The Reset with Cat Burton

AI burnout is a hot topic. If you're struggling with feeling like you get more done yet are busier than ever, find yourself setting alarms for when your AI credits reset, or struggling with how AI is changing leadership…I’m going to give you some coping strategies to help you understand those stressors.

Chapters

00:00 Understanding AI Burnout and Productivity Trap

01:43 Stressor: The Productivity Trap

06:01 The Dangers of Tokenmaxxing

11:20 The Price of Tokens and Its Implications

18:35 The Impact of AI on Leadership and our wellbeing

References & Links

- Video: What is Burnout? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xiWY3MOXsI&t=3s

- Blog Post: AI Burnout (All content and stats from this full miniseries): https://www.catburton.co.uk/blog/impact-of-ai-on-burnout

- Is AI Profitable Yet? https://isaiprofitable.com/

- Enshittification by Cory Doctorow - https://link.amazon/B0ds1ObPH

AI Burnout Mini-Series

Part 1: Work, Skills and Planning - https://youtu.be/Zse_zl8J9zU

Part 2: Copyright, Ethics & Environment - https://youtu.be/jABjtYgX5SE

Part 3: Productivity + Impact on Leadership - https://youtu.be/Tb7o_oNFS4Y

About Cat

Hey, I’m Cat Burton. I'm a burnout coach for founders and leaders. I spent years burning out while building startups, leading teams and shipping products to millions of users. Now I share the tools and lessons I've learned to help others on their burnout journeys.

Got a topic you'd love me to cover? Leave a comment below or message me directly. You can find me on:

My website: https://www.catburton.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catburton/

Work with me

1:1 burnout & wellbeing coaching: https://www.catburton.co.uk/coaching

Support for organisations: https://www.catburton.co.uk/organisations

This podcast is also available on audio platforms, just look for The Reset with Cat Burton

Disclaimer

I am not a licensed therapist, doctor, accountant or lawyer. I’m sharing my personal insights and my journey in the hopes it might help you if you’re going through something similar.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're struggling with the guilt of using a technology that has such a big environmental impact, worrying about the copyright issues, fretting about this AI bubble we keep hearing about, or concerned about data privacy…I’m going to give you some coping strategies to help you handle those stressors.

Chapters

00:00 Understanding AI Burnout: Ethical, Environmental, and Economic Concerns

01:58 Copyright concerns

08:56 The Environmental Impact of AI

14:50 Psychological Safety in AI Workplaces

19:03 Data Privacy in the AI Era

22:52 Navigating the AI Bubble and Economic Uncertainty

27:21 Wrap up and next steps

References & Links

- Video - What is Burnout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xiWY3MOXsI

- Blog Post: AI Burnout (All content and stats from this full miniseries): https://www.catburton.co.uk/blog/impact-of-ai-on-burnout

- Duck Duck Go (No AI) Search: http://noai.duckduckgo.com/

AI Burnout Mini-Series

Part 1: Work, Skills and Planning - https://youtu.be/Zse_zl8J9zU

Part 2: Copyright, Ethics & Environment - https://youtu.be/jABjtYgX5SE

Part 3: The Productivity Trap + Impact on Leadership [coming soon]

About Cat

Hey, I’m Cat Burton. I'm a burnout coach for founders and leaders. I spent years burning out while building startups, leading teams and shipping products to millions of users. Now I share the tools and lessons I've learned to help others on their burnout journeys.

Got a topic you'd love me to cover? Leave a comment below or message me directly. You can find me on:

My website: https://www.catburton.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catburton/

Work with me

1:1 burnout & wellbeing coaching: https://www.catburton.co.uk/coaching

Support for organisations: https://www.catburton.co.uk/organisations

This podcast is also available on audio platforms, just look for The Reset with Cat Burton

Disclaimer

I am not a licensed therapist, doctor, accountant or lawyer. I’m sharing my personal insights and my journey in the hopes it might help you if you’re going through something similar.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AI burnout is real. If you're struggling to keep up with the pace of change, finding yourself constantly context-switching between AI-driven tasks, or just exhausted trying to figure out where AI fits into how you work…this video will give you some coping strategies to help you handle those stressors.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to AI Burnout

