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The Burnout Fix: Overcome Overwhelm, Beat Busy, and Sustain Success in the New World of Work
An evidence-based resilience toolkit to help you find better, more sustainable ways to succeed at work and life
In The Burnout Fix, the award-winning psychologist and board-certified leadership coach Dr. Jacinta M. Jiménez shows you how to harness science-backed resilience strategies to survive, and thrive, in today’s “always on, always connected” world—where a reported 60% of employees report being stressed out all or most of the time at work.
Packed with compelling, real-world stories from years of coaching and the latest research in positive, social, and motivational psychology, The Burnout Fix shows how neglecting to nurture your personal pulse can undermine all your efforts at working harder and “smarter.” You’ll learn how integrate healthy personal “PULSE” practices into all aspects of your life, from pacing for performance and leveraging leisure time to securing a support system and evaluating how to regain control of your time and priorities.
Whether you are an individual who wishes to build out a set of lasting resilience capabilities, a leader dedicated to keeping your team or organization engaged and flourishing, The Burnout Fix will reshape the way you think about success while giving you—and your people—the tools and strategies you need to thrive.
In The Burnout Fix, the award-winning psychologist and board-certified leadership coach Dr. Jacinta M. Jiménez shows you how to harness science-backed resilience strategies to survive, and thrive, in today’s “always on, always connected” world—where a reported 60% of employees report being stressed out all or most of the time at work.
Packed with compelling, real-world stories from years of coaching and the latest research in positive, social, and motivational psychology, The Burnout Fix shows how neglecting to nurture your personal pulse can undermine all your efforts at working harder and “smarter.” You’ll learn how integrate healthy personal “PULSE” practices into all aspects of your life, from pacing for performance and leveraging leisure time to securing a support system and evaluating how to regain control of your time and priorities.
Whether you are an individual who wishes to build out a set of lasting resilience capabilities, a leader dedicated to keeping your team or organization engaged and flourishing, The Burnout Fix will reshape the way you think about success while giving you—and your people—the tools and strategies you need to thrive.
339 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 9, 2021
106 people are currently reading
2079 people want to read
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December 2, 2022
Takeaways
Success in the modern workplace takes more than grit – it requires resilience.
Develop five capabilities to avoid burnout.
Cultivate a healthy performance pace.
Reduce distracting thoughts and work toward mental clarity.
Prioritize leisure time.
Strengthen your social wellness.
Manage your energy carefully and live a purpose-driven life.
Lead healthy teams by embracing agency, benevolence and community.
Summary
Success in the modern workplace takes more than grit – it requires resilience.
In today’s global, hyperconnected world, people often believe that career success requires them to take on unsustainable volumes of work and be constantly available to tackle work-related tasks. Yet when you exert an unsustainable level of effort for too long, burnout often results. A Deloitte survey revealed that more than three-quarters of workers had experienced burnout in their jobs. High levels of workplace stress lead to an estimated 120,000 deaths per year.
It doesn’t matter if you work harder or smarter; if you neglect to also nurture a steady personal pulse, your success will be short-lived.
Organizations often focus on how to help employees recover from workplace burnout, but what they really need to do is teach their people how to avoid it altogether. That goal calls for learning ways to cultivate personal and professional resilience.
Develop five capabilities to avoid burnout.
To keep yourself from suffering from burnout, you should engage in “personal PULSE practices” – strategies for nurturing inner resilience. You must Pace yourself, Undo unhelpful thought patterns, engage in Leisure activities, build a Support system and Evaluate how you spend your time. If you follow the PULSE practices, you’ll improve your capabilities in five key areas of your life:
Behavioral – Boost your professional and personal growth by developing a healthy performance pace.
Cognitive – Rid yourself of unhealthy thought patterns.
Physical – Embrace the power of leisure as a strategy to protect and restore your reserves of energy.
Social – Build a diverse network of social support to make yourself more adaptable and improve your thinking.
Emotional – Don’t let others control your priorities or time. Evaluate the effort you exert, and take control yourself.
Cultivate a healthy performance pace.
People tend to romanticize successful people, framing them as fundamentally different from ordinary individuals. But while it’s tempting to assume that J.K. Rowling, for example, had overnight success with her Harry Potter series, she actually worked on the first book for seven years, and faced rejections from a dozen publishers. Most successful people achieve their dreams via “deliberate practice”: They tackle their goals by breaking them into smaller concrete steps to help avoid cognitive and emotional exhaustion.
We love the idea of a ‘natural-born talent’ who defies normal human capabilities. But does our love affair with mavericks make sense?
Create a framework to ensure you sustainably work toward your goals via the “three P’s”:
Plan – Assess your skills and knowledge levels. Then, progressively push yourself slightly outside your comfort zone as you progress toward bigger goals. Keep goals realistic, feasible and specific.
Practice – Commit to continuous learning, treating your discovery process as a series of experiments. Get feedback and approach your experiments with deep focus. Don’t fear failure, as you can learn from it. Keep a log, consistently tracking your progress and learning.
Ponder – Once you’ve learned via experimentation and gathered feedback, leverage this knowledge to help you achieve your broader goal, and improve your approaches to strategy and experimentation. Ask yourself what did and didn’t work for you in the past, and how you could improve results in the future. Don’t forget to celebrate your small achievements as you approach success.
Reduce distracting thoughts and work toward mental clarity.
Rid yourself of stress-inducing cognitive distractions by embracing the “three C’s” of mental clarity:
Curiosity – Be curious about your thought patterns. Identify recurring thoughts. Then ask yourself if they’re grounded in reality and if you can find evidence to support your assumptions. Noticing cognitive errors helps you cultivate greater self-awareness.
