Reclaiming Your Energy: Prevent Burnout

A guide to managing and alleviating burnout without changing jobs

Burnout is the deep tiredness, in body, mind and mood, that builds when stress goes on too long and the demands keep outrunning what you have to give. (HelpGuide has a fuller overview.) While leaving a stressful job is one option, it is entirely possible to alleviate burnout and reclaim your wellbeing right where you are. This guide outlines actionable strategies to help you reset.

1. Radical Boundary Setting

Burnout thrives when the line between work and personal life blurs. Re-establishing boundaries is the most critical first step to recovery.

Time Boundaries

• Define strict hours: Set a hard start and stop time for your workday, and communicate these clearly to your team.
• The “Transition Ritual”: Create a 5-minute routine to signal the end of the day (e.g., closing all browser tabs, writing tomorrow’s to-do list, or taking a short walk).
• Reclaim your lunch: Step away from your workspace for at least 30 minutes. Do not eat at your desk.

Digital Boundaries

• Notification detox: Turn off email and messaging notifications on your phone after your defined work hours.
• Asynchronous mindset: Recognize that not every message requires an immediate response. Batch your email checking to 3–4 specific times a day.
• Out of Office (OOO): Use OOO auto-responders during focus times, not just when you are on vacation.

2. Job Crafting

Job crafting is the process of proactively redesigning your current job to better align with your motives, strengths, and passions, thereby making it more engaging and less draining.

• Task Crafting: Can you alter the scope or nature of your tasks? Speak with your manager about delegating a particularly draining task, or taking on a small project that genuinely excites you.
• Relational Crafting: Change how, when, or with whom you interact. Limit unnecessary meetings, politely decline optional cross-functional groups that drain you, and intentionally spend more time with colleagues who energize and support you.
• Cognitive Crafting: Shift your mindset about your daily work. Focus on the core purpose of your role and how it helps others, rather than getting lost in the administrative friction.

The “Good Enough” Principle

Perfectionism is a primary driver of burnout. Challenge yourself to identify which tasks require 100% excellence, and which tasks simply need to be “good enough” (80%). Reallocate the energy you save toward your own recovery.

3. Managing Your Sphere of Control

A significant source of workplace exhaustion comes from expending emotional energy on things you cannot change. Refocusing your attention preserves your energy.

• The Circle of Concern: Things you worry about but cannot change (company policy, the economy, a coworker’s mood).
• The Circle of Control: Things you have direct power over (your reactions, your boundaries, how you spend your breaks).

Step back and evaluate: When you feel stressed about a work situation, ask yourself: “Is this within my direct control?”

If it is not, practice acknowledging the frustration and deliberately shifting your focus back to actions you can take (e.g., logging off on time, taking a deep breath, executing your specific task). Release the responsibility for systemic issues that belong to management.

4. Active Restoration Outside of Work

When we are burnt out, our instinct is often to collapse on the couch and scroll on our phones (passive rest). While sometimes necessary, active restoration is required to truly replenish your depleted energy reserves.

• Engage your senses: Do something that pulls you entirely out of your “work brain.” Cook a new meal, work in the garden, paint, or play a musical instrument.
• Physical separation: Change your physical environment after work. Go for a 15-minute walk outside immediately after logging off or leaving the building.
• Prioritize sleep hygiene: Burnout disrupts sleep, and lack of sleep worsens burnout. Create a wind-down routine 60 minutes before bed that involves zero screens.

Your Weekly Action Plan

Recovery doesn’t happen overnight. Choose just 2–3 small, realistic changes to implement this week. Write them down below to solidify your commitment to yourself.

Category	My Commitment for This Week
Boundary I will set (e.g., “I will close my laptop at 5:30 PM”)
Task I will adjust or delegate (e.g., “Ask to move the weekly status update to email”)
Restorative activity (e.g., “Walk outside for 15 minutes at lunch”)

From Sarah Maldonado, LPC. More handouts · Print this page

This handout is for education and self-care, not medical advice or a substitute for counseling. If you are in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency.