How do I recover from burnout quickly?
And what if it’s already gone too far?
How do I recover from severe burnout?
These are two questions I’ve been asked recently — and interestingly, the answer to both is the same.
Slowly. Gently. Sustainably.
I know that probably isn’t the answer you were hoping for.
Because when I experienced my first episode of burnout back in 2010, I was asking exactly the same question:
How can I fix this quickly, before anyone notices, so I can get back to normal?
I wanted to recover just enough to pick up the same impossible load, return to the same patterns, meet the same expectations and carry on being the person I thought everyone needed me to be.
And that thinking didn’t get me out of burnout.
It helped take me deeper into it.
Eventually, what had begun as burnout became severe burnout — and my body made absolutely certain that I could no longer keep living in the way I had before.
In Episode 61 of Mrs Mojo’s The Art of Feeling Better, I want to challenge the idea that burnout is something we need to “fix” as quickly as possible.
Because what if your exhaustion, anxiety, overwhelm, brain fog, irritability, inability to cope, disconnection or complete loss of motivation aren’t evidence that there is something wrong with you?
What if they’re evidence that something about the way you’ve been living is no longer working for you?
Your body isn’t betraying you.
It may be communicating with you in the only way left available to it.
In this episode, we explore:
• Why there really is no quick fix for burnout — and why searching for one can keep us trapped in the cycle• The difference between stress, burnout and severe burnout, and why the foundations of recovery remain the same• What my own burnout taught me about trying to rush back to “normal”• Some of the different ways burnout can show up in women• The Burnout Archetypes I explore inside my Burnout Recovery Guide — and why two women experiencing burnout may need very different things• How to begin listening to your symptoms rather than fighting against them• Why gentle, sustainable steps help teach your nervous system that it is safe again• And why true recovery isn’t necessarily about becoming the woman you were before burnout.
Because perhaps the goal isn’t to get your old life back.
Perhaps it’s to finally create a life in which the authentic version of you is allowed to exist.
A life where you don’t have to continually override your body, silence your needs, perform a version of yourself that keeps everybody else comfortable or prove your worth through how much you can carry.
Your symptoms are not a character flaw.
They are information.
And recovery begins when we become curious enough to listen to what they’re trying to tell us.
🌿 READY TO BEGIN YOUR BURNOUT RECOVERY?
I’ve created a range of resources so you can start wherever feels right for you:
👉 Read the Women’s Burnout Blog Series: HERE
👉 Discover your Burnout Archetype + start your recovery with my Burnout Recovery Guide:
👉 Take the self-paced Burnout to Breakthrough Course
👉 Explore my deeper programmes and group support: Womens Inner Fire Circle
👉 Work with me one-to-one HERE
You don’t have to fix everything today.
You don’t need another impossible recovery plan to add to your already impossible load.
Start where you are. Take the next gentle step. And allow recovery to unfold from there.
Jane x
Get full access to Jane’s Substack at theartoffeelingbetter.substack.com/subscribe