Compassion – Overcome negative self-talk by practicing self-compassion. Rather than fixating on the flaws you see in yourself, talk to yourself with kindness, the way you might talk to a close friend.
Calibration – Once you are more aware of the quality of your thoughts and have cultivated a broader, more realistic perspective on a given situation, ask yourself how you’d like to respond. For example, perhaps you’d like to act with compassion. Or you simply realize that you need more information.
Cultivate more mental clarity and awareness by:
Stacking habits – If you’d like to embrace healthier habits, try bundling those new habits with ones you already engage in regularly, such as brushing your teeth.
Scheduling reminders – Program your phone to remind you to check in with yourself three times a day, creating space to reflect on your thoughts.
Breathing – Take long, deep inhalations and exhalations before reflecting.
Writing down your thoughts – When engaging in the three C’s, write one or two sentences about each step.
Learning about cognitive mistakes – People make several types of common errors. For example, are you engaging in binary thinking? Are you making assumptions about what others are thinking?
Sticking with self-compassion – Being kind to yourself might feel awkward initially, but research confirms its positive benefits: increased levels of resilience, motivation and positive emotions, as well as a decreased tendency to get overwhelmed.
Being consistent – If you practice the three C’s regularly, you can powerfully transform your neural pathways and boost your vitality.
Prioritize leisure time.
Media mogul Oprah Winfrey may have a never-ending to-do list, but she makes a point of unplugging from work and spending time in nature – going for walks with her dogs and working in her vegetable garden. The ability to enjoy stress-free leisure time is essential for Oprah, as it allows her to keep calm and centered, which, in turn, helps her handle the challenges life and work throw her way.
If you want to protect yourself against burnout and improve your leadership skills, you too should find ways to prioritize leisure. Overcome the harmful myth that constantly working longer, faster and harder is the key to success.
We mistake busyness for productivity. We value volume of output over the value of output. We no longer judge others by the quality of their responses – rather, we focus on how fast they respond.
Create more space for stress-busting leisure activities by prioritizing the “three S’s” in your everyday life:
Silence – Take control over the way you use your technological devices, reducing the mental fatigue you might experience from an unnecessary onslaught of information and alerts. You can do this in small ways (such as not checking your phone when standing in a line) and in bigger ways (such as going on a meditation retreat).
Sanctuary – Most Americans spend 93% of their time inside. This is unfortunate, since time you spend in nature decreases the stress-hormone cortisol and improves your mood, creativity, immunity and vitality. Schedule at least 20 to 30 minutes in nature per week, and try to leave your devices at home.
Solitude – Choose to spend time alone. Doing so activates your brain’s default mode network, improving your cognitive abilities by slowing down sensory input. Solitude can lead to greater levels of self-awareness, creativity and mental clarity.
Strengthen your social wellness.
Social wellness – when you feel you belong and can securely access support from your community – is an important contributor to good health. When you feel socially excluded, you activate the same regions in your brain that respond to physical pain — the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex. Research shows that workers who feel socially ostracized are less satisfied and committed to their work, and experience higher levels of physiological distress symptoms like headaches, muscle tension and back pain. By contrast, workers who feel a high sense of social belonging perform 56% better, take 75% fewer sick days and are 50% more likely to stay at their current jobs.
Loneliness doesn’t target a specific personality group such as introverts or extroverts — it can affect anyone. No one is immune to loneliness.
Decrease your risk of burnout and overcome feelings of social exclusion by embracing the “three B’s” of secure support:
Belonging – Strengthen your sense of belonging by actively working to be more compassionate. Display it cognitively by understanding others’ perspectives. Express it emotionally by empathizing with others, and show motivated compassion by strengthening your desire to take action to help others. Research shows that if you consistently practice loving kindness meditation (LKM) – mentally repeating phrases or sentiments expressing goodwill and care toward others – you’ll strengthen your sense of social well-being.
Breadth – Create a visual map of your “circles of support” by drawing four concentric circles: Place the names of those to whom you feel closest in the innermost circle, those who support you consistently during tough times in the second circle, and those with whom you engage regularly, but don’t view as confidants, in the third circle. Acquaintances go in your outermost circle. Notice the circles where support seems lacking, and try to address those gaps by expanding your network. You may want to join new hobby-centered communities or change your daily patterns of social interaction, such as choosing to leave your neighborhood for lunch.
Boundaries – Reflect on your personal values, which illustrate your priorities. Choose the five that are most important to you. Consider what you need to do to cultivate more of these values in your life. Think about actions that would detract from these values. Using this information, write down your “boundary rules.” If, for example, you prioritize your family, you might refuse to take calls at home during certain hours. Make an effort to respect others’ boundaries, just as you’d expect people to respect yours.
Manage your energy carefully and live a purpose-driven life.
Overcome the myth that expending more effort is always better, and effectively manage your energy by embracing the “three E’s”:
Enduring principles – Identify a set of principles that can guide you in your current life stage. First, list the values and the skills you currently view as most relevant to your goals. Next, define the meaning behind the things you wish to pursue. Combine these elements to craft a mission statement to guide your actions. Use the following template: “Because I value X, I want to use my skills of Y to accomplish Z.” Finally, develop three principles, such as “practice gratitude” or “practice nonattachment,” to which you can commit as you work toward embodying your mission statement.
Energy expenditure – Take a week to assess how you spend your energy by tracking your activities, the people with whom you spend time and the environments you’re navigating. Determine how they make you feel. Rate these feelings on a scale of one to 10. If you realize certain situations, activities or people make you feel depleted, schedule more activities and encounters that energize you. Healthy relationships tend to restore your energy, and engender positive feelings such as mutual trust, respect and support.
