Burnout Treatment & Evaluation in Austin and Surrounding Areas
Living with burnout can feel like you’re running on fumes with no safe place to pull over. You wake up tired, power through on caffeine, and spend the day doing a lot but feeling like nothing counts. The spark you used to have is replaced by flatness or irritability; small tasks feel strangely heavy; weekends don’t refill the tank. People often call it “just stress,” but burnout is a distinct, repeatable pattern—chronic overload that leads to exhaustion, emotional distance or cynicism, and a drop in effectiveness. It narrows your world, strains relationships, and makes even time off feel unproductive. If this sounds familiar, you’re not broken—you’re depleted. Reach out, and I’ll help you get clear on what’s draining you, rebuild energy that lasts, and feel like yourself again.
Understanding Burnout
Plain-English definition: Burnout is a stress-related condition where your energy, motivation, and resilience are depleted over time. It’s common in high-demand professions, caregiving roles, and life situations where the stress never seems to let up.
Adults vs. stereotypes: It’s not always about hating your job or wanting to quit. Burnout can show up as irritability, cynicism, feeling emotionally detached, or losing interest in things you once enjoyed.
Common symptoms:
Persistent fatigue that rest doesn’t fix
Difficulty focusing or making decisions
Feeling emotionally drained or detached
Declining work performance
Increased irritability or mood swings
Why it’s often missed: Burnout can mimic depression, anxiety, or chronic fatigue syndrome. Many people push through it, blaming themselves instead of recognizing it as a treatable condition.
My Diagnostic Process
Comprehensive intake — understanding your stress history, daily demands, and personal context.
Evidence-based assessments — validated tools for burnout, depression, and anxiety screening.
Differential diagnosis — identifying whether symptoms are due to burnout alone or co-occurring conditions.
Personalized plan — addressing the root causes, not just the symptoms.
Treatment Tailored to You
Cognitive and behavioral strategies to set healthy boundaries and manage stress.
Targeted medication support if burnout has triggered anxiety, depression, or sleep problems.
Lifestyle restructuring — improving sleep, movement, and nutrition to restore energy.
Mindset work and coping tools to rebuild resilience and prevent relapse.
Why My Practice is Different
Most online content about burnout is too generic—“get more sleep” and “take breaks” aren’t enough when you’re truly depleted. I give you practical, real-world strategies from day one so you:
Understand exactly what’s driving your burnout
Have a tailored action plan for recovery
Build long-term systems to protect your mental and physical health
Actionable Steps You Can Take Today — Burnout
If you’re fried right now (5–10 minutes)
Downshift breathing. Inhale 4, exhale 6–8 for 2–3 minutes. Shoulders drop = you’re doing it right.
Name & normalize. Say (out loud): “I’m overloaded, not broken. My system needs fuel and boundaries.”
Micro-reset. Stand, stretch spine in all directions, 10 slow neck rolls, 20-second cold water on wrists/face.
One-thing rule. Pick the single smallest task that moves today forward; do only that next.
Stop the bleeding (same-day triage)
The 4D sweep. List everything on your plate. For each: Do (≤15 min), Delay (schedule), Delegate, or Drop. Be ruthless.
Make a “stop doing” list. Identify 3 low-value tasks you’ll stop this week (e.g., unnecessary reports, Slack lurking, perfection-polishing).
Set a hard stop. Choose a non-negotiable end-of-work time today. Put an alarm on your phone.
Energy management > time management
Track your peaks. Mark two highest-energy hours; guard them for deep work.
90/20 cadence. 90 minutes focus, 20 minutes off-screen recovery (walk, stretch, sunlight).
Task-to-energy fit. Do cognitively heavy tasks during peaks, admin during dips.
Boundaries you can say today (copy/paste)
“I’m at capacity this week. I can take this or that—what’s higher priority?”
“For quality, I’ll need until [new date]. If that’s not possible, what can we de-scope?”
“I can join for 20 minutes to align on decisions, then I’ll hop to my deliverable.”
Calendar hygiene (30 minutes once)
Meeting audit. Decline or shorten anything without a clear agenda/outcome. Propose async updates.
Theme your days. Example: Mon planning, Tue/Thu deep work, Wed collaboration, Fri wrap & review.
Buffer blocks. 10 minutes between meetings for notes, bio break, breath.
Email/notification sanity
Batch windows. Check messages 2–3 set times. Turn off push outside those windows.
