The landscape of burnout is riddled with myths. Here are just a few:

Myth #1:

To qualify as real burnout, it usually requires medical leave. 

 

Burnout happens when people are chronically stressed and become emotionally exhausted, cynical, detached and no longer give a fuck about their work. You can be going about your life and appearing to function. 

Myth #2:

Burnout is obvious; you know if you have it. 

 

Actually, no. And that’s the problem. Burnout can be expertly camouflaged — not just because we don’t know to watch for it, but because it has a way of blending into the background and general scenery of what we have come to accept as “normal” (when it’s not). 

 

That’s where it becomes most dangerous. Because you cannot address what you cannot see—especially if you doubt its existence. 

Myth #3:

Burnout happens to people who can’t hack it. 

 

Contrary to what you might think or have been told, burnout is not a sign of weakness. It’s not some kind of Darwinian culling of the herd. And the belief that burnout means you do not have the smarts, strength, or talent to handle your profession is flat-out wrong. 

 

Hear me now: Burnout is not a flaw at the personal level; it’s systemic, and its a symptom of a far larger problem in our industry (and the world), yes, but also of what we expect of ourselves and others at work. 

 

It’s not ‘only’ lawyers or the legal profession who are prone to burnout, either; burnout knows no income bracket or bank balance, and you cannot be promoted above it, nor is burnout above your paygrade. 

 

But having spent many years as a lawyer, and around them, I see it as one of the biggest problems plaguing women in the legal profession today.

Myth #4:

Once you hit burnout, you’re toast. 

 

Actually no. Suffering burnout does not mean you’ve reached the end. It does not mean your career is over. You can absolutely recover from burnout without leaving your job, your marriage, your life. 

 

Burnout is the result and symptom of conditioned thinking, how we are taught to see and think about the world and ourselves that leads us to feel threatened and unsafe. 

 

The root of burnout is internal—and that doesn’t mean it’s your fault; it does mean you have the power to reverse it for good. But it can’t happen on its own.

 

Quitting Isn't the Answer

 

If we think of burnout as the result of (over) work, we might assume that leaving is the answer. 

 

Quitting your job is not a cure for burnout. Neither are spa treatments, vacations, or occasional naps. If you know any woman lawyer who can pull that off, that is. 

 

Now, I did ultimately leave my career as a lawyer. Does that mean I think you have to leave yours? That the only way to beat it is to move to Bali to teach yoga, or open a cupcake shop? 

 

No. 

 

I believe, without question, that you can thrive in your career. But you can’t get there by ignoring burnout. 

 

What Cannot “Fix” Burnout: 

 

Meditation.

Breathing. 

Exercise.

Sleep. 

A vacation. 

A diet.

A sabbatical.

A spa treatment. 

…These are great things, and I recommend them all highly (except the diet)! But they in and of themselves cannot “heal” burnout. These are tactics, not solutions. 

What Happens if You Ignore Burnout

 

The cost of burnout may seem obvious (exhaustion, overwhelm, anxiety, stress), but there’s actually more to it than that. 

 

The conditioned thinking that sets burnout in motion is the same thinking that keeps it going. Because if you think you can “beat” the effects by fighting harder, you intensify the symptoms while adding insult to injury by blaming yourself. 

 

And there are more lawyers who do this than not. 

 

If you do nothing, you put yourself at risk of…

• Feeling just as miserable, if not worse, a year from now.      
• Pushing yourself closer to a health crisis (heart attack, autoimmune, the list goes on).
• Being no longer able to work, period. 

 

But there are more nuanced and pernicious risks, too:

• Losing the relationships that are important, and vital, to you.
• Jeopardizing your career, earnings, and lifestyle.
• Developing a deep and unyielding cynicism — which makes it impossible to feel joy or care about anything you used to care about.
• Developing learned helplessness and hopelessness, which can make work untenable and life unlivable.

 

Burnout doesn't resolve on its own.

 

Yet, you hold the key to your own recovery.