Burnout doesn’t come crashing down on us all at once. It’s more like a tap dripping - slow, steady, almost imperceptible - until one day, the tank is empty. It’s a gradual wearing away of our energy, our capacity, and our vitality. And because the slope is so gentle, we may not even realise how far we have gone until we are completely depleted.

For women, who often juggle caregiving, demanding careers, and conflicting responsibilities, burnout can feel like an inevitability - almost a byproduct of constantly holding multiple strands.

Burnout can often be accompanied by a sense of shame or a feeling of inadequacy, but it isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s our body’s intelligence at play saying “It’s time to stop, I can’t keep going like this”. Wisely, our body pulls the emergency brake on our behalf to stop further depletion. 

Burnout is our body’s way of protecting us, asking us to pause, rest, and recalibrate.