01:56 Understanding Burnout

03:50 The Impact of AI on Burnout

05:30 Stressor 1: Only the Hard Stuff is Left

13:08 Stressor 2: Multitasking and Context Switching

16:34 Stressor 3: Pace and Planning in AI

19:27 Planning when AI and technology is changing rapidly

23:08 Conclusion and Next Steps

References & Links

- Video: What is Burnout? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xiWY3MOXsI

- Blog Post: AI Burnout (All content and stats from this full mini-series): https://www.catburton.co.uk/blog/impact-of-ai-on-burnout

AI Burnout Mini-Series

Part 1: Work, Skills and Planning - https://youtu.be/Zse_zl8J9zU

Part 2: Copyright, Ethics & Environment [coming soon]

Part 3: The Productivity Trap + Impact on Leadership [coming soon]

About Cat

Hey, I’m Cat Burton. I'm a burnout & wellbeing coach for founders and leaders. I spent years burning out while building startups, leading teams and shipping products to millions of users. Now I share the tools and lessons I've learned to help others on their burnout journeys.

Got a topic you'd love me to cover? Leave a comment below or message me directly. You can find me on:

My website: https://www.catburton.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catburton/

Work with me

1:1 burnout & wellbeing coaching: https://www.catburton.co.uk/coaching

Support for organisations: https://www.catburton.co.uk/organisations

This podcast is also available on audio platforms, just look for The Reset with Cat Burton

Disclaimer

I am not a licensed therapist, doctor, accountant or lawyer. I’m sharing my personal insights and my journey in the hopes it might help you if you’re going through something similar.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does burnout happen? Burnout coach Cat Burton explains why burnout builds gradually from stress compounding over weeks, months, or even years. She guides you through how to spot the day-to-day stressors that slowly push you toward burnout.

Cat shares her own experience of identifying the hidden, background stressors behind her three burnouts, and explains why ambitious, capable people are often most at risk.

You’ll find practical first steps for burnout prevention before you hit breaking point.

References & Links:

• 15 Common Symptoms of Burnout: https://youtu.be/6J12ZC3atJI
• Phone addiction and our devices’ impact on burnout: https://youtu.be/ue0E-T1JWMc

Chapters:

00:00 Understanding Burnout: The Gradual Build-Up

01:10 Stress as the main cause of burnout

02:14 Example stressors - the big things

03:07 Example stressors - the small things that compound over time

04:24 Preventing burnout by identifying resolving your own personal stressors

05:15 Why burnout often impacts ambitious, conscientious and capable people

06:04 Validation and a lack of appreciation

07:04 The impact of phones and notifications

08:19 The stressors we can't control: the economy, AI, the news...

08:52 Building stress resilience

09:19 Stop pretending "I'm fine"

09:42 Strategies for lowering your stress levels and preventing burnout

10:20 How a coach or therapist can help you with burnout prevention and recovery

About Cat

Hey, I’m Cat Burton. I'm a burnout coach for founders and leaders. I spent years burning out while building startups, leading teams and shipping products to millions of users. Now I share the tools and lessons I've learned to help others on their burnout journeys.

Got a topic you'd love me to cover? Leave a comment below or message me directly.

You can find me on:

My website: https://www.catburton.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catburton/

Work with me

1:1 burnout coaching: https://www.catburton.co.uk/coaching

Burnout support for organisations: https://www.catburton.co.uk/organisations

This podcast is available on:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cat-burton

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ZPydclnNOdTjbkhP4TxBt

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-reset-with-cat-burton/id1826399527

…and wherever you find your audio podcasts

Disclaimer

I am not a licensed therapist, doctor, accountant or lawyer. I’m sharing my personal insights and my journey in the hopes it might help you if you’re going through something similar.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recognising the most common burnout symptoms is the first step toward recovery. Here are 15 warning signs to watch out for.

As a burnout coach, I often see the same patterns come up in my coaching sessions, talks, and my own experiences. In this episode, I walk through 15 frequently reported indicators, ranging from physical symptoms like sleep disruption and headaches to emotional shifts. Understanding these signs of burnout early can help you start a conversation before your situation escalates further. We also look at the mental exhaustion that often accompanies this state, such as brain fog and decision fatigue.

