Catch Burnout Before It Hits

Because burnout does not always arrive all at once. Sometimes it starts quietly: one ignored boundary, one skipped break, one more “I’ll just handle it,” one more “I’m fine” when you are absolutely not fine.

In this episode, Jess and Claude talk about the silent drain of burnout and how work besties can help us catch it before it becomes a crash. They break down what burnout is, what it is not, and the early signs that are easy to miss — from waking up tired and feeling more cynical, to struggling with work that usually feels manageable.

They also unpack the stories many of us were taught about hustle culture: that caring means being available, ambition means always saying yes, and commitment means exhaustion. But there is no award for being the busiest person in the room.

This episode introduces the “Burnout Before It Hits” check-in, a simple mid-year reset built around five questions:

What is draining me right now?
What boundary am I ignoring?
What am I saying yes to that needs a pause?
What does my body know before my brain admits it?
What is one micro reset I can take today?

The challenge this week is simple: one drain, one boundary.

Burnout does not mean you failed. It means something has been asking too much from you for too long without enough recovery, support, or truth.

So send this episode to the work bestie who always says “I’m fine,” but you know they are running on fumes. And maybe ask them: what can we take off your plate this week?

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Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband

Transcript

Burnout Starts With Small Leaks

Claude F 0:00

What if burnout does not arrive all at once?

Jess K 0:03

Maybe it starts with one ignored boundary, one skipped break, one more, I'll just handle it,

Claude F 0:10

a nd then you are empty.

Jess K 0:12

Today we're talking about the silent drain and how work besties can help us catch burnout before it hits.

Claude F 0:18

P rotect your energy early. Hi, I'm Claude

Jess K 0:21

And I'm Jess.

Claude F 0:23

We are corporate employees by day, entrepreneurs by night, and work besties for life.

Jess K 0:29

Join us as we explore how work besties lift each other up, laugh through the chaos, and thrive together in every industry. Work besties. This month is Burnout and Boundaries, and we're doing it the work bestie way.

Claude F 0:45

Wh ich means we are checking on each other.

Jess K 0:48

Exactly. Because burnout doesn't uh show up just overnight. It builds quietly. One late night, many late nights. Many late nights. One ignored boundary. Many ignored boundaries. One skipped meal. I don't skip a lot of meals.

Claude F 1:04

I don't skip. I can't.

Jess K 1:06

I can't. One more I'm fine when you are absolutely not. That I do a lot.

Claude F 1:11

The famous I'm fine.

Jess K 1:13

I do that a lot. The least trustworthy sentence in the workplace history.

Claude F 1:18

N ever believe it.

Jess K 1:20

And the reason this month matters is because your work bestie often sees the shift before you even do. They notice when your energy changes, they notice when you stop laughing. They notice when you're more irritated, tired, more overwhelmed, or just more disconnected.

Claude F 1:36

Yeah, they see the face, and you don't have this connection as much, this fun connection.

Jess K 1:42

Right. The face, or maybe even the text messages, say everything.

Claude F 1:46

Exactly. And the team status.

Jess K 1:49

Yeah, we do write a lot on teams, too. So this month we're talking about protecting our energy, setting boundaries, rewriting hustle stories, and learning how to pause before we hit the wall.

Claude F 2:01

Because burnout is not cute.

Jess K 2:03

And by the end of this episode, you'll have a language for recognizing burnout earlier, setting better boundaries, and helping your work bestie do the same thing. Catch it early.

What Burnout Actually Means

Jess K 2:15

Alright, so let's start by defining burnout. Because sometimes we use that word kind of casually, but it's actually very specific. Yeah, it's not like your Monday morning, oh, I'm tired. Right. So, you know me, I love to read books and get to facts. So did you journalist? I didn't journalism, but I did read about this. In fact, yeah, I got the description directly from the World Health Organization, and they describe burnout as an occupational phenomenon that comes from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. And it shows up in three ways: energy depletion or exhaustion, mental distance or cynicism about your job, and reduced professional effectiveness. Anyway, so tired or checked out and not working like yourself as well. So that is the simple version.

