Burnout: The Slow Burn We Often Miss

Have you ever watched a match slowly burn down toward your fingers? At first it looks manageable. The flame is small, controlled, even useful. But if you do not notice how quickly it is burning, suddenly it is too close to your skin. You either drop it or you get burned.

That is how burnout often works. It rarely arrives all at once. It builds slowly and quietly until one day it feels like everything is too close, too hot and too much.

Many professionals do not realize they are burned out until they are already past the tipping point. And that is not just my observation as a coach. Research backs it up. The World Health Organization now classifies burnout as an occupational phenomenon linked to chronic workplace stress. A Gallup study of nearly 7,500 employees found that 23% feel burned out very often or always and another 44% feel burned out sometimes. That means two out of three employees are wrestling with burnout at some level.

What makes burnout so tricky is that the early signs can feel like normal busyness. A little fatigue here, some irritability there, pushing through one more late night to meet a deadline. We rationalize it. We tell ourselves it is just a busy season or things will get better after the next project wraps up. But the flame keeps creeping closer.

The consequences are real. Burnout is tied not only to disengagement and turnover but also to higher risks of heart disease, sleep disorders and depression. It impacts decision-making, creativity and the ability to connect with others. These are the very things that leadership requires most.

So what can we do to keep the flame from burning us?

It starts with paying attention earlier. Asking questions like: Am I constantly exhausted even after rest? Do I feel more cynical or detached than I used to? Is my productivity dropping even though I am working harder? These are not just personal reflections. They are signals.

For leaders there is also a responsibility to look for these signs in your teams. When people feel safe to admit they are struggling, when rest is modeled instead of dismissed, when balance is encouraged rather than punished, that is when organizations shift from simply reacting to burnout to actually preventing it.

Burnout does not happen overnight. Like the match, it builds moment by moment. The good news is with awareness and intention we can set it down before it gets too close.

Here is a reflection to consider: If burnout is a flame, what are the practices, boundaries and supports you can put in place to keep it from burning you? And as a leader how can you create an environment where others do not have to get burned before they are allowed to pause?

Because the truth is none of us can do our best work with our fingers on fire.