Emotional acuity – Resist the tendency to ignore your emotions and embrace false positivity. Let yourself experience your full range of emotions, which will help you feel increased empathy for others and become a better problem solver. Strengthen your emotional intelligence by learning to better identify the emotions you feel. Start, perhaps, by learning a new word to describe an emotion every week. Treat your emotions as valuable information, and consider what they might be telling you.
Lead healthy teams by embracing agency, benevolence and community.
Lead resilient teams by cultivating a workplace culture that prioritizes the needs of people, and by employing the “ABC’s of Steady Pulse Teams And Organizations”:
A is for agency – Give team members a sense of agency by clarifying your expectations (explicit and implicit) for each individual’s role, keeping the workloads and demands you make reasonable and feasible, and providing employees with opportunities to engage in professional and personal development.
B is for benevolence – Commit to doing no harm. Employ practices that rest on openness, trust, respect and equity in the workplace. Recognize employees for their accomplishments, and don’t tolerate dishonesty or unfairness.
C is for community – People find motivation at work through their desire to create positive social connections. Embrace practices that improve team members’ feelings of belonging, social inclusion and psychological safety.
“How can my organization improve our employee experience to uncover and implement a fixed set of practices that bolster individual, team and organizational resilience?”
Leaders who aim to put people first must commit to implementing practices that will increase resilience throughout all levels of their organizations. Use design thinking to continually improve the experience of people on your teams. Identify areas in need of improvement, develop solutions to bolster resilience levels, and deploy your solutions in the form of carefully monitored wellness initiatives.
Success in the modern workplace takes more than grit – it requires resilience.
Develop five capabilities to avoid burnout.
Cultivate a healthy performance pace.
Reduce distracting thoughts and work toward mental clarity.
Prioritize leisure time.
Strengthen your social wellness.
Manage your energy carefully and live a purpose-driven life.
Lead healthy teams by embracing agency, benevolence and community.
Summary
Success in the modern workplace takes more than grit – it requires resilience.
In today’s global, hyperconnected world, people often believe that career success requires them to take on unsustainable volumes of work and be constantly available to tackle work-related tasks. Yet when you exert an unsustainable level of effort for too long, burnout often results. A Deloitte survey revealed that more than three-quarters of workers had experienced burnout in their jobs. High levels of workplace stress lead to an estimated 120,000 deaths per year.
It doesn’t matter if you work harder or smarter; if you neglect to also nurture a steady personal pulse, your success will be short-lived.
Organizations often focus on how to help employees recover from workplace burnout, but what they really need to do is teach their people how to avoid it altogether. That goal calls for learning ways to cultivate personal and professional resilience.
Develop five capabilities to avoid burnout.
To keep yourself from suffering from burnout, you should engage in “personal PULSE practices” – strategies for nurturing inner resilience. You must Pace yourself, Undo unhelpful thought patterns, engage in Leisure activities, build a Support system and Evaluate how you spend your time. If you follow the PULSE practices, you’ll improve your capabilities in five key areas of your life:
Behavioral – Boost your professional and personal growth by developing a healthy performance pace.
Cognitive – Rid yourself of unhealthy thought patterns.
Physical – Embrace the power of leisure as a strategy to protect and restore your reserves of energy.
Social – Build a diverse network of social support to make yourself more adaptable and improve your thinking.
Emotional – Don’t let others control your priorities or time. Evaluate the effort you exert, and take control yourself.
Cultivate a healthy performance pace.
People tend to romanticize successful people, framing them as fundamentally different from ordinary individuals. But while it’s tempting to assume that J.K. Rowling, for example, had overnight success with her Harry Potter series, she actually worked on the first book for seven years, and faced rejections from a dozen publishers. Most successful people achieve their dreams via “deliberate practice”: They tackle their goals by breaking them into smaller concrete steps to help avoid cognitive and emotional exhaustion.
We love the idea of a ‘natural-born talent’ who defies normal human capabilities. But does our love affair with mavericks make sense?
Create a framework to ensure you sustainably work toward your goals via the “three P’s”:
Plan – Assess your skills and knowledge levels. Then, progressively push yourself slightly outside your comfort zone as you progress toward bigger goals. Keep goals realistic, feasible and specific.
Practice – Commit to continuous learning, treating your discovery process as a series of experiments. Get feedback and approach your experiments with deep focus. Don’t fear failure, as you can learn from it. Keep a log, consistently tracking your progress and learning.
Ponder – Once you’ve learned via experimentation and gathered feedback, leverage this knowledge to help you achieve your broader goal, and improve your approaches to strategy and experimentation. Ask yourself what did and didn’t work for you in the past, and how you could improve results in the future. Don’t forget to celebrate your small achievements as you approach success.
Reduce distracting thoughts and work toward mental clarity.
Rid yourself of stress-inducing cognitive distractions by embracing the “three C’s” of mental clarity:
Curiosity – Be curious about your thought patterns. Identify recurring thoughts. Then ask yourself if they’re grounded in reality and if you can find evidence to support your assumptions. Noticing cognitive errors helps you cultivate greater self-awareness.
Compassion – Overcome negative self-talk by practicing self-compassion. Rather than fixating on the flaws you see in yourself, talk to yourself with kindness, the way you might talk to a close friend.
Calibration – Once you are more aware of the quality of your thoughts and have cultivated a broader, more realistic perspective on a given situation, ask yourself how you’d like to respond. For example, perhaps you’d like to act with compassion. Or you simply realize that you need more information.
