Burnout isn’t new, but the way we work has changed dramatically in recent years, while our approach to stress management at work has remained largely the same - and that’s a problem. If we don’t update the way we prevent and address burnout, we’ll continue to see workplaces struggling with disengagement, turnover, and productivity loss and employees struggling with their mental and physical health.

I’ve been studying stress, mental health, and burnout since before it was cool - before 2020 made burnout mainstream. Now, as a burnout speaker, I get to work with organizations on their burnout management strategies so I get to see firsthand how stress and burnout is being handled in the workplace.

I’ve worked with countless organizations to help them understand burnout from a science-backed perspective, and one thing is clear: burnout isn’t just an individual problem. It’s a workplace challenge that affects people and business outcomes alike. Here’s why burnout prevention is more important now than ever before.

1. Work Has Changed, But Stress Management Hasn’t Caught Up

Work today looks nothing like it did a decade ago. Hybrid and remote work have blurred the lines between work and personal life. Digital communication means people are accessible at all hours. Workloads have increased, resources are scare, and the expectation to “do more with less” has become the norm.

Yet, most stress management strategies are still focused on individual self-care, like encouraging employees to meditate or take deep breaths when overwhelmed. While those things can be helpful, they don’t address the bigger issue: how work itself is structured. Preventing burnout requires systemic change, not just surface-level solutions.

What’s most interesting to me is that there is actually a lot of amazing research on stress management and burnout at work. It’s just not being well-used. That’s where I come in - as a burnout speaker I work to branch the gap between research and practice.

How Work Has Changed in the Past Decade

• The Rise of Remote & Hybrid Work: While offering flexibility, remote and hybrid work also removes natural boundaries between work and home life, leading to increased hours and difficulty disconnecting. My clients and I often work on strategies for detaching from work.

• Always-On Culture: Instant messaging, email, and workplace apps mean employees feel pressure to be available 24/7 - even when people live in places that prohibit employers from contacting employees outside of work hours. It’s become a norm to be always available.

• Increased Workloads: Many companies are understaffed, leading to greater responsibilities being placed on fewer employees. Workload is one of the most common challenges that the teams I work with are facing and while some of this can be addressed with individual-level strategies some of it is a management issue.

• Faster Work Pace: Everything is moving fast. The employees I speak with often have a sense of urgency - whether it’s real or perceived. The heightened stress this creates puts people at greater risk for burnout. And these stressors aren’t just one-time things; the fast pace and never-ending urgency creates chronic stress.

• The Gig Economy & Job Insecurity: Many professionals now work as freelancers or contract employees, dealing with income instability and a lack of employer-provided benefits.

• Increased Performance Expectations: Technology enables faster work, but also raises expectations for productivity, often at the cost of personal well-being. People talk a big game about AI taking over, but somehow it seems like we’re doing more work than ever before.

2. Cognitive Overload Is At an All-Time High

With digital communication comes constant task-switching, information overload, and interruptions. Research shows that shifting between tasks can reduce productivity by as much as 40%, yet many workplaces still expect employees to multitask throughout the day.

On top of this, the cognitive load of our personal lives keeps getting higher too. I love Tik Tok, but it’s a little bit wild if you thinking about! Within just a few minutes of scrolling, you’re exposed to more ideas than previous generations were exposed to all year.

The result? Increased mental fatigue, lower focus, and higher stress levels. When employees are always on, their ability to engage meaningfully with work diminishes. Burnout prevention must take cognitive load into account, offering ways for people to manage their energy and attention more effectively and curb-multitasking.

The Science Behind Cognitive Overload

Our brains have a limited amount of working memory. When we constantly switch between tasks - jumping from an email to a meeting, to a Slack message - we exhaust our cognitive resources faster. In particular, my clients complain about notifications and “urgent” messages taking them off-task. This leads to:

• Fatigue: We’re running through physiological resources in our brains when we switch tasks constantly.

• Reduced Creativity: When the brain is overloaded, it struggles to think innovatively or solve problems effectively.

• Emotional Exhaustion: Chronic cognitive overload leads to irritability, frustration, and feeling emotionally drained.

Strategies to Reduce Cognitive Overload

• Time Blocking: Scheduling deep work sessions with no interruptions.

• Reducing Notifications: Turning off non-essential alerts to minimize distractions.

• Batching Tasks: Grouping similar tasks together to reduce task-switching.

• Prioritizing Recovery Time: Taking intentional breaks to recharge the brain and improve focus.