2-minute rule. If a reply takes <2 minutes, do it now; if not, schedule it.
Inbox rules. Auto-file newsletters/CCs; create one “Action” folder and clear it daily.
Perfectionism pressure release
Define “good enough.” Write success criteria in 3 bullets before you start.
Timebox polish. Set a 20-minute cap for refining; ship when the timer ends.
Versioning script. “This is V1 to learn, not V10 to impress.”
Quick nervous-system resets (on repeat)
Physiological sigh x10. Two short inhales, one long exhale.
Eyes far/near. Gaze at a distant point for 60 seconds, then a near point for 30—reduces visual stress.
Shake out. Light full-body shake for 60 seconds; then stillness for 30.
Sleep that actually restores
Consistent anchor. Same wake time daily (even weekends).
Light & wind-down. Get 10–20 minutes of morning daylight; cut bright screens 60 minutes before bed.
Caffeine curfew. Nothing caffeinated after 2 pm; hydrate instead.
Racing mind pad. Keep a notepad by the bed; capture “to-dos,” then close the pad—signal “handled.”
Food, movement, and micro-recovery
Protein at breakfast + lunch. Stabilizes energy and focus.
Move every 90 minutes. 3–5 minute walk, stairs, or mobility flow.
Mini joy dose. Schedule a 10-minute genuinely enjoyable activity daily (music, sunlight, call a friend).
Cognitive load offloading
One-page plan. Today’s Top 3, plus next action for each. Everything else goes to “Later.”
Context lists. Separate lists: “Calls,” “Computer,” “Errands,” to reduce switching costs.
Weekly reset (30–45 min). Review wins, clear inbox, plan next week’s Top 3 and deep-work blocks.
For leaders & caregivers (without burning out)
Clarity beats urgency. Define outcomes, owners, and deadlines; eliminate “ASAP.”
Two-way boundaries. Share your availability and ask for your team’s. Model stepping away.
Recognition loop. Give specific praise for progress, not just results; morale is a renewable fuel.
Digital friction reduction
One-tab rule. Keep ≤5 tabs; use a read-later tool for the rest.
Silent home screen. Move distracting apps off the first screen; grayscale if needed.
Slack etiquette. Use threads, mute noisy channels, and write clear subject lines.
Meaning check (the antidote to cynicism)
Why this, why now. Connect each Top 3 task to a value (learning, stability, family, service).
2% redesign. Ask: “What 2% change would make this task less draining?” (music, location, pairing).
Quarterly compass. Write 3 sentences on what “a good quarter” looks like for you beyond work.
Build a micro-support net
Name two people you can text “burnout check: ⚪️/🟡/🟠/🔴”.
Ask clearly. “Can you help me prioritize for 10 minutes?” or “Can you hold me to a 6 pm shutdown?”
Swap support. Co-work for 45 minutes on video, cameras on, mics off.
Track one thing for 7 days
Pick one metric: hours slept, number of 90/20 cycles, meetings declined, or days with a true shutdown ritual. Watching one dial improve is more powerful than chasing ten.
Gentle note
If exhaustion is accompanied by hopelessness, panic, or thoughts of self-harm, treat that as urgent and seek professional support or emergency care right away.
Burnout Often Comes with Company
Burnout often overlaps with depression, generalized anxiety disorder, sleep disturbances, and physical health issues like headaches or digestive problems. Treating burnout effectively means addressing the full picture, not just the fatigue.
Serving Central Texas and Beyond
I provide burnout treatment for clients in:
Austin, Barton Creek, Bastrop, Bee Cave, Bertram, Blanco, Briarcliff, Brushy Creek, Buda, Burnet, Cedar Park, Circle C, Creedmoor, Dripping Springs, Elgin, Florence, Georgetown, Granger, Great Hills, Hays, Hutto, Jarrell, Johnson City, Jonestown, Jollyville, Kyle, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Leander, Liberty Hill, Lockhart, Luling, Manor, Marble Falls, Martindale, Meadowlakes, Mountain City, Mustang Ridge, New Braunfels, Niederwald, Pflugerville, Point Venture, River Place, Rollingwood, Round Rock, San Marcos, Smithville, Steiner Ranch, Sunset Valley, Taylor, The Domain, The Hills, Thrall, Volente, Webberville, Weir, West Lake Hills, Wimberley, Woodcreek, Zilker, and throughout all of Texas!