5 best books on Burnout

Now that we have learned all about the stages of burnout, and can recognize how burnout manifests in your life, I want to share some resources I have found to help with identifying the source of the burnout and reversing the path to return to a healthy place. Here are my five best books on burnout that I recommend starting with, along with some other advice for helping to navigate the path to reversing burnout. 

Talk with a therapist

The first recommendation is to consider finding a therapist to talk to. Navigating burnout is a challenging situation, and having a safe place to work through the feelings with an expert can be helpful in reversing burnout.

If you are unable to find a local in-person therapist or their cost is too high, there are some options available for online, text, or phone counseling through the following groups.  

• Talkspace  
• Betterhelp  
• Amwell   
• Online Therapy  

Check to see if your insurance covers therapy appointments, which can make your out-of-pocket cost significantly less than paying privately. Consider cost-saving options like meeting for less than the standard one hour, or meeting every two weeks or monthly instead of weekly. 

Therapists have seen every type of burnout there is and they know how to help you work through reversing the burnout process. 

Books have an incredible power to help you navigate the process of reversing burnout. In a study done by the University of Basel in Switzerland, they found that a “self-help” book alone had the potential to reduce symptoms of burnout. 

According to Patrizia Hofer, lead author of the study, “A self-help book without any therapist contact could overcome financial and logistical barriers that sometimes prevent people from accessing help,”

Here are 5 books on burnout that I recommend starting with. 

Burnout- The High Cost of Achievement by Herbert J Freudenberger  

This book was one of the original studies into the idea of burnout. It is a short read but contains deep content to consider. Written in 1981, the author identifies the cause of burnout as the “Curse of the Capable”. In it, he looks at the challenge of living a balanced, healthy, and high achieving life, and so many of the challenges have the same root as they did back in the 1980s.  His advice is basic, but so applicable even in today’s world:

• Know your real self
• Make time for leisure
• Avoid overcommitting to things you are not being rewarded for
• Nurture personal relationships
• Watch out for false cures or coping mechanisms that are doing more harm than good.

Burnout- The secret to unlocking the stress cycle by Emily Nagoski PhD , Amelia Nagoski DMA  

The pressure that women face today to be everything and do everything while maintaining their perfect life can be crushing to many women. This book focuses on the science behind how your body and mind respond to stress and what is needed to complete the stress cycle so that stress is released from your body and doesn’t build up. Included in the book are several worksheets and exercises to help you understand your stresses and your responses to them. 

Unfuck Your Brain: Getting Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-Outs, and Triggers with Science by  Faith Harper  

This book comes at you with a no holds barred look at how your brain works and shows how your brain can work for you and against you. This scientific approach looks at ways to address panic attacks, addictions, and trauma. Working through the book, combined with completing some of the activities outlined in the book, can allow you to identify the burnout triggers in your life and work to reverse your burnout. 

The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt

The author of this book takes a look at 10 great ideas from philosophy, psychology, and research to take a look at what happiness is. I really enjoyed the way he used several ancient ideas and was able to make them relatable to the way we feel in the modern world. The goal of the book is to provide lessons that are the antidote to burnout. He implores us to fill our modern lives with happiness, fulfillment, and meaning. When your life is full of these characteristics, there is no room for burnout to exist. 

Time off: A Practical Guide to Building Your Rest Ethic and Finding Success Without the Stress by John Fitch, Mariya Suzuki, and Max Frenzel  

This book is written to be the antidote to the busy badge of honor.  Hard work doesn’t equate to productivity, and often pushing through tiredness can be less productive than taking a break (guilt-free) and picking up the work again later. Many of history’s great leaders, thinkers, and inventors used to rest to help them reach their greatest accomplishments. This is a modern book and written to the age range where many of us are facing life running at a frantic pace. The book provides many actionable items that can be implemented into our daily lives to help add rest and combat burnout. 

What is next?

If you are feeling burnout symptoms, you are not alone. Navigating, job stresses, life stresses, and relationships, especially while in the midst of a pandemic is tough for all of us right now. Reading books on burnout can help, but it will take some intensely focused work to reverse burnout and keep it at bay in the future.

Identifying burnout early is the best way to catch it. At that point, you can make some changes to decrease the stress triggers and increase your rest to work to reverse it. As you progress down the burnout path to levels 3 and 4 you will need some intensive work to reverse your burnout. 

How have you dealt with burnout in your life? Do you have tips for people who are facing burnout that has helped you? I would love to start a positive conversation about it in the comments below or over on our Instagram page!