3. Burnout Hurts Both People and Businesses

Burnout isn’t just a personal struggle, it’s also a workplace problem with measurable consequences. It hurts everyone - the person who burnt out, the other employees who are now stuck taking over workload, the leader who is down a person, the organization as people go down like dominos - you get it. It’s not good!

Employees experiencing burnout are more likely to disengage, make mistakes, and eventually leave their jobs. For organizations, this means:

• Higher turnover and recruiting costs

• Decreased productivity and innovation

• Increased absenteeism and presenteeism

• Lower overall morale and engagement

Real-World Impact on Companies

Many organizations assume burnout is an individual issue, but this is a huge oversight. I’m a burnout speaker and researcher who cares deeply about this issue, so sometimes I’m still shocked by how many leaders don’t realize that burnout impacts their organizations. Companies that fail to address burnout systematically experience:

• Loss of top talent: High-achieving employees are often the first to burn out and leave.

• Increased healthcare costs: Burnout is linked to physical and mental health issues, leading to higher insurance claims and sick leave.

• Poor customer experience: Disengaged employees provide lower-quality service, affecting client retention and satisfaction.

• Reputational Damage: High burnout rates can create a negative employer brand, making it harder to attract top talent - and then you have less people so your current people are more likely to burnout. It’s a vicious cycle.

4. Quick-Fix Wellness Initiatives Don’t Work

Many companies have tried to address burnout with wellness perks like yoga classes, meditation apps, and mindfulness training. A 2024 study found that individual-level wellness interventions aren’t very effective. This is why as a burnout speaker and consultant I love working with teams to address the root issues of burnout. Wellness apps are great complements to a burnout prevention strategy, they don’t address the root cause: the way work is structured and managed.

Without addressing common causes of workplace burnout like workload, autonomy, fairness, recognition, and job expectations, burnout will persist no matter how many wellness programs are introduced. True burnout prevention requires looking at both individual and organizational factors that contribute to stress and exhaustion.

What Actually Works?

I vote we keep the perks if there’s budget for it. Who doesn’t love a free app? But perks aren’t enough unless companies also focus on:

• Setting realistic workload expectations: Ensuring employees aren’t constantly overwhelmed. Can’t use wellness perks if you don’t have time, anyways!

• Promoting recovery time: Encouraging breaks, vacations, and time off without guilt. Everyone should have the ability to take the breaks and days off they’re entitled to.

• Improving job control: Allowing employees autonomy over their tasks and schedules. This is a big one - employees thrive when they’re treated like the responsible, capable people they are.

• Creating a supportive culture: Managers must lead by example and support well-being initiatives at both the individual and team-level.

• Regularly Assessing Burnout Risk: Conducting surveys and one-on-one check-ins to gauge employee well-being.

5. Sustainable Work Is the Way Forward

Burnout prevention isn’t just about avoiding exhaustion—it’s about creating a workplace where people can do their best work without sacrificing their health. Companies that take burnout seriously don’t just see happier employees; they see better retention, stronger engagement, and improved performance.

I believe we can go beyond just preventing burnout and create workplaces where people can really thrive. It’s time, right? The industrial revolution, the dot com boom, and now the rise of AI - surely, we have arrived at a time where we can design jobs that feel good and are good for people.

How Leaders Can Drive Change

If you’re a leader, you play a critical role in burnout prevention and driving the change to a new, healthier way to work. You can:

• Encourage psychological safety: Employees should feel comfortable discussing workload challenges without fear of repercussions.

• Model healthy behaviors: Taking breaks, prioritizing well-being, and setting clear work-life boundaries.

• Invest in employee development: Professional growth opportunities can increase engagement and job satisfaction.

• Normalize Conversations Around Burnout: Making well-being discussions part of regular team meetings.

This is why I work with organizations as a burnout speaker to implement science-backed burnout prevention strategies that actually make a difference. By helping teams understand how stress works, how recovery happens, and how to build resilience at work, we can create a work culture where people thrive, not just survive.

Final Thoughts

The way we work has changed. The expectations on employees have changed It’s time for burnout prevention strategies to evolve, too - and we’ve already got so much great research, so many amazing tools, and so many fantastic strategies! We just need to use them.

If you want to create a workplace where well-being and performance go hand in hand, it starts with recognizing that burnout is preventable—but only if we move beyond quick fixes and focus on sustainable, research-backed solutions.