It’s a word that comes up a lot in my line of work.
But what does it mean?
It may mean one thing to you, and something quite different to others.
According to the World Health Organisation “Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and
reduced professional efficacy.
Often we don’t realise we’re heading for burnout. Sometimes it takes a major health or relationship crisis, or indeed a global pandemic to give us a wake-up call.
Here’s an excerpt of my book:
For many people Covid came as a big wakeup call, as well as an opportunity to take time to reflect on our lives, and what matters most to us. Perhaps you were one of them. For the first time in living memory the whole world was forced to stop. Many of us found ourselves with more time on our hands than we ever knew what to do with. Suddenly we weren’t jumping on the daily commuter train at some ungodly hour, and returning home only once the kids were tucked up and fast asleep. It was the first time in our adult lives that we weren’t rushing around constantly. Covid gave us time to reflect and what we saw in that reflection came as a harsh reality check.
If Covid wasn’t your time to stop & reflect, then perhaps now is. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a global pandemic to take stock of your life.
If you feel like you might be heading for burnout, you may find inspiration in this playlist of interviews which features people who faced burnout, and managed to turn it into something positive! I particularly enjoyed my recent interview with Christina Kent, who quit her job to become a successful (and more importantly, happy!) artist.
Take care and have a great weekend,
Yeşim
If you're thinking about making a career change, feel free to get in touch, have a read of my book ‘Ready to quit your job?’ or listen to some more inspiring career change stories on my podcast. I also have some free resources to help with your career change plans on my website.

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