Whether you are identifying these patterns in yourself or someone you care about, my goal is to provide insight into what is happening and why. Recognising these symptoms is an essential part of the journey toward sustainable burnout recovery.

Subscribe for insights on navigating professional and personal wellbeing, and let me know in the comments if there is a specific topic you would like me to cover next.

References & Links:

• What Is burnout? https://youtu.be/3xiWY3MOXsI?si=xy4wzMVClGYrHVL9
• How to make difficult decisions: https://youtu.be/DiS4imd5_U4
• Phone addiction and our devices’ impact on burnout: https://youtu.be/ue0E-T1JWMc

Chapters:

0:00 Recognising the Early Signs of Burnout

0:39 Physical Red Flags You Should Not Ignore

6:18 When Your Mind Starts to Feel Foggy

11:29 The Emotional Toll of Chronic Stress

17:16 Practical Steps Toward Recovery

About Cat

Hey, I’m Cat Burton. I'm a burnout coach for founders and leaders. I spent years burning out while building startups, leading teams and shipping products to millions of users. Now I share the tools and lessons I've learned to help others on their burnout journeys. Got a topic you'd love me to cover? Leave a comment below or message me directly.

You can find me on:

My website: https://www.catburton.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catburton/

Work with me

1:1 burnout coaching: https://www.catburton.co.uk/coaching

Burnout support for organisations: https://www.catburton.co.uk/organisations

This podcast is available on:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cat-burton

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ZPydclnNOdTjbkhP4TxBt

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-reset-with-cat-burton/id1826399527

…and wherever you find your audio podcasts

Disclaimer

I am not a licensed therapist, doctor, accountant or lawyer. I’m sharing my personal insights and my journey in the hopes it might help you if you’re going through something similar.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is burnout and how do you know if that's what you're experiencing? I break down what burnout actually is, the three types of exhaustion (mental, emotional, physical), common burnout symptoms, and why the World Health Organisation classifies it as an occupational phenomenon, not a medical condition.

Drawing on my own experience of three major burnouts as a founder and C-suite exec, I explain what burnout feels like from the inside. I share some of the early warning signs to watch for and why understanding burnout is the first step to recovering from it.

Chapters

00:00 Understanding burnout

00:42 What is burnout?

01:22 Mental exhaustion - brain fog, struggling to focus and lack of motivation

02:06 Emotional exhaustion - overwhelm, disconnection, low mood and more

02:54 Physical exhaustion - getting sick or not have the energy to move

04:02 Everyone's journey with burnout is unique. The most common symptoms

05:21 The house of cards - Why you might be worried to stop or slow down

06:17 The World Health Organisation's definition of occupational burnout

07:31 There are many different types of burnout, it's not just about work

08:00 Recognising the symptoms and warning signs of burnout

08:58 The risks of untreated burnout

09:44 Burnout recovery and prevention strategies

References & Links

• Introduction to Burnout Blog Post: https://www.catburton.co.uk/blog/an-introduction-to-burnout
• WHO Occupational Burnout Classification: https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases

About Cat

Hey, I’m Cat Burton. I'm a burnout coach for founders and leaders. I spent years burning out while building startups, leading teams and shipping products to millions of users. Now I share the tools and lessons I've learned to help others on their burnout journeys. Got a topic you'd love me to cover? Leave a comment or message me directly.

You can find me on:

My website: https://www.catburton.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catburton/

Work with me

1:1 burnout coaching: https://www.catburton.co.uk/coaching

Burnout support for organisations: https://www.catburton.co.uk/organisations

Disclaimer

I am not a licensed therapist, doctor, accountant or lawyer. I’m sharing my personal insights and my journey in the hopes it might help you if you’re going through something similar.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A chat about why phones & apps are so compelling, the attention economy, algorithms, intermittent reward loops, why boredom is important...and a bit of a tangent into physical media.

I’ve included a few questions to help you think about your own phone/app usage and some tips to help you break the cycle if you’re compulsively checking your devices.

Got a topic you'd love me to cover? Message me at: gothboss.co.uk/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I'm sharing 40 things I wish someone had told me in my 20s and 30s. These are hard-won lessons about people-pleasing, boundaries, burnout, money, masking, imposter syndrome, mortality and much more. I’m spending my 40s building a life I love and hopefully this episode will help you on your own journey.

