My Mom’s Simple Secret for Preventing Burnout

When I was growing up in the 1970s, summers were long, hot, and gloriously boring.

After a few chores, my sisters and I had countless hours with absolutely nothing to do. My daily chore was cleaning the half bath, which annoyed me to no end because, honestly, how dirty can one half bath get in 24 hours? But I digress.

Once my sisters and I finished our chores, we were free. My mom, however, was not. She still had plenty to do: cooking, laundry, ironing, cleaning the rest of the house, and keeping everything running like a well-oiled machine.

Running a household takes a tremendous amount of energy, and my mom seemed to understand something many leaders forget—you cannot run at full speed all day and expect to be useful by dinner.

So every afternoon, she took a break. She sat in her chair, put her feet up, and read her book.

It is one of my clearest and fondest memories from childhood, probably because I saw it happen almost every day. And because I watched my mom read, my sisters and I became readers too. We spent many happy afternoons engrossed in The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Little House on the Prairie books.

At the time, I thought my mom was just reading. Now I realize she was modeling sustainability.

Burnout rarely announces itself with a marching band and a warning sign. It builds quietly. One skipped break becomes a skipped lunch. One late night becomes a pattern. One overloaded week becomes a way of life.

Leaders can help prevent burnout by paying attention before people hit the wall. Here’s how:

• Watch for early signs. Fatigue shows up before failure. When people become more irritable, withdrawn, scattered, or constantly exhausted, it is worth noticing.

• Normalize rest. Recovery fuels performance. A rested team is more creative, more patient, and far less likely to accidentally reply-all with something spicy.

• Rebalance workloads. Sustainability beats short bursts. There will always be busy seasons, but busy seasons should not become the permanent climate. Strong leaders pay attention to who is carrying too much for too long.

My mom did not call it burnout prevention. She just put her feet up and read her book. But the lesson stuck.

Healthy leaders create healthy teams—and sometimes the most productive thing you can do is sit down before you fall down.