, we need to look at both.
Waiting until somebody breaks and then offering support isn’t burnout prevention.
It’s crisis management.
The workplace burnout problem
According to the Health and Safety Executive, 964,000 workers in Great Britain were suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2024/25, resulting in 22.1 million lost working days. (hse.gov.uk)
The CIPD’s 2025 Health and Wellbeing at Work report found average sickness absence had risen to 9.4 days per employee per year – the highest level in more than 15 years. Mental ill health was the leading cause of long-term absence. (cipd.org)
But those figures don’t tell us everything.
What about the people who are still at work?
The exhausted employee sitting in the meeting.
The manager struggling to concentrate.
The person making mistakes they wouldn’t normally make.
The high performer still hitting every target but with nothing left when they get home.
Someone doesn’t have to be off sick for stress and burnout risk to be affecting how they work.
That’s why we need to get better at spotting what happens before absence.
What actually causes burnout?
The World Health Organisation describes burnout as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that hasn’t been successfully managed.
That’s useful, but I believe burnout prevention needs a wider conversation.
If we only talk about burnout as something the workplace does to us, we remove something incredibly important:
Our own agency.
Workplaces absolutely have responsibilities.
Unreasonable workloads, poor leadership, lack of control, constant urgency, unrealistic expectations and psychologically unsafe cultures cannot be fixed by telling employees to become more resilient.
But we also need to examine our own behaviour.
Do you struggle to say no?
Answer emails at night when nobody has asked you to?
Take responsibility for things that aren’t yours?
Skip breaks?
Feel guilty when you’re not being productive?
Constantly need to prove yourself?
Burnout prevention isn’t about blame. It’s about responsibility.
And responsibility can sit in more than one place.
The early signs of burnout don’t always look like burnout
We’re often waiting for the obvious signs: exhaustion, withdrawal, absence, poor performance or someone finally admitting they can’t cope.
But sometimes the early warning signs look surprisingly positive:
Commitment. Ambition. Reliability. Going the extra mile. Always being available.
That’s what makes them easy to miss.
Instead of waiting to ask:
“Am I burnt out?”
Ask:
“What’s changed?”
Are you sleeping differently?
More irritable?
Thinking about work in bed?
Cancelling things you normally enjoy?
Relying on caffeine to get through the afternoon?
Making mistakes you wouldn’t normally make?
Working longer because your concentration isn’t what it used to be?
One bad week doesn’t mean you’re burning out.
Look for patterns and changes from your normal.
The earlier you recognise them, the more choices you have about what happens next.
Spot the signs before burnout spots you
This is why I created my Burnout Prevention Scale™ Workbook.
I wanted to move beyond generic lists of burnout symptoms and help people identify their own warning signs earlier.
It’s not another score to worry about.
It’s a reason to ask:
What has changed?
What am I tolerating now that I wasn’t six months ago?
What am I repeatedly overriding?
What needs attention now?
I’ve also created a shorter Burnout Risk Checklist if you want a quicker starting point.
Download the free Burnout Prevention Scale™ Workbook
Use the Burnout Risk Checklist
Don’t wait until you’re struggling to start paying attention.
Being able to cope doesn’t mean you should keep coping
Think about the person every organisation relies upon.
They get results. They don’t complain. They solve problems.
So what happens?
We give them another one.
And another.
Eventually, competence becomes punishment.
The reward for coping shouldn’t be more to cope with.
Managers need to recognise this, but high performers need to recognise it in themselves too.
Ask:
“Am I doing this because it genuinely needs doing – or because saying no makes me uncomfortable?”
The answer matters.
Your boundaries matter too
A boundary isn’t:
“Nobody can email me after 6pm.”
It might be:
“You can email me whenever you want. I won’t necessarily answer until tomorrow.”
Leaders have enormous influence here.
If you’re emailing your team at 10pm, answering messages on holiday and eating lunch at your desk, don’t be surprised when others think that’s expected.
But employees should also ask:
Who decided every message needed an immediate response?
Sometimes the answer genuinely is your employer.
Sometimes it’s you.
Knowing which one you’re dealing with changes the solution.
Stop asking employees if they’re OK
“Are you OK?”
“I’m fine.”
Conversation over.
Ask something useful instead:
- What’s taking most of your energy at the moment?
- What feels harder than it should right now?
- What could we take off your plate?
- Is there anything you’re struggling to say no to?
And then do something with the answer.
Psychological safety isn’t telling employees your door is always open.
It’s what happens when somebody actually walks through it.
If you’re too busy to take 60 seconds, that’s the problem
We need to stop treating recovery as something that only happens after work.
