How long does it take to recover from burnout?
When it comes to healing from burnout, there’s a big question in every woman’s mind, even if she hasn’t vocalized it yet:
“How long till I feel like me again?”
Maybe you have this question, too.
Maybe you’re hitting a wall and wondering how long it’ll take to get back your energy, your peace of mind, your lust for life.
Or how long till you can sleep through the night without waking up at 3am, your mind running through your to-do list.
Maybe you’re wondering how long till you can get to a place where you’re able to leave work on time and come home with enough energy to connect with your partner and play with your kids.
And how long it’ll take for you to feel “better” and really be able to enjoy this life you’ve built for yourself. To feel like your success and achievements and everything you’ve sacrificed mean something.
In other words: how long does it take to bounce back from burnout?
Do a quick Google search or scan some Reddit feeds and you’ll probably feel pretty discouraged by the results. Up to 3 years! Potentially a lot longer, if you keep “recovering” and then relapsing back into burnout.
Whatever you’ve read online, or stories you’ve heard from friends, I invite you to put that aside right now. The truth is, each person’s journey is a little different.
In this blog post, I’m going to give you some real answers, so you can have a clearer idea of how long burnout recovery will take for you, and what can make it progress faster.
Keep reading.
What Predicts how long it takes to heal burnout?
In THRIVE, my burnout recovery coaching program, I work with women for an intensive 3.5 months. In that short time, a lot can transform!
Your energy can return, insomnia can resolve, you can build the skills to regulate your nervous system and recover your peace of mind, and your life can become a lot more balanced.
You can also uncover with clarity what needs to shift in your life, and start taking steps to change it. You can feel your mood improve, your relationships deepen, and your spirit begin to lift…
That said, not everyone is on the same timeline. We are each working with different conditions when it comes to our health, our lives, and so much more.
To get a better understanding of what your burnout recovery journey will look like, and how long it’ll take to get back to feeling excited and energized in your life, you’ll need to honestly answer a few questions:
WHat’s your starting point?
Years ago, when I was at my ‘rock bottom’ burnout point in my life, I never wondered how long it would take to heal because I didn’t even understand what the problem was.
I didn’t know that I was burnt out. I didn’t know my nervous system was dysregulated or that there was a way of fixing it. I didn’t realize that the challenges I had with my physical health had any relation to stress.
For years, I was solving for the wrong problems. And I didn’t get support until I was at a crisis point, ready to abandon my career. Recovery took a long time for me, more than a year.
We all have our own definition of ‘rock bottom’- that point when you can’t go on the same way anymore and you definitively choose to change course. That’s the starting point in your burnout recovery journey.
—> So the question is, what does your starting point look like?
How burnt out are you? And how long have you waited to take action?
When you catch burnout early, recovery comes faster.
BUT
When you wait until you’re at a point of crisis in your life or - especially - with your health, recovery will usually take longer.
—> I have a free resource to help you figure out your starting point. It’s called the Burnout Freedom Roadmap and it includes an in-depth self-assessment tool that you can use to get clarity around whether you’re truly burnt out, and exactly how serious it is. Click here to access it.
Do you have a plan and support for your burnout recovery?
Burnout recovery doesn’t just happen on its own. For most women it requires support (from a human!) and a plan with concrete goals, so that you’re not wasting time on random self-care and forcing yourself to meditate, but actually taking action that will create real change in your body, your mind, and your life.
When you have a plan and support, recovery comes more quickly.
Without either of those things, many women stay stuck for a very long time, or end up taking drastic action that uproots their life- a job change, career pivot, or forced medical leave.
How willing are you to step outside your comfort zone?
Burnout recovery requires doing things that are going to feel… uncomfortable. That could look like:
Having difficult conversations where you have to risk displeasing someone.
Setting boundaries with people and time, even though you’re unsure about the consequences.
Forming new habits (or dropping old ones) that feel hard at first.
Delegating or letting people help you, when you’re worried they won’t do it ‘right’.
Trying solutions, approaches, or strategies that you worry won’t work- and even sticking with them when you don’t see immediate results.
Slowing down and resting… even when it feels like you need to keep moving on your to-do list, or simply be doing something.
Change isn’t easy.
Your brain is hardwired to keep you safe, and in your subconscious mind, safe = same and new = dangerous, something to avoid.