Claude F 3:22

And I think that matters because burnout is not just a busy week. It is what happens when stress keeps building without enough recovery, without enough support, or enough boundaries.

Jess K 3:35

So it's that slow leak. Yeah. Burnout is exactly the slow leak. So what is burnout? Well, burnout, let's see what is not.

Claude F 3:47

Okay. All right. So burnout is not being dramatic. It's not being lazy. And it's not about needing, oh, one coffee, you know, and I just need to go to Starbucks. Or I just need to go out on a weekend. Or you know what? I'm just bad at my job.

Jess K 4:07

Yeah. Or needing to just push through it. Yeah. I don't like push through it. So sometimes pushing through is exactly how we got here. Yeah. So normalizing it without making the goal. And if you felt burnout, or if you were close to it, you are not broken. You're probably just overloaded. And that feels important. So we have to stop turning burnout into a personal failure. It can be a signal that something needs to change. The workload, the expectation, the cynicism, the boundaries, the support, or the story we're telling ourselves about what we have to prove. Yeah, that is the story is very important. Right?

Claude F 4:48

And what we have to prove. Exactly. So this month is not about doing less because we don't, we do not care. It is about protecting our energy so then we can keep showing up for what actually matters. So let's talk about the silent drain.

The Silent Drain And Warning Signs

Jess K 5:06

Yes. Burnout does not always look like a dramatic breakdown. Sometimes it's being very high functioning on the outside, while inside you've become empty and depleted.

Claude F 5:19

You know, it's almost like when someone is smile, it's smiling, but the eyes, it's like they're dead inside.

Jess K 5:26

It sounds funny, but it's true. I don't mean to laugh at that. It's true. Because I feel like there's times when like you look at me in a video like, that's great. And I'm smiling and I'm like, ah. But that's when you send a team, you know, with the girl. Yeah. Um, and I think so many ambitious people, especially high performers, get really, really good at hiding it. We make it look so fine. So here are some signs that we have noticed that we would like to call to attention. Okay, so the first are what we call the energy signs. You go to bed, you've actually had enough sleep for the day, but you wake up tired and you go into Monday already looking forward to Friday. So you need more time to recover from the normal things. You need a nap after one email. Or just checking an email in and out of itself makes you want to lie down.

Claude F 6:23

So real. So some prompting questions. Am I starting the day already depleted? Do no more tasks feel heavier than usual? Am I recovering on weekends or just collapsing? Or am I even sleeping?

Jess K 6:38

That last one matters. If you take time off and still come back exhausted, that may be a signal that the drain is even deeper than you're thinking. So then there's the emotional side. This is when you feel more irritable, more cynical, more numb. You stop caring about things that you used to care about. Yeah, that's so sad when it comes to that. And everything annoys you. And this is like when you know your work bestie so well, and we know that we both actually generally love our jobs and what we do. If something like this comes up and we start hearing from each other about it, that it's a sign, right? Something as simple as like, I get an invite, and then the follow-up question is like quick question. Because you know it's never quick. Never, never quick. So things that cause some of this would be am I more irritated than it usual? Usual. Am I more cynical than usual? Am I avoiding people? Am I saying I don't care what I actually used to care a lot? That is so sad when you go to the I don't care. That's when also you see that there's over, like yeah, you are now officially in the swerv of burnout. Yeah, and it's sad because burnout can make caring feel dangerous, right?

Claude F 8:01

Because caring takes energy.

Jess K 8:02

Yeah, so you almost like shut down. Yeah.

Claude F 8:05

Yeah.