Cultivate more mental clarity and awareness by:
Stacking habits – If you’d like to embrace healthier habits, try bundling those new habits with ones you already engage in regularly, such as brushing your teeth.
Scheduling reminders – Program your phone to remind you to check in with yourself three times a day, creating space to reflect on your thoughts.
Breathing – Take long, deep inhalations and exhalations before reflecting.
Writing down your thoughts – When engaging in the three C’s, write one or two sentences about each step.
Learning about cognitive mistakes – People make several types of common errors. For example, are you engaging in binary thinking? Are you making assumptions about what others are thinking?
Sticking with self-compassion – Being kind to yourself might feel awkward initially, but research confirms its positive benefits: increased levels of resilience, motivation and positive emotions, as well as a decreased tendency to get overwhelmed.
Being consistent – If you practice the three C’s regularly, you can powerfully transform your neural pathways and boost your vitality.
Prioritize leisure time.
Media mogul Oprah Winfrey may have a never-ending to-do list, but she makes a point of unplugging from work and spending time in nature – going for walks with her dogs and working in her vegetable garden. The ability to enjoy stress-free leisure time is essential for Oprah, as it allows her to keep calm and centered, which, in turn, helps her handle the challenges life and work throw her way.
If you want to protect yourself against burnout and improve your leadership skills, you too should find ways to prioritize leisure. Overcome the harmful myth that constantly working longer, faster and harder is the key to success.
We mistake busyness for productivity. We value volume of output over the value of output. We no longer judge others by the quality of their responses – rather, we focus on how fast they respond.
Create more space for stress-busting leisure activities by prioritizing the “three S’s” in your everyday life:
Silence – Take control over the way you use your technological devices, reducing the mental fatigue you might experience from an unnecessary onslaught of information and alerts. You can do this in small ways (such as not checking your phone when standing in a line) and in bigger ways (such as going on a meditation retreat).
Sanctuary – Most Americans spend 93% of their time inside. This is unfortunate, since time you spend in nature decreases the stress-hormone cortisol and improves your mood, creativity, immunity and vitality. Schedule at least 20 to 30 minutes in nature per week, and try to leave your devices at home.
Solitude – Choose to spend time alone. Doing so activates your brain’s default mode network, improving your cognitive abilities by slowing down sensory input. Solitude can lead to greater levels of self-awareness, creativity and mental clarity.
Strengthen your social wellness.
Social wellness – when you feel you belong and can securely access support from your community – is an important contributor to good health. When you feel socially excluded, you activate the same regions in your brain that respond to physical pain — the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex. Research shows that workers who feel socially ostracized are less satisfied and committed to their work, and experience higher levels of physiological distress symptoms like headaches, muscle tension and back pain. By contrast, workers who feel a high sense of social belonging perform 56% better, take 75% fewer sick days and are 50% more likely to stay at their current jobs.
Loneliness doesn’t target a specific personality group such as introverts or extroverts — it can affect anyone. No one is immune to loneliness.
Decrease your risk of burnout and overcome feelings of social exclusion by embracing the “three B’s” of secure support:
Belonging – Strengthen your sense of belonging by actively working to be more compassionate. Display it cognitively by understanding others’ perspectives. Express it emotionally by empathizing with others, and show motivated compassion by strengthening your desire to take action to help others. Research shows that if you consistently practice loving kindness meditation (LKM) – mentally repeating phrases or sentiments expressing goodwill and care toward others – you’ll strengthen your sense of social well-being.
Breadth – Create a visual map of your “circles of support” by drawing four concentric circles: Place the names of those to whom you feel closest in the innermost circle, those who support you consistently during tough times in the second circle, and those with whom you engage regularly, but don’t view as confidants, in the third circle. Acquaintances go in your outermost circle. Notice the circles where support seems lacking, and try to address those gaps by expanding your network. You may want to join new hobby-centered communities or change your daily patterns of social interaction, such as choosing to leave your neighborhood for lunch.
Boundaries – Reflect on your personal values, which illustrate your priorities. Choose the five that are most important to you. Consider what you need to do to cultivate more of these values in your life. Think about actions that would detract from these values. Using this information, write down your “boundary rules.” If, for example, you prioritize your family, you might refuse to take calls at home during certain hours. Make an effort to respect others’ boundaries, just as you’d expect people to respect yours.
Manage your energy carefully and live a purpose-driven life.
Overcome the myth that expending more effort is always better, and effectively manage your energy by embracing the “three E’s”:
Enduring principles – Identify a set of principles that can guide you in your current life stage. First, list the values and the skills you currently view as most relevant to your goals. Next, define the meaning behind the things you wish to pursue. Combine these elements to craft a mission statement to guide your actions. Use the following template: “Because I value X, I want to use my skills of Y to accomplish Z.” Finally, develop three principles, such as “practice gratitude” or “practice nonattachment,” to which you can commit as you work toward embodying your mission statement.
Energy expenditure – Take a week to assess how you spend your energy by tracking your activities, the people with whom you spend time and the environments you’re navigating. Determine how they make you feel. Rate these feelings on a scale of one to 10. If you realize certain situations, activities or people make you feel depleted, schedule more activities and encounters that energize you. Healthy relationships tend to restore your energy, and engender positive feelings such as mutual trust, respect and support.
Emotional acuity – Resist the tendency to ignore your emotions and embrace false positivity. Let yourself experience your full range of emotions, which will help you feel increased empathy for others and become a better problem solver. Strengthen your emotional intelligence by learning to better identify the emotions you feel. Start, perhaps, by learning a new word to describe an emotion every week. Treat your emotions as valuable information, and consider what they might be telling you.
