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The Real Causes of Workplace Burnout: It’s Not Just Too Many Hours · Hustle Rebels: Burnout Recovery for Over-Achievers

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Burnout is not just working too many hours.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I realized recently that apparently we still need to talk about this.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because I was at a networking event and a guy asked me, so burnout recovery, what does that mean?
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like people are just working too much, too many hours.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I started thinking, oh, this is exactly why we have a problem.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because if we keep diagnosing burnout as people working too much, then our solution is always going to be take vacation time, use your PTO, go to yoga and meditate.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Here's an employee wellness app.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe work from home on Friday.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, the actual thing that is burning people out is sitting out there completely untouched.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is Hustle Rebels, the podcast for people who still want to win but are starting to question the cost.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Renee, your host and burnout recovery expert.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: I help overachievers get out from under-the-grind culture, stop sacrificing themselves to a system that literally never gives back, and actually live a life that they worked so hard for like they deserve.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Before retirement takes their decrepit body.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Today I want to break down what burnout actually looks like.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Not just the Instagram version where somebody is tired and needs a bubble bath.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: What it can actually look like in your own life.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: What it can look like in your employees before they resign.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Mentally check out.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Or their body just finally says, yeah, we're not doing this anymore.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'm also going to give you three things that you can start doing today, whether you're an employee or a leader leading people to start decreasing burnout.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because burnout is absolutely affected by workload.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to deny that.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: But workload is only one piece of this.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: So what actually is burnout?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: One of the biggest mistakes that we make is assuming that more hours equals more burnout, which in and of itself sounds logical.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, if somebody is working a ridiculous amount of hours indefinitely with no recovery, that matters, and it gets weighed in.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: But two people can work the exact same amount of hours and have completely different experiences.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: One might say, I am slammed right now, but I love what I'm building.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: My team has my back.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: I know the season is temporary.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: I have some control over my own work and how I do it, and what I'm doing actually matters to me.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this person might be exhausted, but exhaustion and burnout are completely two different things.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: They are not automatically the same thing.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, take somebody else.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: They work fewer hours, but every day they walk into a workplace where they are micromanaged.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Their ideas ignored.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: The rules constantly changing.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody acknowledges what they do unless something goes wrong.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: They're expected to answer messages when they're home.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: They do not trust leadership.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: They don't feel like they can say no to anything.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: They do not have any autonomy over anything.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe they're constantly being asked to do things that conflict with their values.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And no matter how much they give, the expectation somehow always becomes, great, now give us more.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's a completely different animal.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And telling that person, just go ahead, take Friday afternoon off, is not addressing the issue.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: You're basically just putting a band-aid on a tire that's completely missing.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: So what does burnout actually look like?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because it doesn't always look like somebody lying face down on their desk saying, I cannot fucking do this anymore.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes your burnout employee is actually your best employee.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: They're still showing up.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're getting everything done.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: They're answering everybody's questions.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: They're still volunteering because they know nobody else will.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: They're taking all of the overtime.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: They're still saying, Yeah, I got it.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Trust me.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, internally, they're cynical as hell.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: They do not care the way that they used to, and they're irritated by the smallest things that never bothered them before, especially when they go home and the littlest things bother them.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Sunday nights start feeling like impending doom coming Monday.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: They need an hour after work before they can even tolerate talking to their family and kids.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: They stop having ideas, they stop speaking up, they start doing exactly what's required of them and nothing more.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Or, and leaders need to hear this the most, they become quiet.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes disengagement isn't somebody becoming lazy.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's somebody who cared for so long and finally realized that caring was costing them more than the organization was ever going to give back.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden, they're being called insubordinate.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's a very different conversation.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then something we don't talk nearly enough about, it can show up physically.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is the part where people underestimate and usually just either go to the doctor for a quick fix, grab that bottle of Tylenol, or do whatever we need to do to ignore our body's signals.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Chronic headaches, poor sleep, digestive problems and tension, getting sick more often, brain fog, huge red flag.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: You walk into work, your body is already braced for anything that is about to happen, especially when you see your boss.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Then you leave work and you're technically home, but you're not really home, can't relax.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: You're replaying every single conversation in your head and you're already thinking about tomorrow, checking your email, mentally preparing for who you already have to deal with.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: So now the job isn't just taking eight or ten or twelve hours, it's occupying your nervous system for the next 12.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: That matters.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: And this is why this gets missed in the workplace culture.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Because we still reward a lot of these behaviors that eventually create burnout.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because just think about this for a second.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Who gets praised?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: The person that stays late, the person that never takes their sick time.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the guy that I was talking to when I said burnout is the person that doesn't take their sick time or their PTO or vacation.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: He just raises his hand.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Strong indication.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: The person who always picks up the extra assignment.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: The person that's answering their phone calls and their emails at 9 p.m.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: or at their kids' football game, and then brags that they haven't taken vacation in three years, and somehow everybody responds like they just won an Olympic medal, a badge of honor.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: That should concern us because we've accidentally created this workplace culture where self-neglect can actually look like commitment.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then organizations are shocked when an employee quits or mentally checks out or becomes resentful and has health problems and then suddenly says, I'm fucking done.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't out of the blue.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't something that just suddenly happens.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: You just didn't see the thousand tiny things that came before it.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: So how do you actually start decreasing burnout?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's the million-dollar question, right?
