On the bleeding edge of burnout research

I love my job. I really do. But late last year, after three years of reporting on the pandemic, I started to feel off. Coming up with story ideas felt hard. Writing them felt even harder. Sometimes, it was difficult to find the motivation to push through those creative blocks.

I hated feeling that way, so I poked around for ways to cure burnout, the term for unmanaged work stress that has spiraled into exhaustion, cynicism, and frustration. I found some luxury spa retreats (tempting) and rehab centers (less) but not a ton of research-backed advice. Experts told me that’s because individuals can’t cure burnout, at least not without cooperation and substantive workplace changes from their employers.

Stubborn person that I am, I set out to prove the experts wrong. I didn’t, exactly—but as I dove deep into the research on burnout (and tried much of it for myself), I did learn something useful. Individuals may not be able to cure burnout alone, but the things we take for granted, like work friendships and small moments of connection, can be far more powerful than we give them credit for.

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