Lead healthy teams by embracing agency, benevolence and community.
Lead resilient teams by cultivating a workplace culture that prioritizes the needs of people, and by employing the “ABC’s of Steady Pulse Teams And Organizations”:
A is for agency – Give team members a sense of agency by clarifying your expectations (explicit and implicit) for each individual’s role, keeping the workloads and demands you make reasonable and feasible, and providing employees with opportunities to engage in professional and personal development.
B is for benevolence – Commit to doing no harm. Employ practices that rest on openness, trust, respect and equity in the workplace. Recognize employees for their accomplishments, and don’t tolerate dishonesty or unfairness.
C is for community – People find motivation at work through their desire to create positive social connections. Embrace practices that improve team members’ feelings of belonging, social inclusion and psychological safety.
“How can my organization improve our employee experience to uncover and implement a fixed set of practices that bolster individual, team and organizational resilience?”
Leaders who aim to put people first must commit to implementing practices that will increase resilience throughout all levels of their organizations. Use design thinking to continually improve the experience of people on your teams. Identify areas in need of improvement, develop solutions to bolster resilience levels, and deploy your solutions in the form of carefully monitored wellness initiatives.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2022
Perfect book for me earlier in the year when I got severe burnout. To help others, here's the definition of burnout, which consists of three components:
1. Exhaustion - immense emotional, physical and/or cognitive fatigue. (You don't feel replenished after a good night's sleep and time off.)
2. Cynicism - low levels of job engagement (You may begin to feel detached, negative, or annoyed by work and coworkers.)
3. Inefficiency - a lack of productivity and feelings of incompetence. (You feel that you can't keep up or won't be successful.)
According to Jiménez, not everyone experiences burnout the same - you'll have your own unique mix of the above. For me, the biggest telltale signal was cynicism as that's not my natural mindset.
Reading The Burnout Fix went a long way to helping me get back in equilibrium and my copy is like a hedgehog bristling with all the post-it note markers for useful information.
1. Exhaustion - immense emotional, physical and/or cognitive fatigue. (You don't feel replenished after a good night's sleep and time off.)
2. Cynicism - low levels of job engagement (You may begin to feel detached, negative, or annoyed by work and coworkers.)
3. Inefficiency - a lack of productivity and feelings of incompetence. (You feel that you can't keep up or won't be successful.)
According to Jiménez, not everyone experiences burnout the same - you'll have your own unique mix of the above. For me, the biggest telltale signal was cynicism as that's not my natural mindset.
Reading The Burnout Fix went a long way to helping me get back in equilibrium and my copy is like a hedgehog bristling with all the post-it note markers for useful information.
April 14, 2021
Useful insights, backed by scientific references as well as illustrative anecdotes. Jacinta also provides concrete recommendations on how to improve your well-being, which are helpful. My main criticism is that most of the book, besides the introduction and chapter 7, seems focused on improving general well-being rather than burnout specifically. I would have loved more insights into how to deal with the issues that relate to burnout in particular; the causes listed by Dr. Maslach are quite compelling, but then PULSE doesn’t really seem to line up with those causes.
March 20, 2021
Burnout explained at last! I’m an analyst, so I lean toward the science and logicality of things. This book is a great combination of science and stories, that gives samples of practical applications in real life. I have seen a few videos that Dr. Jimenez made, and she is a very dynamic and articulate speaker. This book is an extension of those talents and it is very well written. This is a good read!
May 5, 2023
Good information.
August 25, 2021
The insights are useful. But not ground breaking. If you've dabbled in a few self-help books then you've come across almost all of them. I agree that an environment should be created that helps people thrive instead of degenerate into overworked beings and that adjustment plays a key role. Besides a few things like: being mindful, seek out silence and solitude and so forth. Though I'd like to stress that "burnout" which isn't even a clinical definition per sé is far too complex to "fix" with a single book. The perceived condition and the sufferer in this case are simply too complicated to put a model on and claim it'll do wonders. It might, it might not. When you are suffering from a burnout more ideas on how to fix it without doing anything profound or sustainable just make matters more confusing nor necessarily better.
Then again, more information doesn't always hurt. The intent of the book is helpful. I get that and appreciate it but I'm rather weary of academics writing a book containing some (not all) solid research and then selling it as a hotfix for things entire research fields have trouble navigating.
If you're seriously suffering from a burnout: get professional help. Don't put your hope on this book ;)
Then again, more information doesn't always hurt. The intent of the book is helpful. I get that and appreciate it but I'm rather weary of academics writing a book containing some (not all) solid research and then selling it as a hotfix for things entire research fields have trouble navigating.
If you're seriously suffering from a burnout: get professional help. Don't put your hope on this book ;)
December 27, 2024
Very validating but fell slightly flat for me. YMMV.
I noticed some clunky AI writing in this too which is alright but meh.
TL;DR favorite blurbs:
“It’s one thing to be successful, but if your definition of success means achieving at a cost to your personal vitality, I’d challenge you to question your definition.”
“Having a steady personal pulse is not just a “nice to have” or “afterthought” that only gets tended to when you’re feeling run down. In today’s world of work, it is an imperative practice to ensure that you can perform at your best.”
“I did not achieve all of this from solely working harder and smarter—I don’t believe that those two solutions are enough for modern-day workers.”
“Excessive workplace stress has been estimated to account for a staggering 120,000 deaths each year.”
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
“Burnout can destroy your personal pulse, as Maslach and Leiter describe: “It represents an erosion in values, dignity, spirit, and will—an erosion of the human soul.”
“a bad system will beat a good person every time.”
