The 5-Step Loop for Burnout Recovery

Written By Gabriel Kwakyi

When it comes to the topic of burnout, two of the most common questions are:

  1. Am I burned out?

  2. How can I recover from burnout?

While a straightforward answer to these questions might put a lot of anxious minds at ease, the reality is that the factors influencing burnout and recovery from it involve a complex set of circumstances, meaning that there is not one clear cut or “correct” answer to either question. Each person’s journey into and out of burnout is a unique one.

Despite this complex reality, however, many psychologists, therapists, and coaches have put their minds to the task of providing answers for the benefit of the millions of people at any point in time navigating the topic of burnout.

Many models have been developed to answer question 1 – “am I burned out?” such as:

Yet, for question 2, “how can I recover from burnout?” a relevant online search only turns up either ad hoc recovery tips, or burnout evaluation models, like the above. An actual model for charting the path through burnout recovery is missing from the list of results.

Both ad hoc tips and burnout assessment models alone are not sufficient, because burnout recovery does not happen in a linear way, or from following a few tips. Recovery looks more like taking a step forward and then a step back, and then two more forward, and one back, and then one forward and two back, and so on, in a zig-zag journey that over time builds more forward momentum, until the clouds of burnout have parted.

In order to provide new insights to people who know they are burned out and want to get insights next into how to recover from burnout – while also acknowledging that it is not a linear path – the team behind Bonsai has developed a new model specifically for mapping the process of burnout recovery, called The 5-Step Loop for Burnout Recovery.

Here’s how it breaks down:

1: Noticing

Establishing conscious awareness of burnout signals in the body and mind starts the recovery process – and keeps it on-track.

2: Reconnecting

High, persistent stress breaks down relationships and important support systems. Reconnection reduces physical stress and mental overwhelm – and provides important, external guidance & accountability.

3: Restoring

During burnout, the body gets stuck in constant stress activation (sympathetic nervous system or “fight/flight/freeze” mode). Restoration (parasympathetic nervous system or “rest and digest” mode) brings the body back into its natural rhythm (autonomous nervous system, or the “stress system/cycle”), providing much-needed rest for the body, and calm for the mind.

4: Experimenting, exploring

Exploring options and running experiments provides the chances to test and learn in the reality which approaches work best for your life context - including your unique situation, burnout factors, and values.

5: Reflecting, integrating

Reflecting on the deeper roots at play, and integrating learnings into your belief systems and habits empowers you to get relief from burnout – and make changes that last.

Loops lead to recovery

Each new loop builds up recovery, by nurturing sustainable realignments in awareness, support systems, habits, belief systems, and mindsets.

Loops, not stages

Throughout the recovery journey, earlier steps are looped through again, and some steps may even be skipped as these loops happen. Here are a couple examples to illustrate how the loops may happen:

Leyla

1) Leyla becomes aware of feelings of overwhelm after a meeting-packed day,

3) takes a walk in a park without her phone to break with the day’s stressors. Then, she

2) goes to dinner with a friend and, feeling courageous,

4) decides not to catch up on work after dinner. The next day, she

5) thinks not working just made her fall behind on work, and she feels guilty about not plugging back into work after dinner. She slips back into the habit of work in the evening. The following day, Leyla

1) notices that she slept worse when she did work instead of not working, and

2) opens up about her feelings to her mom, who assures she shouldn’t feel guilty about not working in the evenings. So, Leyla

4) tries a new experiment,

2) having a friend text her at 8pm to make sure she’s done with work for the day.

Terry

1) Terry notices the lack of feeling – the numbness – immediately after he shows up in the morning. Since he doesn’t have many people to reach out to on short notice, he

4) decides to simply try writing down the feeling and

2) gives himself the permission to feel numb that day, accepting that this is his experience that day. After making it through the day, Terry

5) reflects on his day, writing a little more about his frustration to not feel anything. Later, on the weekend, Terry

4) finds up a peer support group online, and shares some of his reflections in the group. A few responses from people from the group

2) give Terry the small comfort of not feeling alien and alone, and he

5) realizes that he actually feels that being heard and seen is something he enjoys. The next week, Terry

1) notices the feeling of numbness again, and

2) shares directly the group this time. This time, someone from the group suggests a few exercises, and Terry

4) tries one of them. Even though he

5) realizes the exercise is just a drop in the bucket and hasn’t “fixed” his burnout, he does appreciate how the support from others, and the exercise helped him to feel just a bit more grounded that day.

As you can see, there is a lot of back and forth in these examples, which are not uncommon. By using the word “loop” rather than stage, we hope to normalize the fact that progress can still be made, even if it sometimes involves moving backwards.

After all, human beings are not machines, and recovery is not a straight line – from realizing it might be burnout, to identifying what changes are needed, to executing on those changes, to changing unsustainable mental narratives habits. Sometimes we can be messy, confused, discouraged, just as other times we can become inspired, hopeful, and clear.

With more loops between the steps can come more realizations, more support, and more experiments, which builds up resilience and helps fuel more progress towards recovery.

If you’re struggling with burnout, have faith that you’re not damaged goods, you are capable of recovering, and it’s normal for your recovery to loop a bit as you navigate it.

Gabriel Kwakyi