Why Burnout is the New Normal.

Richel Newborg is a Burnout Coach & Trainer, CBT Coach Practitioner, and Growth Coaching Accredited

Burnout isn’t just a workplace buzzword anymore—it’s a lived experience for millions of people, especially women and other high-capacity caregivers. It’s the quiet overwhelm behind closed doors, the exhaustion you can’t “nap away,” and the sinking feeling that you’re running on fumes but still expected to function.

As a Burnout Coach & Trainer, CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) Coach Practitioner, and Growth Coaching Accredited professional, I’ve seen firsthand how deeply burnout is woven into our current culture. What’s happening isn’t personal failure—it’s a systemic imbalance that no amount of willpower can fix.

Burnout has become the new normal, not because we’re broken, but because the world we live in is out of alignment.

In this blog post, we’ll explore:

• Why is burnout rapidly increasing

• How modern life overloads the nervous system

• Why women and high performers are especially vulnerable

• What you can do to break the cycle

• How coaching can support healing and recovery

Let’s dive in.

What Is Burnout, Really?

Burnout is not simply feeling tired. It’s a chronic state of physical, emotional, and mental fatigue caused by prolonged stress and unmet needs.
Common signs include:

• Constant exhaustion

• Irritability or emotional numbness

• Brain fog or trouble focusing

• Feeling disconnected from work, family, or yourself

• Reduced motivation or confidence

• A sense of dread about your day

Burnout happens slowly, quietly… until it hits all at once.

5 Reasons Burnout Has Become the New Normal

1. We live in a culture that never lets the brain rest.

Digital life means constant alerts, constant expectations, and constant comparison.
Our nervous systems never get a true “off switch.”

We aren’t designed for that. Humans need:

• Downtime

• Space

• Silence

• Moments of boredom

• Emotional processing

Without these, our stress response stays activated and eventually collapses.

2. Women are carrying invisible emotional and logistical labor.

Across workplaces, families, and communities, women disproportionately carry:

• Emotional caretaking

• Household management

• Scheduling

• Conflict resolution

• Social planning

• Volunteer roles

• Care for aging parents

• Childcare or youth leadership

This is extra labor, unpaid, unrecognized, and expected.

Even highly successful, professional women are carrying double loads.
Burnout is not a mystery in this context; it’s a guarantee.

3. High performers get praised… until they break.

There’s a painful irony in burnout:
The people who appear the most capable often receive the least support.

High performers are rewarded for:

• Pushing through

• Being “the reliable one”

• Handling things alone

• Saying yes

• Being self-regulated

• “Just making it happen”

But strength without support leads to collapse.
No one, not even the most resilient person, can thrive without being cared for, too.

4. Many of us were taught to override our emotional and physical needs.

Messages we internalized over the years:

• “Don’t be dramatic.”

• “Crying won’t fix it.”

• “Everyone depends on you.”

• “You don’t have time to rest.”

• “Other people have it harder.”

Those beliefs become barriers to:

• Rest

• Boundaries

• Self-advocacy

• Emotional expression

• Asking for help

Burnout happens when we ignore the whispers of our body until they become alarms.

5. Rest feels like rebellion in a hustle-first culture.

We are conditioned to believe that productivity equals worth.
That stillness is laziness.
That rest needs to be earned.

But rest is not a reward.
It is a biological necessity.

Until we unlearn the idea that pausing makes us fall behind, burnout will continue to spread.

So What Do We Do Now?

1. Name what’s happening, without shame.

Burnout isn’t a weakness.
It’s a signal that your system needs support, not more pressure.

2. Rebuild rhythms instead of forcing balance.

Burnout recovery is not about doing less—it’s about doing things differently.

Using CBT-informed tools, values-based decisions, and growth coaching frameworks, I help clients create new rhythms for:

• Time

• Energy

• Emotional processing

• Boundaries

• Self-trust

These rhythms support nervous system safety and long-term sustainability.

3. Start noticing the “micro-drains.”

Burnout rarely comes from big events; it comes from:

• Constant interruptions

• Being “on” all the time

• Hidden emotional labor

• Projects with no clear finish line

• Carrying other people’s stress

• Lack of acknowledgment

Once you can identify these drains, you can start shifting them.

4. Reclaim permission to rest.

Rest is not a luxury.
It is restoration.

It’s the pause that allows you to continue.

Burnout May Be the New Normal, But It Doesn’t Have to Be Your Normal

Burnout is not your identity.
It’s not your destiny.
And it is absolutely something you can recover from.

With the right support, the right tools, and the right rhythms, you can rediscover:

• Clarity

• Confidence

• Energy

• Purpose

• Joy

• Ease

• Yourself

If you are ready to work differently, live differently, and feel differently—I’m here.

Interested in burnout recovery, coaching, or attending my retreats for women?
I’d love to connect, support, and help you rebuild in a way that honors who you are.