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Urgently Addressing Burnout: A Critical Step Ahead of International Women’s Day

This makes me sad. According to last week’s publication of the 2025 Mental Health UK Report on Burnout, a staggering 68% of UK women report feeling burnt out, with 45% of women saying they feel emotionally exhausted every single day. Every Single Day. That is most definitely not soaring. That is not work being joyful. That is just plain awful.

So, as International Women’s Day approaches, I feel a bubbling urgency to confront burnout as one of the most pervasive issues that women face in the workplace today. It’s an issue that affects individuals across industries yes, and at every level yes, but its impact is disproportionately felt by women, who often balance multiple (extensive) responsibilities in both their professional and personal lives, thus careering down into burnout at an accelerated pace.

Beyond the wearying girl power, burnout is of course a global issue, harming societies and economies as well as individual’s lives. The World Health Organization now recognizes burnout as an “occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”. The global costs of burnout are reaching eye-watering levels with the latest 2024 Deloitte Global Wellbeing Survey estimating that burnout costs the global economy $322 billion annually. Alas, a significant percentage of that cost stems from lost productivity due to mental health issues, absenteeism, and turnover.

But here’s the hopeful truth: burnout does not have to be inevitable if you’re ambitious, impassioned and a grafter, as the main causes of burnout are pretty much always lifestyle-based and preventable e.g. we don’t use up our full holiday allowance, we don’t take care of ourselves properly, we have a wonky vision of what ‘having it all means’, etc. So, by taking deliberate, intentional steps to address the root causes of burnout, individuals and companies alike can prevent its onset. The first step is a moment of change—a collective or individual decision to prioritize education around self-awareness, self-agency, and what graceful, sustainable productivity looks like.

This is where the first four strategies outlined in my book Big Impact Without Burnout—Energy, Mindset, Purpose, and Time—offer a transformative path forward. We go within to learn the how of avoiding burnout.

Energy: Reclaiming Vitality in a Demanding World

Burnout, at its core, is an energy crisis. It is the result of giving too much of yourself, while not replenishing what has been lost. The Deloitte Global Wellbeing Survey reveals that 55% of employees globally report feeling overwhelmed by the demands of their jobs, and over 30% of these individuals attribute this stress to a lack of support in managing their workload. When energy is not intentionally managed, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain high performance without succumbing to exhaustion.

The key to overcoming this is intentional energy management. It requires women (and men of course too) to learn how to protect their physical and emotional energy by setting boundaries and creating recovery rituals. By cultivating regular practices of rest, nutrition, movement, and reflection, individuals can sustainably fuel their work without depleting themselves. In my experience working with leaders in my coaching and consultancy practice, The Burnout Business, and over the past few decades in global corporate roles corporate, those who prioritise their own energy are the most likely to have lasting success without burning their flames of brilliance out.

Mindset: Shifting From Scarcity to Abundance

A scarcity mindset—the belief that there is never enough time, are never enough resources, and never enough of oneself to meet the demands of work—directly contributes to burnout. According to the Deloitte Global Wellbeing Survey, employees who report experiencing burnout are significantly more likely to feel trapped in this scarcity mindset. The constant push to “do more” without taking time to celebrate progress leads to overwhelm and emotional exhaustion.

A mindset shift is essential. By moving from scarcity to abundance, we begin to believe that we have the resources—time, support, and energy—to meet challenges in a sustainable way. Instead of focusing on everything that needs to be done, we can focus on what truly matters and what is possible. This shift enables us to approach work with clarity, creativity, and purpose. It allows us to step away from the “endless to-do list” and focus on what is meaningful, fulfilling, and impactful.

Purpose: Reconnecting with What Matters Most

Burnout often occurs when we lose connection with our deeper purpose. Without a clear sense of why we do what we do, it’s easy to become caught in the inertia of busyness, leading to emotional and mental depletion. According to a study conducted by Gallup in 2024, workers who feel disconnected from their work are 35% more likely to experience burnout compared to those who find meaning in their roles.

This is why reconnecting with purpose is so essential. When we align our work with our personal values and goals, we feel more motivated and energized to give our best. Purpose gives us the resilience to weather challenges and to view obstacles as opportunities for growth. When our daily actions align with our deeper values, we create sustainable impact, not just for ourselves but for the people and communities we serve.

Time: Mastering Boundaries and Rest

My final pillar in preventing burnout is time. Many people who experience burnout feel as though there is never enough time to accomplish everything on their plate. A 2024 report from the World Economic Forum shows that one in two workers globally struggles with time management, leading to chronic stress and dissatisfaction.

Learning to protect your time through boundaries, delegation, and prioritisation is essential. It’s about saying no to tasks that don’t align with your values or goals and making space for rest, creativity, and reflection. As I’ve often said in my work, time is not just a resource—it is a reflection of what we truly care about. If we want to create the impact we’re capable of, we need to treat our time with respect and intention.

The Road Ahead: A Vision of Possibility

As we look ahead (and why not use the milestone of IWD 2025 milestone as a marker for change?), I invite you to embrace a future of work that isn’t swirling with stress, exhaustion, and burnout, but is instead rich in clarity, fulfilment, and sustainable impact. By addressing burnout head-on, organisations and individuals alike can create a new paradigm of work—one where joy, creativity, and resilience are celebrated.

The statistics may be as depressing as they are staggering, but I see sunshine on the horizon. With taught intention and learned self-awareness, leaders can break the cycle of burnout by redefining success and heralding graceful productivity as the route to soaring both individually and organisationally.

By carefully and caringly adopting strategies to prevent burnout, work becomes a source of energy, not depletion. It becomes a joy not a struggle.

References if you’d like to dig further (try not to weep and stay focused on the graceful productivity solution!):

  • Mental Health UK Report on Burnout (2025). Mental Health UK.
  • Deloitte Global Wellbeing Survey (2024). Deloitte.
  • World Health Organization (WHO) (2024). Burnout and Occupational Health.
  • Gallup Study on Employee Engagement and Burnout (2024). Gallup.
  • World Economic Forum Report (2024). “The Global State of Time Management and Employee Well-being.”

Bianca Best

Author Bianca Best

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