Recognizing Burnout and Learning How to Reset

By Ashley Renee

BottomLine Reset™ Journal

Are You Running on Empty Without Realizing It?

You wake up tired, no matter how much you sleep.

You move through your day with half your focus, half your energy, and none of your clarity.

You might tell yourself this is just “part of life.” But what you’re actually feeling could be burnout, a state of emotional, physical, and cognitive exhaustion that creeps in quietly until it consumes everything that once felt manageable.¹

What Burnout Really Is and Why It’s More Than Stress

Burnout is not just “too much work” or “not enough rest.”

It’s a physiological and psychological state where chronic stress overwhelms your nervous system, your motivation, and your sense of purpose.²

It shows up differently for everyone:

• Forgetfulness, brain fog, constant second-guessing.

• Sleep problems or irritability.

• Tight shoulders, headaches, or gut tension that seem to come from nowhere.

  
  

  Most people dismiss these as “normal,” but these are actually the body’s red flags of dysregulation.

Is It Just Work or Whole-Life Burnout?

You might assume burnout only comes from your job. But the nervous system doesn’t separate work stress from emotional, relational, or moral stress.

Burnout can stem from any prolonged misalignment between your values and your daily reality.³

• Career burnout: You’re working harder while feeling less fulfilled.

• Relationship burnout: You’re giving endlessly, receiving little, and losing your sense of self.

• Values burnout: You’re saying “yes” when you mean “no,” or staying where peace costs too much.

• Caregiving burnout: You’re holding everyone else up, but no one’s holding you.

When these collide, they create what researchers call whole-life burnout, a form of exhaustion that extends beyond performance and into identity.⁴

The Science: Why Burnout Isn’t a Mindset Problem

Burnout is not a failure of resilience. It’s a breakdown in regulation.

When stress becomes chronic, your HPA axis (the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal system) stays locked in survival mode.

This floods your system with cortisol and adrenaline, impairing focus, memory, and sleep.⁵

Over time, this state:

• Disrupts circadian rhythms.

• Suppresses immune function.

• Drains dopamine, which blunts motivation and reward.⁶

In organizations, the cost compounds. Studies show that burnout reduces engagement, productivity, and quality, but recovery programs focused on alignment, rest, and leadership support significantly reverse the trend.⁷

Where the Science Meets the Spirit

Research points to physiology, but healing burnout also requires meaning.

As Dr. Jonathan Hoover explains in Stress Fracture: Your Ultimate Guide to Healing Burnout, the deeper cause of burnout often lies in disconnection from identity and purpose.⁸

Whether that reconnection happens through faith, self-reflection, or value realignment, healing requires returning to what feels true and letting go of what doesn’t.

Two Ways to Begin Your Reset

1. Identify your misalignment.

   
   

   What part of your life feels most draining? Ask yourself: “Is this supporting my peace, or stealing it?”

   
   

2. Regulate before you react.

   
   

   Try 3 minutes of coherent breathing, inhale for five seconds, exhale for five.

   
   

   This rhythm signals safety to your body and reactivates your capacity to focus, decide, and connect.

If you’re unsure where you stand, reach out through email to take the Burnout Audit .

Burnout isn’t the end, it’s a signal.

And signals are meant to be answered.

References

1. Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20311

2. Tang, Y. Y., Raffone, A., & Wong, Y. H. (2025). Burnout and stress: New insights and interventions. Scientific Reports, 15, 497. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-92909-6

3. Leiter, M. P., & Maslach, C. (2004). Areas of worklife: A structured approach to organizational predictors of job burnout. Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being, 3, 91–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3555(03)03003-8

4. Mikolajczak, M., Gross, J. J., & Roskam, I. (2019). Parental burnout: What is it, and why does it matter? Clinical Psychological Science, 7(6), 1319–1329. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702619858430

5. Tang, Y. Y., et al. (2025). Burnout and stress: New insights and interventions. Scientific Reports, 15, 497. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-92909-6

6. Zeng, P., Li, X., Wang, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2024). Person–job fit and burnout: The mediating role of work pressure. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1351032. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1351032

7. West, C. P., Dyrbye, L. N., & Shanafelt, T. D. (2023). Physician burnout: Contributors, consequences, and solutions. Journal of Internal Medicine, 293(5), 547–566. https://doi.org/10.1111/joim.13654

8. Hoover, J. (2014). Stress fracture: Your ultimate guide to healing burnout. HigherLife Publishing.