Developer Tea27 Okt 2025

Going to War with Burnout - Less Hours Isn't Your Only Option

I'm tackling a massive challenge today: burnout. While the standard advice usually involves working less, I want to show you a practical dimension of burnout you have more control over, focusing on increasing your agency and autonomy to manage chronic workplace stress more effectively. Burnout is classified by the ICD-11 as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.

This episode includes practical advice for understanding and addressing burnout by shifting focus from reducing work volume to increasing control and resources.

Understand the three dimensions of burnout as classified by the ICD-11: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance/negativity toward the job, and reduced professional efficacy.
Discover why the amount of time you work is not a direct input to burnout, meaning working less is often impractical and may not solve the underlying issue.
Learn the core philosophy for addressing burnout: In order to control stress, provide control (meaning agency and autonomy).
Explore why stress is directly correlated to the ratio of demands placed on you versus the resources (including decision-making power, training, and tooling) you have to meet those demands.
I’ll give you practical ways to approach your manager to secure necessary resources, training, or mentoring to improve your professional efficacy and reduce job negativity.

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