“ Sometimes we find ourselves in work environments that no longer bring out the best in us.”
“I emphatically believe that you, the modern-day worker, deserve to have a way of working that fuels, not drains, your success and vitality. ”
“ fail stands for “first attempt in learning.”
“to describe the turbulent and unpredictable nature of today’s business environment: the accelerating speed of change (volatility), the increasing lack of predictability (uncertainty), the compound effects of interdependent variables and mitigating factors (complexity), and the high potential for misreads and mixed meanings (ambiguity).”
• Can I trust these thoughts to be true and/or accurate?
• What is the evidence both for and against these thoughts?
• Might I be engaging in some thinking errors?”
“• Based on the information I’ve gathered in steps 1 (curiosity) and 2 (compassion), how do I want to intentionally respond to this situation?
“We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.
—Taoist proverb
“
“When the inevitable hustle of our lives results in high levels of overwhelm and stress, we end up blaming ourselves and responding by trying to simply push harder. We believe that we just need to hang in there, tough it out, and keep pushing past our limits, compromising not just our personal pulse but also our physical pulse.”
“true resilience is about how you detach in order to replenish and recharge your personal pulse, not how you persevere.”
“Burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long.”
“that the way to stay relevant is to live in overdrive, that if she stops hustling, her value will diminish.”
“found that it takes an average of twenty-five minutes to return to your original task after an interruption.”
“the more choices you make throughout the day, the more challenging each progressive choice becomes for your brain.”
“The term psychoterratica, coined by Australian sustainability professor Glenn Albrecht, stands for the detrimental psychological effects of being disconnected from nature.”
“But rather than draining her energy by pushing back against insurmountable barriers, Bessie channeled her effort in a different direction.”
I noticed some clunky AI writing in this too which is alright but meh.
TL;DR favorite blurbs:
“It’s one thing to be successful, but if your definition of success means achieving at a cost to your personal vitality, I’d challenge you to question your definition.”
“Having a steady personal pulse is not just a “nice to have” or “afterthought” that only gets tended to when you’re feeling run down. In today’s world of work, it is an imperative practice to ensure that you can perform at your best.”
“I did not achieve all of this from solely working harder and smarter—I don’t believe that those two solutions are enough for modern-day workers.”
“Excessive workplace stress has been estimated to account for a staggering 120,000 deaths each year.”
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
“Burnout can destroy your personal pulse, as Maslach and Leiter describe: “It represents an erosion in values, dignity, spirit, and will—an erosion of the human soul.”
“a bad system will beat a good person every time.”
“ Sometimes we find ourselves in work environments that no longer bring out the best in us.”
“I emphatically believe that you, the modern-day worker, deserve to have a way of working that fuels, not drains, your success and vitality. ”
“ fail stands for “first attempt in learning.”
“to describe the turbulent and unpredictable nature of today’s business environment: the accelerating speed of change (volatility), the increasing lack of predictability (uncertainty), the compound effects of interdependent variables and mitigating factors (complexity), and the high potential for misreads and mixed meanings (ambiguity).”
• Can I trust these thoughts to be true and/or accurate?
• What is the evidence both for and against these thoughts?
• Might I be engaging in some thinking errors?”
“• Based on the information I’ve gathered in steps 1 (curiosity) and 2 (compassion), how do I want to intentionally respond to this situation?
“We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.
—Taoist proverb
“
“When the inevitable hustle of our lives results in high levels of overwhelm and stress, we end up blaming ourselves and responding by trying to simply push harder. We believe that we just need to hang in there, tough it out, and keep pushing past our limits, compromising not just our personal pulse but also our physical pulse.”
“true resilience is about how you detach in order to replenish and recharge your personal pulse, not how you persevere.”
“Burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long.”
“that the way to stay relevant is to live in overdrive, that if she stops hustling, her value will diminish.”
“found that it takes an average of twenty-five minutes to return to your original task after an interruption.”
“the more choices you make throughout the day, the more challenging each progressive choice becomes for your brain.”
“The term psychoterratica, coined by Australian sustainability professor Glenn Albrecht, stands for the detrimental psychological effects of being disconnected from nature.”
“But rather than draining her energy by pushing back against insurmountable barriers, Bessie channeled her effort in a different direction.”
September 6, 2022
I've read too much about the topic so it becomes repetitive. The worksheets and exercises in this one make it unique, though it focuses more on prevention than fixing when you're already in the burnout state.
February 25, 2023
DNF
This book is burning me out. I went to the Audible app and saw I had ~8 hours left and I just can’t bring myself to invest that much time into this one.
This book is burning me out. I went to the Audible app and saw I had ~8 hours left and I just can’t bring myself to invest that much time into this one.
December 21, 2023
I came across this book after getting to see a speech by Dr. Jimenez at a conference. The most important concept I took away from the speech and book is that the signs of burnout are not easily identifiable. You may be wiped and not event know it. The framework and tools Dr. Jimenez shares creates a cycle of continually checking in and resetting that we all need. The structure of the book neatly follows the pattern I would describe is understanding, identifying, and then fixing.
The benefits of reading this book is that you may be able to bring some reward back into work by building an intentional and craftsperson like practice to it. The book is different from other books in the category in that Dr. Jimenez has put together more of a concrete guide built around the self. She grounds that guide in science-backed resilience strategies. Moreover she shares real-world coaching stories and pragmatic advice. Lastly, it is focused on leadership in the workplace which could have ripple effects for others in the workplace.