When you try to do something new, outside your comfort zone, your instinct will often be to come up with all sorts of reasons why you can’t or shouldn’t do it.
But the only way to feel ‘safe’ and comfortable doing new things is to ignore that sneaky voice of ‘reason’ in your head and go through an initial stage of discomfort. That’s how you grow into the version of you who is not burnt out and who wakes up happy, energized, and excited for her day.
The more willing you are to step outside your comfort zone and take scary action, the more quickly you’ll recover from burnout.
And speaking of discomfort, the next question’s a doozy…
Are you willing to do the inner work?
The reality: you are living and working in a world not of your own creation. You didn’t make the rules.
But you’ve been playing by them, and you’re good at it.
You’ve pushed yourself hard, said “yes” even when your body was screaming ‘no’. You’ve developed strategies - behaviors, habits, mindsets- that have brought you considerable success in your career.
Those strategies for success and survival have also likely burnt you out.
So here’s my question to you: are you willing to address the root causes of your burnout, even if it feels uncomfortable?
Are you willing to move beyond addressing symptoms- like fatigue, low productivity, time management, your job or your boss…
…and get to the roots of WHY you’re exhausted, WHY you’re losing motivation, WHY your calendar is always full, and WHY everything feels so hard and overwhelming?
Are you willing to do the inner work, and examine how your own behaviors, habits and mindsets may have contributed to your burnout, and then begin to build new behaviors, habits and mindsets that empower and energize you?
*Just to be clear, this isn’t about blame or beating yourself up. It’s about recognizing that you are responsible for your own life, no one’s going to save you, and you actually have SO much more power to choose how you live your life than you think!
And on that note, another question to consider:
Are you willing to get brutally honest with yourself about what makes you happy, what true “success” would look and feel like at this stage of your life, and then work to create it, even if it means other people might criticize what you’re doing?
*Women who commit to doing that inner work will not just recover from burnout faster- they’ll recover for good.
That’s why in THRIVE, I don’t just help my clients with foundational self-care and boundaries and breathwork techniques (all important stuff, btw). I also help them investigate what’s going on underneath the surface.
Often it’s things like people pleasing, perfectionism, overachieving, and chronic over-functioning.
Those aren’t personality traits. They’re survival strategies that helped you once, but are not helping you now.
Bottom line: when you’re willing to get curious, acknowledge your patterns, and take courageous action to start shifting them, you will heal from burnout more quickly and protect yourself from falling into burnout again.
Ok but… how do I know when I’m “Recovered” from Burnout?
In the short term- the first few weeks or months- most women can bounce back and recover their energy, develop habits to restore their peace of mind, and set a solid foundation for a life that feels balanced.
That’s assuming you’ve got some kind of plan, you’re taking the right actions, and you’ve got a support system in place.
But I actually don’t think burnout recovery stops at 3 months, even if everything’s going great.
That’s because ultimately, burnout is a state of deep disconnection.
You’re disconnected from your body. From yourself. From other humans.
That means burnout recovery is a process of reconnection.
Reconnecting the body with the mind.
Reconnecting with your needs and desires.
Reconnecting with the “real” you, before society told you who you should be.
That takes time, and it’s also an ongoing, lifelong process. You are a living human, constantly evolving. Your likes and dislikes, your needs, and who you are at your core is always evolving.
What helps you stay burnout-free and create a life worth living, is staying connected to yourself- and making it a conscious thing that you do, every day.
This isn’t a time-consuming kind of thing, it’s more like a way of living. And it’s something my clients learn to do in THRIVE.
Burnout recovery doesn’t need to take forever - let’s make it happen together
If this blog post helped you realize that you’re done with the burnout, you’re done spinning your wheels on DIY fixes, and you’re ready for some big change (without having to tear apart your life or abandon your career), I want you to know that a different path is available to you.
My private burnout recovery program, THRIVE, is specifically designed to help successful, career-driven women heal from burnout much faster than you could ever do it alone.
When we work together in THRIVE, I’ll help you:
✔️ Create a clear plan that reflects your specific goals and vision of “success” - in your career and beyond
✔️ Take the right action steps that are going to refuel your energy and revive your spirit, bring you a sense of peace, and create more time and space so you can enjoy your life.
✔️ Do the tough but rewarding inner work so that you’re laying the foundation for permanent burnout recovery.
Let’s start shifting you out of survival mode, today.
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