Jess K 8:05

So then you have the work signs. You are missing details that you normally would catch. You're procrastinating more, you're really just even struggling to start things, or you're doing more but feeling less and less effective. And that one hurts. Because when your identity is tied to being capable, feeling less effective, it's like a scary situation. Yeah, you're like, what's wrong with me? And this is where I want to cite Devin Price's laziness, that laziness does not actually exist because the message here is so helpful. Sometimes what we call laziness is actually just the exhaustion, overwhelm, confusion, or the system that's asking just way too much of us. Actually, you're not lazy. You're just drained.

Claude F 8:53

There's no, you don't see any end. You're at the end, you'll say, like, eh, you know what? It's it's the same. Nothing is going to change. Right. But that's when it's really dangerous.

Jess K 9:04

And uh, let's be real, burnout is not always loud. It's creeping. No, it's like a whisper, like a shh before you hear the screens. Yeah. So the goal this month is to hear the whispers so you don't get to the screen. Yeah. Correct.

Hustle Culture And False Pride

Jess K 9:20

So we need to talk about hustle. We live in a world of hustle cul culture. So many of us were taught a story that sounds something like this. If you care, you should be available. If you're ambitious, you should just say yes. If you're committed, then you're just gonna be exhausted. And this is a bad story. It's a terrible story, and it's one that we really have to get away from. It's like a stress Olympics, right? You love the Olympics. I'd be gold middle. Like, hopefully, not in burnout. How about in finding burnout before it happens? That you want to be the gold meta. So what we're trying to say is you don't get an award for being the busiest. You don't get an award for having or hosting the most meetings, or for e answering the most emails. You would want to say that at some point it's good to take vacation, but you also don't get an award for that either.

Claude F 10:12

Exactly. And there's no price for not taking vacation. I say to my yeah, I always say to my team, you are not going to be promoted because you don't take your vacation.

Jess K 10:23

So just take it. In fact, it's better when you do, right? Exactly. And then you see when you have a good manager as well, if they act they say, I don't want to hear you for the one week or two weeks you're going to be out. Yeah. Because they understand how important the importance of recharging. And when you're a manager, remember that too. Because if you as a manager reach out to your teammates, they get mixed messages. So it's and in fairness, it's just as important for you to take that time. Yes. Right. So one of the big ideas that we wanted to talk about is the stressor and dealing with stress in your body are

Finish The Stress Cycle

Jess K 11:03

not always the same thing. Hold on. What does that mean? Can you please elaborate? I'm a simple person.

Claude F 11:10

I'm a simple person. Please elaborate.

Jess K 11:13

All right. So let me break this down to you. Claude does know it. She just likes to like bust my gills. All right. It means that you can finish the presentation. You can send all those emails. You can survive all the meetings. You could even be the one to solve all of your company's problems, but your body is still carrying the stress of everything that you've done. So you do your work, but then your body is still mad. Exactly. It's like simple, people. Your body did not get the memo that the crisis is over. Yeah. So we need to figure out ways to complete the stress cycle. That could be movement, breathing, laughter, crying, connection. You know what I think too is journaling. Yes, meditation and journaling, Claude's absolute favorite things to do. No, I was gonna say, whenever we do sit near each other in the office the other day when I sat near you, I came home and I was like, I was the first day in a long time that I wasn't trained. I mean, I had a lot to do, but this was a crazy day and I got a lot done. We worked so hard separately. Sometimes just having the couple of seconds of laughter, exactly. We probably interacted like four or five times throughout the day. I gave you a diet. You could give me a diet Dr. Pepper. Sponsor us Diet Dr. Pepper. Or Diet Coke, or just Salah. Or just Salah. Um, but it made me uh feel so much better. I think I even walked home that day because I was like, oh, I feel so good. I feel I feel right. Yeah, no, it was it made a big difference. So having your work bestie there is so so helpful because you laugh, you know, and and we would we talked also business. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In in full like fairness, everything that we did throughout the day, even though we giggled about stuff, was all work-related. Yeah, so it wasn't even like personal. No. So uh honestly, having that work bestie, even if they're not sitting next to you, but having that consistent conversations or connections, I think those quick riffs, they really help that healing. And also from time to time, when you if checking up on her, yeah on him, say, Hey, how are you doing? Do you need in your head? It's again like it's being seen and validated. And the thing that you did that I loved was uh you were like, Hey, I'm gonna go grab my my lunch. Let's step away from our screens. And I probably would not have gotten the lunch without you. We only took maybe four minutes, yeah. But it really helped because you just need to step away sometimes. We have to remind ourselves. Yeah. So if you don't have your work bestie there, maybe a calendar invite to step away from your screen for a couple of minutes. Every little micro moment, whether you have your bestie there or not, just get away. It helps with the spiral of burnout. So burnout is not only too much work, it's also not enough recovery. Exactly. Because you need that recovery time frame to like give yourself the permission to stop pushing through that exhaustion further and further. Because that's the spiral. Yeah, continues and continues. All

