When we are on the brink of Burnout, we have to get serious quickly.  

We have low energy, low motivation, and from my experience, it can get worse than you realize.

1. Shrink Your Visible and Invisible Load

Become aware of the responsibilities you are actually carrying right now in each of your “lanes of responsibility”.  Begin to shrink the ones are energy drainers? If you need help, we offer a 3 Day “Set It Down” Challenge once a month in our ReEnergizing Professional Women Fresh Rise Group to help you set things down at work and home right away.  

2. Rebuild Energy Using the 4 Energy Essentials Framework

Focus on the four inputs that give working women the most energy return on the least time:

 – Focus on Daily Nervous System Regulation

 – Create Clarity About What Gives Energy (and what is stealing it too quickly)

 – Rewire Old Beliefs about Productivity, Self-Worth, and Being Good Enough

 – Increase Emotional Awareness and Regulation Strategies.

Making micro-shifts in these areas rebuild capacity fast. In our Less, Lighter, Calmer: A 2-Part Exhaustion Reset for Working Women we give you a tangible, 120 minute method to begin to do this! 

3. Redesign How You Work Using the U.S. Surgeon General’s Levers of Wellbeing

Even when you can’t typically change your work culture and employer’s methods, you can improve your daily experience and raise your wellbeing.  The U.S. Surgeon General has already raised the red flag about how big of an issue burnout and mental health wellbeing at work is to the country’s progress and success.  It isn’t a YOU problem.  Burnout is a public health crisis and yet most women don’t know how to get unhooked from it’s grasp.

Looking for ways to dial up or increase any of these Levels of Wellbeing at work will help things feel better immediately.

 – Safety & Security (personal safety, financial security, psychological safety, emotional stability)

 – Social Support & Connection

 – Flexibility & Autonomy

 – Mattering

 – Growth Opportunities

You can actually redesign your workday from the inside out if you get intentional.  It may not seem obvious at first but to start – look for places that exist already and consider how you could put more attention in those areas. 

Ask yourself – Where and how can I increase levers of wellbeing in my work & life.

4. Adopt “Energy-First Boundaries”

These are boundaries that conserve mental bandwidth rather than putting energy towards managing other people’s behavior or responses. Tiny boundaries can strangely create huge breathing room for us. 

 Examples:

“I don’t take action on requests after 5:00 PM.”

“I communicate expectations early and clearly.”

“I need to let other people own their responsibilities and their own development.”

“I take action to stop avoiding or staying stuck in overwhelm.”

“I don’t assume other people’s agendas, I clarify.”

5. Make Life Easier With Low-Burden Systems

Working women don’t need complicated systems, we need systems that work even on low energy days. Take a moment to think about what isn’t working – then consider what small actions, changes, structures, tools, or new processes could simply make it 20% better. If we can make the hard stuff 20% better, we will feel the difference. Focus on improving one stressful area a week.

CEO’s Of Our Own Work-Life

I believe that as women, we need to stop owning the impossible. This current system of work-life imbalance was not designed by us and definitely not designed for us. The longer that we see this juggle as something that’s a failure of our own, we will continue to lose energy. 

We are good people. 

We are definitely good enough. 

We are valuable even if no one tells us that.

We can design our own solutions to the gaps that exist in workplace design if we take the time to look for micro-improvements.

Fresh Rise Group supports mid-career professionals creating healthier, happier work & life through digital courses, 1:1 coaching, workplace presentations and consultation.

Sarah Rose is a workplace well-being coach, recovering over-worker, married mother of 2, and founder of Fresh Rise Group. She helps maxed-out mid-career women who are juggling approximately 47 roles (but only getting paid for one or two) reclaim their energy, boundaries, and confidence without quitting their entire lives. A former “good girl” turned possibility pusher, Sarah challenges long-held beliefs about productivity and being good, but also teaches quick, doable strategies that work even on days when your brain feels like mush.