A systematic review and meta-analysis involving 2,335 participants found microbreaks produced statistically significant improvements in vigour and reductions in fatigue. It did not find a statistically significant overall improvement in performance, which is an important distinction. (journals.plos.org)
A 60-second Movement Snack won’t fix a toxic culture or impossible workload.
But it can interrupt prolonged work and make small moments of recovery part of the working day.
That’s the thinking behind my Performance Microbreak Platform™.
Employees choose what they need – perhaps energy, focus, calm, stress reduction, fewer aches and pains or a post-meeting reset – and receive a targeted 60-second Movement Snack.
Organisations can see aggregated pre- and post-microbreak data, giving them insight into how their people are feeling rather than waiting for sickness absence to tell them there’s a problem.
The movement is the delivery mechanism. The product is how your people work for the next hour.
Discover the Performance Microbreak Platform™
Working longer isn’t the same as working better
Exhaustion is not evidence of commitment.
WHO and International Labour Organisation research found that working 55 hours or more per week, compared with 35-40 hours, was associated with an estimated 35% higher risk of stroke and 17% higher risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease. (who.int)
Deadlines happen. Emergencies happen. Busy periods happen.
The problem is when the exception becomes the operating model.
If everyone is permanently firefighting, the solution isn’t to make them better firefighters.
Find out why everything keeps catching fire.
Why I care so deeply about burnout prevention
I don’t talk about burnout because I learnt about it from a textbook.
I know what pushing through looks like because I did it.
During my legal career, I became very good at ignoring the warning signs. I kept going, kept proving myself and kept putting everything else ahead of what I needed.
Until eventually I burnt out.
Years later, a serious cycling accident changed my life again. My recovery forced me to rebuild physically and mentally, and rethink what resilience actually meant.
I used to think resilience was about how much I could withstand.
I don’t anymore.
Resilience is recognising when something needs to change – and being prepared to change it.
I’ve been the person saying “I’m fine” when my behaviour was telling a different story.
That’s why I want people and organisations to notice those changes earlier, while there are still choices available.
What can organisations do to prevent burnout?
Don’t wait for absence data to tell you there’s a problem.
Look upstream. Pay attention to workload, overtime, mistakes, turnover, engagement and behaviour changes.
Train managers to notice change. They don’t need to diagnose burnout. They need to know how to start a conversation.
Challenge unnecessary urgency. Not everything becomes urgent because somebody puts URGENT in the subject line.
Make recovery normal. Lunch breaks, movement, annual leave and switching off shouldn’t require bravery.
Look at leadership behaviour. Your wellbeing policy means very little if leaders contradict it.
Give employees tools as well as permission. Personal responsibility needs to be part of prevention too.
And measure whether your interventions actually work.
The CIPD found that while 64% of organisations were taking steps to identify or reduce workplace stress, only 50% believed their efforts were effective. (cipd.org)
Having a wellbeing initiative and improving wellbeing aren’t the same thing.
Try my 60-second burnout prevention challenge
Right now:
STOP.
Notice how you’re actually feeling.
THINK.
Ask yourself:
What do I need to perform well today?
ACT.
Do one thing.
Move for 60 seconds. Set a boundary. Ask for help. Challenge a deadline. Take your lunch break. Turn off a notification. Say no. Have the conversation you’ve been avoiding.
One minute won’t prevent burnout.
But it can be enough to notice you’re heading in the wrong direction.
Frequently Asked Questions About Burnout at Work
What are the early warning signs of burnout?
Don’t only look for exhaustion. Look for change. Sleep, patience, concentration, motivation, behaviour and your ability to switch off can all provide clues. One difficult week isn’t burnout. A developing pattern deserves attention.
Who is responsible for preventing burnout?
Both organisations and individuals. Employers need to address preventable workplace risks. Individuals need to examine the behaviours and boundaries within their control. Responsibility isn’t blame.
Can a 60-second Movement Snack prevent burnout?
Not by itself. But research suggests microbreaks can reduce fatigue and increase vigour. The bigger opportunity is making short periods of movement and recovery a normal part of the working day.
How can managers help prevent burnout?
Notice changes. Ask better questions. Review workload. Challenge unnecessary urgency. Respect boundaries. Model healthy behaviour. And when someone tells you they’re struggling, do something with that information.
How do I know if I’m at risk of burnout?
Start with:
“What’s changed in me?”
Look for patterns rather than waiting for a crisis. My Burnout Prevention Scale™ and Burnout Risk Checklist can help you do that.
Don’t wait for burnout to give you permission to change
Burnout prevention isn’t about removing every stressful situation from life.
It’s about recognising when pressure is becoming unsustainable and acting while you still have choices.
Sometimes the workplace needs to change.
Sometimes we need to change.
Quite often, it’s both.
Spot the signs before burnout spots you.
Then do something about them.