How Work Besties Check In

Jess K 14:32

right. So speaking of the work bestie angle, we suggest for this month to really continue to leverage each other as those accountability buddies. Because your work besties, they know you so well that they are going to see the dip. They know your normal level. So as soon as that energy shifts, they're the first one to spawn it faster than anyone else, even yourself. Of course. They know when your sparkle is gone, right? So here are some little quick cues to think about when checking in with your work bestie to help once you start to notice those whispers occur to help them push to get rid of the burnout. Yeah, yeah. All right. So, as Clyde commented, the first one that I would say is the most obvious is the energy shifts. So if you are more quieter than usual, don't answer my emails. It's my immediate sign to be like, are you okay? Yeah, exactly. Then also you notice the the tone changing, you know, if you're work that's seeing when it's being like light and laughing and everything, it's suddenly it's short. They also notice your overwork patterns. So you said yes again. Did you actually have the capacity? The work bestie is probably the only one who could say that to me without me wanting to get really angry. They notice when you stop taking care of yourself. They help you name what's happening. So this feels bigger than just a bad day. Are you perhaps starting onto the burnout cycle? Good work bestie actually is going to ask the weird question. And they do it with love and kindness, not judgment. But like you look terrible. Polighter version than being blunt might be you don't seem like yourself today. That is being fine. And then perhaps maybe offering up what do you need today? So can I be there for you? Do you want to talk? You do that a lot to me. We made the mistake once, right? Where the person's venting and we go into solve mode, and then the person responds, and you're like, well, just kidding. I know you don't want solved mode.

Claude F 16:39

Yeah, it's making sure that whoever vents to you, if they want a problem, if they want a resolve, or if they just want to vent.

Jess K 16:48

And then the hope is you let them vent, yeah, and then you get them to the whole next step when they're ready. How do you help them set boundaries so they don't keep taking on that one more thing when you do start to see the whispers of burnout happening? If you have a work bestie, send them this. This month I'm trying to protect my energy. If you see me overdoing it, can you lovingly call me out? Just please stop me before I volunteer for another thing. Excellent. Because the picking up more stuff is really what you gotta stop. So work besties protect the energy. Work besties are not just there to hype you up, they are there to help you stay whole. So here's a

