Sometimes - perhaps even often - the victims of burnout have been working (only just!) within their means, until external factors bring additional layers of pressure, causing everything to crash down.
The closer to-the-edge that we work, the less tolerance we have for these factors. We need to consider the headroom needed to weather life's (and the world's) ups and downs. We know that sprinting during a marathon comes at a cost, but the sentiment is less often applied to mental and career long hauls.
I left my job last year to go on sabbatical because of burnout. Only after I left did it fully hit me how major a factor the challenges in my personal life had become, and how impossible it had been to give myself space to heal from what had been happening while still working a high stress PM job.
A long term relationship on the rocks, nurtured through COVID only to end anyway. The passing of a grandparent, and another grandparent, and a dear pet. A car accident (not my fault), and on the list goes.
I’m in a much better place now, but when I was in the middle of these things, my brain tried to convince me I just wasn’t handling the stress at work. It told me I should be able to keep my personal and work lives separate. In retrospect this was all nonsense, but it’s hard to see until you’re able to catch your breath.
The "closer-to-the-edge we work" metaphor just blew my mind and helped me recontextualize so much about some of my struggles for the last few years. Truly, thank you.
The closer to-the-edge that we work, the less tolerance we have for these factors. We need to consider the headroom needed to weather life's (and the world's) ups and downs. We know that sprinting during a marathon comes at a cost, but the sentiment is less often applied to mental and career long hauls.