Below is a lesson from Steven Kotler on neuroscience-based strategies to prevent and overcome burnout, as well as our key learnings.

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Making Burnout All About Impossible

by Steven Kotler

You know that state where you’re feeling lethargic yet agitated? Drained but restless? Almost cornered by life.

Tasks that once fired you up now begin to feel like chores… 

Your self-belief tanks, especially your faith in what you can achieve.

And it’s as if your ambition is slowly being choked out, replaced by a pervasive sense of cynicism and ineffectiveness.

It’s not depression… nor is it just fatigue.

But something far more insidious that’s quietly sabotaging your performance and well-being.

So what’s going on here?

In the 1970s, psychologist Herbert Freudenberger first coined the term "burnout" after observing a troubling phenomenon among passionate volunteers at a busy healthcare clinic.

Despite their initial enthusiasm and dedication, these once lively individuals gradually slipped into a state of profound motivational collapse and emotional void. Freudenberger realized this was more than just exhaustion or a temporary lapse in morale.

It was a unique condition characterized by three distinct symptoms: 

Exhaustion, cynicism, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment.

You can almost think of burnout as the opposite of flow––flow being that state of optimal consciousness where we feel our best and function our best.

In flow, you're deeply engrossed in your task. You lose track of time and you feel a sense of mastery and control.

On the other hand, with burnout, you feel as if you're just going through the motions. Time drags on. Rather than feeling a sense of mastery, you're bogged down by a sense of futility.

Flow compounds gains, burnout compounds losses.

But why does burnout seem to hit high-performers the hardest? And more importantly, what can you do to prevent it from derailing your productivity and well-being?

The truth is, burnout is 100% beatable when you understand the underlying neuroscience.

Research from pioneering psychologist Christina Maslach – who developed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (the most widely used instrument for assessing burnout in the scientific community), reveals that burnout, like flow, has specific preconditions or psychological triggers that cause it to emerge. 

And by understanding these triggers, you can pinpoint the root causes of your burnout and address them head-on.

The six burnout triggers are:

1. Lack of control: When you lack autonomy, ownership, or creative expression in your work.
2. Values conflict: A disconnect between your core values and your organization's.
3. Insufficient reward: Feeling unrecognized, underappreciated, or under-compensated.
4. Work overload: A workload that is too high, too complex, or too urgent.
5. Unfairness: A culture of favoritism or lack of fairness in the workplace.
6. Breakdown of community: Working with unsupportive or low-performing colleagues.

Once you understand these triggers, you can not only pinpoint the causes of your current burnout but also proactively prevent it from creeping in again.

This means you do your best work every day at full speed with no fear of hitting a wall.

When you beat the barrier of burnout, you unlock a level of success and well-being most people don't even know is possible.

The key is to systematically address each trigger, starting with the most pressing one. 

That means isolating the offending burnout triggers within your workplace and then fully addressing each of them.

You can't just try to fix one and hope it solves the rest. You must address them all. So here are five neuroscience-based protocols to alleviate any current burnout and build long-term resilience against it: 

1 – “Choose the Right Kind of Hard.”

Focus on tasks that align with your strengths, provide intrinsic motivation, and offer a good effort-to-reward ratio.

For example, if you're a creative professional, prioritize projects that allow you to express your creativity and challenge you in a way that feels rewarding.

2 – “Don’t Stay Too Close to the Line.”

Monitor your daily capacity and avoid operating at your absolute max for extended periods.

Use a simple 1-10 scale to track your daily energy levels and make sure you're not consistently hitting 8 or higher. 

This will help you avoid crossing the allostatic load limit, which can lead to burnout.

3 – “When You See a Hill, Sprint.”

Strategically lean into short bursts of intense work to build momentum and combat insufficient reward. If you're feeling stuck on a project, try setting a timer for 90 minutes and commit to working with intense focus during that period.

The sense of accomplishment from making progress can help counteract feelings of burnout.

4 – “Disarm the Burnout Triggers.”

Systematically address each of the six burnout triggers, starting with the most pressing one.

For instance, if you're dealing with a lack of control, have a conversation with your supervisor about ways to increase your autonomy and ownership over your work.

5 – “Build Your Burnout Body Armor.”

Incorporate active recovery practices like cold therapy, heat exposure, exercise, and massage to physiologically buffer against burnout.

Try ending your workday with a cold shower or scheduling regular massage appointments to help your body and mind recover from the stresses of high performance.

Now, work is endless.

The tasks multiply, and often the better you are at what you do, the more this is true. Your responsibilities reflect your capabilities.

So the question isn't how to stop the deluge, but how to manage ourselves as finite beings in the face of the infinite stream.

That's what burnout-proofing accomplishes.

Rooting for you,

Steven Kotler and the Flow Research Collective

Check out Steven Kotler and the Flow Research Collective for more information and to subscribe to their mailing list.

Key Learnings:

• Burnout Defined: Burnout is a condition marked by exhaustion, cynicism, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment. It's distinct from fatigue or depression and is more insidious, particularly affecting high performers.

• Origins of Burnout: Psychologist Herbert Freudenberger first coined the term "burnout" in the 1970s after observing passionate individuals losing motivation and feeling emotionally drained. It has been further studied, notably by Christina Maslach, who identified six key burnout triggers.

• Burnout Triggers: The six main causes of burnout are:

  1. Lack of control over one's work.
  2. Conflicts between personal values and organizational values.
  3. Insufficient rewards or recognition.
  4. Overwhelming workload.
  5. Perceived unfairness or favoritism.
  6. Breakdown of community or unsupportive colleagues.

• Flow vs. Burnout: Flow is a state of optimal performance and fulfillment, while burnout is its opposite—time drags, and work feels futile. Flow leads to compounding gains, while burnout compounds losses.

• Preventing and Overcoming Burnout: Burnout can be beaten through understanding its triggers and employing neuroscience-backed strategies, such as:

  1. Choosing tasks that align with strengths ("Choose the Right Kind of Hard").
  2. Monitoring capacity and avoiding overextension ("Don’t Stay Too Close to the Line").
  3. Using short bursts of intense work to build momentum ("When You See a Hill, Sprint").
  4. Addressing burnout triggers directly ("Disarm the Burnout Triggers").
  5. Incorporating active recovery practices ("Build Your Burnout Body Armor").

• Long-Term Resilience: By systematically addressing burnout triggers and adopting recovery practices, individuals can maintain high performance and well-being even in high-demand environments.