Even for all that I am reminded that most self help books echo the best parts of some of my favorites like “Atomic Habits,” “Deep Work,” and “When.” Wo if you have read any or all of those then “The Burnout Fix” won’t really move the needle for you. For everyone else I think that the educational slant mixed with a personal touch will make it very accessible. Moreover, Dr Jimenez writes from an inclusive and empathetic tone making sure to bring everyone along for the journey. In the end it could be motivational and inspirational to anyone trying to find balance in the go go go workplace.
The benefits of reading this book is that you may be able to bring some reward back into work by building an intentional and craftsperson like practice to it. The book is different from other books in the category in that Dr. Jimenez has put together more of a concrete guide built around the self. She grounds that guide in science-backed resilience strategies. Moreover she shares real-world coaching stories and pragmatic advice. Lastly, it is focused on leadership in the workplace which could have ripple effects for others in the workplace.
Even for all that I am reminded that most self help books echo the best parts of some of my favorites like “Atomic Habits,” “Deep Work,” and “When.” Wo if you have read any or all of those then “The Burnout Fix” won’t really move the needle for you. For everyone else I think that the educational slant mixed with a personal touch will make it very accessible. Moreover, Dr Jimenez writes from an inclusive and empathetic tone making sure to bring everyone along for the journey. In the end it could be motivational and inspirational to anyone trying to find balance in the go go go workplace.
April 25, 2022
I really liked this book. It was very comprehensive and talks about a lot of things that lead to burnout that I wouldn't have considered before. I always thought burnout was related to the work you're doing, but in fact, burnout can be a result of so many other things - feeling underappreciated, not finding meaning in your work, not taking time to check in with yourself, etc.
A more accurate title might be, "How to Avoid Burnout," because the book doesn't address how to get out of burnout once you're in it, but rather how to avoid it.
Like most self-help books, this book has a very distinct outline. Dr. J goes through a five-step process for how to have a strong inner P.U.L.S.E., where each letter corresponds to a tip for how to avoid burnout (U = undo untidy thinking, L = leverage leisure, etc.). Everything I read made sense and felt impactful, but once I had finished the book, I had a hard time summarizing what its points were. I think it's because some of the points overlapped, and they all generally had a self care-esque feel to them. SO I think to get the most out of this book, I'd need to read it multiple times or actually go through the process of writing things out like she suggests.
I'd recommend this book if you find yourself feeling anxious about work, or if you dread going into work everyday. I think it's even helpful for non-work responsibilities that you have in life.
A more accurate title might be, "How to Avoid Burnout," because the book doesn't address how to get out of burnout once you're in it, but rather how to avoid it.
Like most self-help books, this book has a very distinct outline. Dr. J goes through a five-step process for how to have a strong inner P.U.L.S.E., where each letter corresponds to a tip for how to avoid burnout (U = undo untidy thinking, L = leverage leisure, etc.). Everything I read made sense and felt impactful, but once I had finished the book, I had a hard time summarizing what its points were. I think it's because some of the points overlapped, and they all generally had a self care-esque feel to them. SO I think to get the most out of this book, I'd need to read it multiple times or actually go through the process of writing things out like she suggests.
I'd recommend this book if you find yourself feeling anxious about work, or if you dread going into work everyday. I think it's even helpful for non-work responsibilities that you have in life.
July 23, 2023
-"to live a truly successful life, you need more than just grit..."
-"Fail stands for 'first attempt in learning' "
-We only spend roughly half our time in the present moment (as opposed to thinking about the past/future)
-"Uncertainty is more stressful than predictable negative consequences." A hypothesis why sometimes people willingly make poor decisions
-Common Errors in Thinking: mind reading, all-or-nothing thinking, mental filter, fortune telling, personalization, should statements
-"Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability." (Patrick Lencioni)
Indications of a healthy vs. unhealthy relationship (any kind of relationship)
-Rest for each other's differences / Try to force change on one another
-Proud of each other's success / Jealousy or competitiveness
-Honestly / Dishonesty
-Ongoing support / Inconsistent support mixed with criticism
-Making shared decisions / One person makes most decisions
-Respect for each other's boundaries / Ignoring each other's needs and boundaries
-A sense of belonging / Having to edit or cover parts of you
-A sense of ease and trust / Consistently feeling exhausted after interacting
-Mutual respect / Ignoring, excluding, or overly critical
-Questions compassionately / Accusing and judgmental
-Realistic expectations / Unreasonable expectations and guilt trips
-"Fail stands for 'first attempt in learning' "
-We only spend roughly half our time in the present moment (as opposed to thinking about the past/future)
-"Uncertainty is more stressful than predictable negative consequences." A hypothesis why sometimes people willingly make poor decisions
-Common Errors in Thinking: mind reading, all-or-nothing thinking, mental filter, fortune telling, personalization, should statements
-"Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability." (Patrick Lencioni)
Indications of a healthy vs. unhealthy relationship (any kind of relationship)
-Rest for each other's differences / Try to force change on one another
-Proud of each other's success / Jealousy or competitiveness
-Honestly / Dishonesty
-Ongoing support / Inconsistent support mixed with criticism
-Making shared decisions / One person makes most decisions
-Respect for each other's boundaries / Ignoring each other's needs and boundaries
-A sense of belonging / Having to edit or cover parts of you
-A sense of ease and trust / Consistently feeling exhausted after interacting
-Mutual respect / Ignoring, excluding, or overly critical
-Questions compassionately / Accusing and judgmental
-Realistic expectations / Unreasonable expectations and guilt trips
Read
August 25, 2021Burnout is avoidable if you take steps to develop your personal resilience. Resilience isn’t about toughing it out or having grit. Instead, it’s about making space for vulnerability, tuning into your thoughts and emotions, and learning to ask for help. It’s also about building positive communities at work and finding connection with other people. Company leaders have just as big a role to play in preventing employee burnout. They can do this by creating equitable workplaces where employees feel a sense of belonging and psychological safety.
