Recovery Needs More Than a Weekend Off
05 of 07A holiday can help. But if nothing changes when you get back, the exhaustion usually comes back too.
Research backs up what so many people have experienced. Time off does help, but the benefits tend to fade soon after people return to work [7].
That doesn’t mean holidays are pointless. It means lasting recovery usually needs more than time away. It needs something to change.
What meaningful change might involve
- Reducing demands: what could you stop, delay, delegate or do less perfectly?
- Outsourcing or sharing responsibilities: at work, at home and in caring roles
- Addressing workplace conditions: workload, expectations, resources and culture
- Setting boundaries: around your time, your availability and your energy
- Seeking professional support: an integrative doctor, psychologist, counsellor or coach
- Allowing time to recover: sometimes weeks or months, not days
It isn’t all on you
So much burnout advice focuses on the individual: meditate more, sleep better, practise self-care. Those things help. But burnout is often a sign that the system around you is asking too much.
Research in doctors found that changing the workplace itself, such as workloads and schedules, made more difference than focusing only on the individual [8].
In Australia, employers have a legal duty to manage psychosocial hazards at work, which include excessive job demands [9]. If your workload is unsustainable, it is reasonable to raise it.
Start small
If you’re already overwhelmed, a ten-step wellbeing plan is just another thing on the list. Start with one small thing:
- Outsource or ask for one task to be taken off your plate.
- Set your phone to Do Not Disturb and create blocks of time to check in.
- Say no to one thing this week.
- Take a real lunch break, away from your screen.
- Turn off notifications after a certain time.
- Go to bed half an hour earlier.
- Spend ten minutes outside, doing nothing.
- Tell one person how you’re really doing.
Rest is not a reward
Rest matters in its own right. You don’t have to earn it, and you don’t have to prove it will make you more productive. You are allowed to rest simply because you’re human, and humans need rest.
Think about what genuinely replenishes you. Not every break is restful. A big night out, a weekend of catching up on chores or hours of scrolling might feel like a break, but leave you just as depleted. Look for time and places that leave you feeling nourished.