Work with me: https://www.gothboss.co.uk/

Related Episodes (YouTube Links):

6 Months Sober: https://youtu.be/2Q0FWOZ8BYI?si=kjXueMun9eI98cMf

Difficult Decisions: https://youtu.be/DiS4imd5_U4?si=e7Hni0RZdwG5m8UD

My ADHD Diagnosis: https://youtu.be/z_nRFaMke2w?si=VNuXlsR2-IcdyBZT

Books:

Seth Godin’s The Dip: https://link.amazon/B034p2Io0

If you’ve got a topic or question you’d like me to discuss on the show, leave a comment below or message me at: https://www.gothboss.co.uk/podcast

This podcast is available on:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gothboss 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ZPydclnNOdTjbkhP4TxBt 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-reset-with-cat-burton/id1826399527 

…and wherever else you find your audio podcasts

You can find me on:

Website: https://www.gothboss.co.uk/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catburton/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gothbosscat

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I made a decision I'd been going back and forth on for an entire year. I almost went through with it a few times but constantly talked myself out of it. Then this week it happened again and I decided it was time to close the loop.

I'm not sharing the specifics of my situation in this episode as it’s personal, but the cycle of “almost making the decision then backing out repeatedly” is something I think a lot of people will recognise.

In this episode I talk about:

• How to know when a decision actually needs making
• How to tell the difference between a "dip" worth pushing through and a dead end you need to walk away from
• Why difficult decisions stay difficult right up until the moment you make them
• And I’ve popped some coaching-style questions towards the end to help you figure out your own answer if you've got something you've been avoiding too

If you, like me, have been ruminating on something for too long; could be a job, a relationship or something else that’s really tough, I hope this helps.

The book mentioned in this episode is The Dip by Seth Godin: https://link.amazon/B09N1ctkc

Looking for a coach to help you through burnout, working with your neurodivergence, or making big life/career changes? Work with me: gothboss.co.uk 

Got a topic you'd love me to cover or want to ask me something? Message me at gothboss.co.uk/podcast 

P.S. Important side note: I am not a licensed therapist, doctor, accountant or lawyer. I’m just someone who's learned a lot of hard lessons and I’m trying to build a successful life that’s sustainable. I’m sharing my personal insights and my journey in the hopes it might help you if you’re going through something similar.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I was really nervous and unsure about sharing my journey with alcohol in a podcast episode. But the more I speak to people about this in-person, the more I realised it would perhaps help others to hear my journey. And so, I’m being brave.

I decided to cut out alcohol at the start of 2026, not due to addiction, but because I finally admitted to myself that drinking had been causing me big problems throughout my entire adult life.

Now, six months sober, I’ve decided to share the reasons behind my decision, the challenges I’ve faced with alcohol and the positive impacts sobriety has had on my life so far.

P.S. I’m not here to preach or tell you what to do. You do you. But if this resonates with you and you find it helpful, it was worth me being open about it.

Some of the things I chat about:

- My reasons for quitting alcohol

- The impact of ADHD* on my drinking behaviour

- Some of the struggles I’ve faced with socialising while sober

- The positive impacts of sobriety on my mental health, fitness and energy

- Some of my strategies for maintaining boundaries in social settings (peer-pressure to drink was my biggest fear when quitting)

* I’m diagnosed ADHD and am pretty certain I’m AuDHD. Either way, I’m sure there’s a link with my neurodivergence and the alcohol problems I’ve had.

Resources (UK)

- Your GP is always a good first step

- Drinkline: 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am–8pm, weekends 11am–4pm). Drinkline Scotland: 0800 731 4314

- We Are With You: wearewithyou.org.uk

- Alcohol Change UK: alcoholchange.org.uk

- SMART Recovery: https://smartrecovery.org.uk/

- Alcoholics Anonymous: 0800 9177 650

If you’ve got a topic you’d like me to discuss on the show, please send me a message at: https://www.gothboss.co.uk/podcast

This podcast is available on:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gothboss

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ZPydclnNOdTjbkhP4TxBt

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-reset-with-cat-burton/id1826399527

…and wherever else you find your audio podcasts

You can find me on:

Website: https://www.gothboss.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catburton/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gothbosscat

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.