Actionable advice:
Make a “to-don’t” list.
Usually, we make lists of things we need to remember to do. But equally important are lists to remind ourselves of things we shouldn’t do because they sap our time and energy. Does speaking to your mother while you’re at work leave you feeling frustrated and distracted? Or do you get trapped in an endless cycle of online shopping that robs you of precious time that you could be spending in nature? Add these and other “don'ts” to your list, and hang it above your desk where you can see it.
Actionable advice:
Make a “to-don’t” list.
Usually, we make lists of things we need to remember to do. But equally important are lists to remind ourselves of things we shouldn’t do because they sap our time and energy. Does speaking to your mother while you’re at work leave you feeling frustrated and distracted? Or do you get trapped in an endless cycle of online shopping that robs you of precious time that you could be spending in nature? Add these and other “don'ts” to your list, and hang it above your desk where you can see it.
August 25, 2021
Burnout is avoidable if you take steps to develop your personal resilience. Resilience isn't about toughing it out or having grit. Instead, it's about making space for vulnerability, tuning into your thoughts and emotions, and learning to ask for help. It's also about building positive communities at work and finding connection with other people. Company leaders have just as big a role to play in preventing employee burnout. They can do this by creating equitable workplaces where employees feel a sense of belonging and psychological safety.
Make a “to-don't" list.
Usually, we make lists of things we need to remember to do. But equally important are lists to remind ourselves of things we shouldn't do because they sap our time and energy. Does speaking to your mother while you're at work leave you feeling frustrated and do you get trapped in an endless cycle of online shopping that robs you of precious time that you could be spending in nature? Add these and other "don'ts" to your list, and hang it above your desk distracted where you can see it.
Make a “to-don't" list.
Usually, we make lists of things we need to remember to do. But equally important are lists to remind ourselves of things we shouldn't do because they sap our time and energy. Does speaking to your mother while you're at work leave you feeling frustrated and do you get trapped in an endless cycle of online shopping that robs you of precious time that you could be spending in nature? Add these and other "don'ts" to your list, and hang it above your desk distracted where you can see it.
February 22, 2021
I read an advance copy for this book, and found the information helpful and insightful. There's a lot of stress going on right now for many people, and the Burnout Fix includes several things you can do avoid burnout in the first place. I enjoyed reading the stories of interesting people, and appreciate the author including references to the science behind her recommendations. This book goes much deeper into the topic than most surface articles you might read online. Of course avoiding burnout requires you to actually take action, but the Burnout Fix can help show you the way...
March 21, 2021
As an artist and a teacher, I found this book to be an outstanding and helpful read! From Dr. Jiminez's actual coaching stories to the remarkable amount of research studies to the resilience tool kit --this book really does have so much to offer for a variety of readers seeking ways to enrich their lives! I highly recommend this book!
April 16, 2021
Straight to the pain point and highly actionable both for individuals and organizations
Research turned to action with real life case studies including the authors personal experience.
Must read and practice for leaders that are both individual contributors and managers.
If you don't have time just go through the practices they are highly effective !
Research turned to action with real life case studies including the authors personal experience.
Must read and practice for leaders that are both individual contributors and managers.
If you don't have time just go through the practices they are highly effective !
June 15, 2021
I enjoyed this book as it has very insightful anecdotes and science-backed research that explains burnout. I would recommend this book to anyone who is at a point in life who feels they want to re-organize and reset themselves to thrive and live more fulfilling lives while they get the important things in their lives accomplished.
February 14, 2023
If you are looking for this book to help you, there are other books that are much more ground breaking. This book just reiterated all the fluff that other “self help” books have to offer. I was burned out on this book halfway through and had to force myself to finish it in hopes of picking up something useful.
December 24, 2023
Burnout is a tricky topic. I like how the author acknowledges that it is different for each individual, the writing comes across as “be this and be that” and over rotates on proving her point with data without the ‘how’ and tactical next steps. For example, “be more resilient” in section 7 gives all this data into why but lacks the how.
Read
December 17, 2022Not bad just not for me. There is some good stuff in here but nothing new, doesn’t go in depth but tries to cover a lot, and has far too many anecdotes/case studies for my taste. Too many steps to do too many things, and very long; basically skimmed the majority of the book.
Read
June 27, 20233.5?
I listened on Audible (it was free there!) for our work book club, and as with most of our books for work, it would’ve been better in print. I missed some graphics that would’ve enhanced the experience.
I listened on Audible (it was free there!) for our work book club, and as with most of our books for work, it would’ve been better in print. I missed some graphics that would’ve enhanced the experience.
August 25, 2021
A key takeaway for me is to try to make time for Silence, Solitude and Sanctuary in my daily life. My mental health determines how effective I am in my work.
October 31, 2022
TIL that I was part of a team with a weak pulse and I am not actually burnt out.
December 30, 2022
Had to read for work
August 21, 2023
Helpful bits and pieces. Could have been been condensed into a couple blog posts.
October 17, 2023
A good book about the causes and remedies for burnout, it is comprehensive and useful, audiobook was nice. Whoever is afraid to burnout or wants to solve burnout will benefit from this book.
March 5, 2024
Really enjoyed this book! I think this a great book for managers too. Really dives into many angles of burnout.
June 14, 2025
There was a few useful points but I felt the book could have been half this size.
September 18, 2025
(Ebook) Very organized and insightful! I feel like this book will help a lot once I start implementing the practices.
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