When Everything Feels Too Much: Rethinking Burnout in the Workplace

When Everything Feels Too Much: Rethinking Burnout in the Workplace

Over the past few years, we’ve been hearing something more and more across workplaces, from employees, managers and leaders alike:

Everything feels like too much.

People are busy. They are juggling competing priorities, constant communication, deadlines, meetings, and increasing expectations to perform, often across hybrid or always-on environments.

At the same time, work rarely “switches off”. Emails, messages, notifications and digital demands continue beyond the working day. There is very little space for the brain and body to fully reset.

The data reflects this. In the UK, over 800,000 workers reported work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2022/23, with stress accounting for around half of all work-related ill health cases. Many organisations are also seeing increased presenteeism, burnout and disengagement.

But behind these statistics are real people who are trying to keep up in environments that are asking a lot of them.

So when we talk about burnout at work, we are not talking about a small group of individuals.
We are talking about something that is affecting a significant proportion of the workforce.

The Body Budget

One idea that has helped shape our thinking comes from Lisa Feldman Barrett.

She describes the brain and body as constantly managing a “body budget” – balancing resources like sleep, energy, stress, emotions and social connection.

When this system is in balance, we can:

• Think clearly
• Make decisions
• Regulate emotions
• Stay focused

When it is out of balance for too long, everything starts to feel harder.

Burnout, then, isn’t just about workload.
It’s about being out of balance for too long.

The Real Issue Is Executive Function Capacity

In workplaces, we often expect people to:

• Stay organised
• Manage time effectively
• Prioritise competing demands
• Focus for long periods
• Regulate emotions under pressure
• Make decisions quickly

All of these are executive function skills.

But executive function depends on capacity and that capacity is shaped by our body budget.

When capacity is low, we start to see:

• Reduced focus
• Procrastination or avoidance
• Decision fatigue
• Forgetfulness
• Increased emotional reactivity
• Difficulty starting or completing tasks

These are often capacity problems, not capability problems.

Yet in many workplaces, they are interpreted as performance issues.

Everyone’s Capacity Is Different

One of the most important parts of this conversation is recognising that capacity is not the same for everyone.

Some people need more downtime.
Some need more structure.
Some need fewer interruptions.
Some find constant communication draining.

This is particularly important for neurodivergent employees, who may use more capacity to manage attention, sensory input, organisation and social dynamics, meaning they can reach burnout more quickly.

Research consistently shows higher rates of burnout and mental health challenges among neurodivergent adults in the workplace.

This is not about lowering expectations.

It is about understanding how to support sustainable performance.

A Simple Way to Understand Burnout

We know that simple models help ideas stick.

So we use a capacity bank concept:

• Deposits build capacity (rest, clarity, support, manageable workloads)
• Withdrawals use capacity (pressure, interruptions, uncertainty, overload)
• Boundaries protect capacity
• Burnout happens when withdrawals exceed deposits for too long

This gives individuals and teams a shared way to understand what’s happening and what needs to change.

From Awareness to Action

Understanding burnout through this lens shifts the conversation from:

“You need to be more resilient.”
to
“What’s happening to your capacity right now?”

This opens up more useful questions:

• Are the demands sustainable?
• Where are the biggest withdrawals?
• What deposits are missing?
• Are boundaries being protected?

It also allows organisations to move beyond surface-level wellbeing initiatives, towards environments that genuinely support how people think, work and perform.

When people understand their capacity, and when workplaces are designed with that in mind, we see:

• Better focus and decision-making
• More sustainable productivity
• Reduced burnout
• Improved wellbeing

Not because people are doing less, but because they are working with the brain, not against it.

Why not explore our workplace solutions to find out how we can support you and your organisation?