The steps for healing from burnout are different from what is required to prevent burnout. When you are burnt out and experiencing chronic stress, the part of your brain responsible for executive functioning actually loses neurons. This means that you may struggle more with memory loss and keeping up with all of the day to day responsibilities that come with adulting. In today’s #straightfromcait episode, Cait Donovan, host and burnout speaker, shares her tips for healing a burnt out brain.

In order to heal your brain and regain executive functioning skills, you should aim to make progress slowly. You cannot undo 20 years of chronic stress in three weeks and expect your brain to function like new. It takes time to heal and it is best to start small. No one can completely focus and be productive when they are hungry, thirsty, tired, or need to use the bathroom. Even just fixing things like your sleep patterns, making it a habit to eat regularly, and letting yourself pee when you need to are huge for building a healthy foundation.

Chronic stress often leads to burnout, and burnout actively shrinks the part of your brain that handles executive functioning. Healing your brain will take time and intentionality. Start small with activities like brain games on your phone to help improve memory and devoting time to foundational self-care. 

Quotes

• “The steps that are required to heal from burnout are different than those that are needed to prevent burnout.” (1:46-1:52 | Cait)

• “The part of your brain that is responsible for executive functioning loses neurons with chronic stress.” (3:21-3:26 | Cait)

• “You're gonna make the most progress with your burnout recovery when you are aiming for things that are just slightly out of your current ability. What I see happening all the time in burnout recovery is that people want to rewind 20 years of stress and damage in three weeks and get back functions that are too many steps ahead of where they are.” (5:31-5:53 | Cait) 

• “If you do everything for children, then that interferes with their executive functioning development because they're not being asked to task their brain to learn a new thing.” (8:46-8:56 | Cait)

• “Executive functioning skills are at their best when we are at our best.” (9:23-9:28 | Cait) 

• “We never expect a young child or a student to be able to grow and learn when they're tired and hungry. Why are you expecting yourself to?” (10:13-10:22 | Cait)

Links 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKGrmY8OSHM (Non Sleep Deep Rest)

https://insighttimer.com

https://instagram.com/themetabolismmakeover

Connect with Cait:

Cait Donovan is a keynote speaker, author, and host of FRIED: The Burnout Podcast, specializing in burnout, mis/match, and sustainable performance at work. She partners with corporate leaders, teams, and professional associations through keynotes, workshops, and leadership sessions that treat burnout as data, not failure, to help organizations reduce burnout without blame or shame and build healthier, high performing cultures.

To bring Cait to your organization or event, book an inquiry call here: https://bit.ly/bookcait

Learn more about Cait’s speaking work: https://www.caitdonovan.com/speaking

Short on time? Watch this 3-min video: https://bit.ly/caitdreel2025

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm