How Wanting to Do More at Work Becomes a Burnout Warning Sign for High Achievers

My guest told me something early in this conversation that I think you'll want to hear.

When she's close to burnout, she wants to do more work, not less, more.

One more task, one more thing to get through before she can stop.

She says that that's how she knows, not the exhaustion, not the breaking point, but the acceleration, that urge to keep on going, just one more thing.

And you may know that feeling.

Most high achievers in demanding roles do, but we never stop to ask what it actually means.

If you've been telling yourself you're coping fine and some part of you knows that that story is getting harder to believe, this conversation names what's actually happening.

Not to add to your to-do list, to give you a clearer way of reading what your own system is telling you.

We get into imposter syndrome as a systemic trap, not a personal failing.

The beliefs you're swimming in so completely you don't even know they're there.

And what happens when a leader decides to go home on time? And what that single thing, that single act does to the people around them? My guest is Aoife O'Brien, author of Thriving Talent and host of the Happier at Work podcast.

And she's studied this for years.

Working harder does not prove your value, but it might be pushing you into burnout.

My guest told me something early in this conversation that I think you'll want to hear.

When she's close to burnout, she wants to do more work, not less, more.

One more task, one more thing to get through before she can stop.

She says that that's how she knows, not the exhaustion, not the breaking point, but the acceleration, that urge to keep on going, just one more thing.

And you may know that feeling.

Most high achievers in demanding roles do, but we never stop to ask what it actually means.

If you've been telling yourself you're coping fine and some part of you knows that that story is getting harder to believe, this conversation names what's actually happening.

Not to add to your to-do list, to give you a clearer way of reading what your own system is telling you.

We get into imposter syndrome as a systemic trap, not a personal failing.

The beliefs you're swimming in so completely you don't even know they're there.

And what happens when a leader decides to go home on time? And what that single thing, that single act does to the people around them? My guest is Aoife O'Brien, author of Thriving Talent and host of the Happier at Work podcast.

And she's studied this for years.

Working harder does not prove your value, but it might be pushing you into burnout.