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: There are obviously bigger systemic questions here that a 20-minute podcast can't answer, but there are three things I think almost anyone can start looking at immediately.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, look at control, not just workload.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: There are a few questions that you can ask.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Where does this person actually have autonomy?
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Can they make decisions about how they accomplish their work?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Can they say no?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Can they push back on unrealistic expectations and can they prioritize things?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Or does every request become an emergency that somebody else created?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because humans tolerate stress much better when they feel like they have some agency inside of it.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're the employee listening to this, ask yourself the same thing.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Where have you accidentally handed over all the control?
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Are you responding immediately because it's actually required?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Or because you trained everyone that you're always available?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Are you taking everything on because it's your responsibility?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Or because saying no makes you feel uncomfortable.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: They're not the same problem.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, stop rewarding self-sacrifice.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: This one is for leadership.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what your workplace actually rewards, not what your mission statement says.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Things like what gets praised or promoted, what behaviors get modeled by leadership.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because if your boss sends emails at midnight, never takes vacations, and comes in sick and brags about working 70 hours a week, you can tell employees to take care of themselves all you want, but they're watching what actually gets rewarded.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're an employee, you've got a version of this too.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Stop automatically treating your ability to endure bullshit as evidence that you're strong.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: That one will piss some people off, especially some high performers, because endurance probably got you pretty far.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: It got me really far too.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: But eventually, the skill becomes the trap.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Just because you can carry something doesn't mean you should keep volunteering to carry it.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, we need to start asking better questions.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of asking, how do we help people handle more stress?
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Ask instead, what are we doing that is creating unnecessary stress in the first place?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very different leadership question.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: Is it unnecessary meetings, constant interruptions, understaffing and bad communication with micromanagement?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is there no recognition?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: No clarity?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: What about favoritism?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Are there leaders who don't know how to lead people?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: What about processes that make absolutely no sense but everybody follows them because, well, it's just the way it's always been done, my personal favorite.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Before you teach your employees how to meditate through a dysfunctional workplace and give them a EAP, an employee assistance program, maybe fix some of the dysfunction in the first place.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Radical concepts.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: And personally, you can ask, what am I tolerating that continuously drains me?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Not, how do I become better at tolerating it?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Those questions lead to completely different answers.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, when that guy asked me whether burnout basically meant somebody was working too many hours, I realized I'm actually glad that he asked.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think that's what a lot of people still believe.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if that's our understanding of burnout, well, we're going to keep throwing vacations and wellness programs, resilience seminars, and pizza parties at something that is much deeper, much deeper than a podcast episode can do.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Burnout can involve workload, absolutely, but it can also come from a lack of control, a lack of recognition, chronic unfairness, values conflict, poor leadership, constant emotional labor, never being able to shut off, and feeling like nothing you do is ever good enough.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Or just realizing that you've spent years sacrificing yourself for a system that would replace you next Tuesday.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why this conversation matters.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because if we can identify what's actually causing burnout, then we can stop asking people to become better at surviving it.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: We can actually change something.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: We can change workplace culture so that we're not burning our leaders and our employees out.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're listening to this as a leader, I want you to look around to your organization this week and ask, are we rewarding sustainable high performance?
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Or are we rewarding whoever is willing to sacrifice the most?
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're listening as the person who's just carrying everything, ask yourself where being the one that everyone turns to has quietly turned into abandoning yourself.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's probably something to look into there.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And if this episode made you think of somebody, feel free to send it over to them.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, subscribe, leave a comment, or a review.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: It generally helps keep the Hustle Rebels moving.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: And if you'd like to support the show to offset some of the costs in production, there's a link for that down in the show notes as well.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: And apparently I'm nosy because I also want to know what this looks like in your own world too.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: And if you'd like for me to come and talk about this in your own business incorporation and see what this looks like for you and your leaders, I would love to come and do that.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: What burns people out where you work that has absolutely nothing to do with how many hours that they're working?
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear about it.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: See you guys next week.