The Burnout Before It Hits Checklist

Jess K 17:34

tool. The burnout before it hits check. This is a simple mid-year check-in. You can do it alone, but we prefer you do it with your work bestie. Keep it simple. Five simple questions. The burnout before it hits checklist starts with what is draining me right now? Name the drain. Is it a meeting? Unclear expectation, too many messages, emotional labor, a difficult person. Name it before it owns you. So number two, what boundary am I ignoring? This one is big. In work-based language, a boundary is not a wall, it is an instruction manual for how to work with you. Oh, I love that. Not a wall, a main manual. And sometimes the boundary need is just very simple. Something like, I do not take calls during lunch. I need deadlines in writing. I do not respond after six unless it's something urgent. I can't take this on right now without moving something else off my plate. The last one is very useful. Challenging, but useful. So, number three one on the checklist is. What am I saying yes to that needs supposed? This is where I want to bring in some of the books that I read. Um, I read one recently called Essentialism, and the big idea is not getting more and more things done, it's getting the right things done. Less but better. So not everything deserves your yes. Number four. So what does my body know before my brain admits it? Oh, yeah, yeah. This is a rough one because your body knows you're burned out way before your brain does. So think about those times that you have tight shoulders, you're clenching your jaw, you don't sleep, you wake up with a massive migraine or headache, or sometimes you wake up and you still feel exhausted. The body is loud. It's going to tell you. The fifth one is what is one micro reset that I can take today? Not a full life makeover, a micro reset. Micro reset. Micro reset. Can you give you some examples? Sure. So for example, step outside for five minutes. Just go we had that one on uh forest bathing and the benefits of just being in the forest and the importance of that. Five minutes. Studies have proven just five minutes being outside really can re-invigorate your mind and also cause those tension elements to go away. And turn off some notification for an hour.

Claude F 20:15

That is really like those IMs. I really believe that IAMs can is a big thing about constantly on, even for the most stupid thing that can wait.

Jess K 20:31

So you can see right now what I think about IAMs. Another good one is just close your laptop on time once this week. It's five o'clock. Shut it down. Yeah, another one that I have started to do because sometimes there's certain meetings I go to that I get more anxious or I get I feel the tension a little bit more, is before I walk into them, I just take three really slow breaths and then go into the meeting. Like I literally do it as I'm walking to the meeting. And I notice it just instantly calms me down. So it's that's a good one. Burnout prevention is often built in small moments before things become that emergency. So we wanted to give you these mini tools to really start the practice now so that you can prevent the burnout before it really hits. So the checklist is first name the drain to find the ignored boundary. Poison one, yes. Pause one, yes, for listen to your body and take one micro reset at least once a day. These are simple, simple, simple things. Honest and helpful. It will be helpful. Sometimes it's just these small boundary wins. And limits are healthy. Agreed. Limits is what keeps us showing up without disappearing inside of the work, right? So boundaries will help us stay. And they're not about caring less, they're about making care just way more sustainable. Exactly. So this month is all about notice, protect, reclaim, and recharge. Exactly. So notice the drain, protect your energy, reclaim your time. Recharge in real life, not just on vacation. I love that. Real life needs resting. Oh yes. All right, work besties

July Challenge And Closing Reminders

Jess K 22:33

out there. So the July challenge. Let's catch it early. Before the crash. Ask yourself this one question every day. What is draining me? And what boundary would help me? One drain, one boundary. That's it.

Claude F 22:49

And then tell your work bestie, not because they need to fix it for you, but because support makes boundaries easier to keep.

Jess K 22:57

Don't do it alone. Leverage that work bestie. Remember. Burnout does not mean you failed.

Claude F 23:04

It means something has been asking too much from you for too long without enough recovery, support, or truth.

Jess K 23:13

It's really powerful. You are not here to prove your worth by running yourself empty. You're not here to win the stress Olympics claw. And you're not here to be the most exhausted person in the room. There are no trophy for that. You're not going to be promoted with that. No. Just tired. Just tired. So this month we're choosing something different. We're choosing to notice sooner. We're choosing to pause earlier. We're choosing boundaries before the resentment. So rest before collapse and honesty before burnout.

Claude F 23:46

So if this episode made you think of a work bestie who always says, I'm fine. But you know that they are running on films. Send it to them. And maybe send one message with it.

Jess K 23:58

I see you. What can we take off your plates this week? So don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who needs permission to pause before they hit the wall. Till then, keep supporting each other. Remember, whether you're swapping snacks in the break room, rescuing each other from endless meetings, or just sending that perfectly timed meme. Having a work fest date is like having your own personal hype spot.

Claude F 24:26

So keep lifting each other up, laughing through the chaos, and of course thriving. Until next time, stay positive, stay productive, and don't forget to keep supporting each other.